Best Animated Feature Film: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
We are now in our final week of Oscar rankings, and we are wrapping things up with the four categories that award entire features (as well as Best Director, coming Thursday before the final Best Picture ranking). We begin the other three categories (otherwise known as Flee’s three categories for this year alone) with Best Animated Feature Film, and there’s quite a bit to cover (including a whopping three Disney nominations out of five, which kind of secures this win, doesn’t it?). Which animated feature film was the best of 2021? Will a Disney film win? Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Belle
This category occasionally steps outside of its comfort zones and celebrates the animated works of the world that warrant that love, including The Red Turtle, My Life as a Zucchini, and Wolfwalkers (to name a few). Outside of Flee (which was a shoo-in for all three feature film categories not titled “Best Picture”), none of that kind of celebration is here. I nominate Belle, firstly because of what I have just said, and secondly because the Academy really doesn’t know how to champion great Japanese anime works (outside of Miyazaki films, but ignoring those is impossible).
5. Luca
I adore Pixar, but I really wasn’t feeling Luca as much as I would have liked. I liked it but didn’t love it, and I felt like it was easily one of the safest films by the studio when it should have (and could have) been far more daring, given its subject matter. It is a stunning film to look at and it is full of heart, but I really didn’t get Pixar’s signature doses of complexity and texture. Once you have seen Luca, do you ever need to watch it again? You may have a different answer, but for me I felt like one viewing was enough.
4. Raya and the Last Dragon
I felt differently about Raya and the Last Dragon: that it was an animated film by Disney that tried to go the distance. I feel like Raya went about its details a little wonkily and thus it kind of stunts itself at times, but I feel like the film is much more interesting and memorable despite these flaws. Furthermore, this is some of the best CGI animation I’ve seen in a feature of this sort in ages. I hope that Raya acts as a portal to more works just like this for Disney, and it is a film that I may even watch again in the future just because it was such an interesting world to visit.
3. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
If it wasn’t for the anarchistic climax where the film kind of derails itself just to reach a resolution sooner, I’d honestly call The Mitchells vs. the Machines one of the best animated films of the year. Outside of this one major flaw, I find the animation style so unique and entertaining, the layered storytelling highly engaging, and the extreme amounts of easter eggs, details, and eccentricities amusing for a vast duration of the film. I didn’t expect to dislike The Mitchells vs. the Machines, but I still liked it more than I thought I would.
2. Encanto
On one hand, Encanto is a Disney film that abides by the Disney formula. On the other, I still think it’s one of the better examples of this blueprint by the studio in the last few years. The songs (by one Lin-Manuel Miranda) are instantly memorable. The magical essence of the film is felt throughout, either by lush animation or the stunning score. The characters are well defined; even the minor characters make enough of a statement that you can honestly reflect on them afterward. Encanto is a safer Disney film, but it still goes the distance in other ways and has solidified itself as one of the more remarkable films by the studio in recent years.
1. Flee
Flee is a highly effective film. Given that it is nominated for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film as well, I will try to focus on its animated strengths here. In all honesty, it is easily the simplest nominee of the bunch when it comes to its art style, but I feel like Flee has presented itself as a series of memory-based snapshots in the form of doodle-like drawings. This art style opens up our minds, since we feel like we are interpreting a bit of what we hear, and this inter-biological channel funnels Flee’s story straight to our hearts. Highly impressionable and completely heartbreaking, Flee is one of 2021’s most visceral watches, and its basic animation style presents a powerful dichotomy between a harrowing history and an imaginative art form unable to escape the atrocities of corrosive politics. I’ve also ranked Flee first because it is my favourite film of the five.
What I want to win: On one hand, seeing The Mitchells vs. the Machines win above three Disney films would be a massive surprise. But then I also like Encanto enough that it winning an Oscar here would be rather nice as well. Ultimately, Flee is the film I like the most, and I have to be honest. Despite its three nominations in each of the Feature categories, I cannot see Flee winning any of them, and it breaks my heart. I’d love for it to win here, because it is my favourite of this group of nominees, and because I don’t think it stands a chance elsewhere (more on those tomorrow and Wednesday).
What I think will win: Encanto. Firstly, its awards season stride has officially begun ever since it won the Golden Globe. It also was released at exactly the right time, causing its relevancy here to skyrocket. Finally, it is nominated for two other Oscars (for Original Song and Original Score). I know Flee is nominated twice elsewhere as well, but that leads me to my final point: Encanto is Disney. Even subpar Disney films have won here. A good film of theirs stands a highly good chance of winning.
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee on every weekday.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.