Dec 17, 2024

Oscar Nominations Announced: Animation Project Receives Record Seven Nominations

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its shortlist for 10 categories, including short animation and visual effects. In what has been a great year for animation, at least five other categories besides short animation and visual effects have shortlisted animation projects.

Below is a list of all the shortlisted animated short films announced today.

Fifteen films have been nominated in the Animated Short Film category. Films already introduced as part of the Competitor Series are linked to interviews with their directors. Films from 13 countries are nominated, led by France (5 films) and Japan (3 films). Other countries with only one film are the United States (2 films), Canada (2 films), the Netherlands (2 films), and Belgium (2 films); countries with only one film are Portugal, Poland, Scotland, Iran, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Germany. (7]

It is difficult to talk about snubs in this category, as this first stage can be a complete gusher. Eighty-eight films were nominated for this category, and many great ones passed, while other excellent ones did not. Ultimately, as with any judging process for creative works, it has more to do with the personal preferences of the voters than the quality of the work. Overall, however, the list is solid, consisting of both young directors and veterans who have been nominated in the past (Trill Cove, Don Hertzfeldt, Dice Tsutsumi).

If there is any insight, it is that the Academy has largely refused to make the animated short category a celebrity, a disturbing trend that has changed the spirit of the animated short awards in recent years. This year, films with strong celebrity elements such as “A Christmas Story” and “Brown Dog” did not make the shortlist, nor did films from major American studios.

The final nominations for the Animated Short Films category are open to Academy members in the Animation and Short Films categories, who must view all 15 films on the short list in order to vote.

The VFX category shortlist consists of only 10 films and this year includes one full-length animated feature: Mufasa: The Lion King. The shortlist is determined by the Visual Effects Competition Executive Committee. All members of the Visual Effects Section will view excerpts and artist interviews from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 11, 2025, to determine the five finalists. The shortlist is as follows:

Animation projects will also compete in the other five shortlisted categories announced today. In the International Feature Film Competition, Gints Zilvarodis' “Flow” is among the 15 shortlisted films. Already a strong contender for the Animated Feature Film category, if nominated in the International Feature Film category, it will be the first film from Latvia to be entered in this category.

In the Documentary Feature category, two of the 15 nominees feature animation heavily: “The Porcelain War,” introduced last summer, and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” now available on Netflix. Given that the animated Pharrell Williams biopic “Piece by Piece” was not nominated in the documentary category, and its chances in the animated feature category are remote, there does not seem to be much chance of the film being nominated, other than a possible nomination for original song.

In the Music (Original Score) category, two animated films are finalists with 20 nominations out of 145 songs: Disney-Pixar's “Inside Out 2” and DreamWorks Animation's “Wild Robots.”

In the Music (Original Song) category, 15 songs will advance from the 89 eligible songs, including four from animated feature films: “Beyond” from “Moana 2,” “Tell Me It's You” from “Mufasa: The Lion King ), “Tell Me It's You” from “Mufasa: The Lion King”, “Piece By Piece” from “Piece By Piece”, and “Kiss The Sky” from “Wild Robot”.

In the sound category, 10 films will advance, including one animated feature: Wild Robot.

Final nomination voting will take place January 8-12, 2025, with nominees announced on Friday, January 17. The winners will be announced at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2, 2025.