The 95th Academy Awards Race: Best Animated Feature

| March 5, 2023

The Nominees are . . . 
″ Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar & Alex Bulkley, producers
″ Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan & Paul Mezey, producers
″ Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Joel Crawford & Mark Swift, producers
″ The Sea Beast, Chris Williams & Jed Schlanger, producers
″ Turning Red, Domee Shi & Lindsey Collins, producers

As far as the race for Best Animated Feature is concerned there are really only two contenders.  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio from Netflix and Marcel the Shell With Shoes On from A24 have garnered massive critical and audience as well as pre-Oscar awards that it would be inconceivable that Pixar’s Turning Red, DreamWorks’ Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Netflix’s other entry The Sea Beast has a reasonable shot at winning.

Currently, the front-runner is Pinocchio, Guillermo del Toro’s refreshingly adult reframing of Collodi’s classic tale has enchanted everyone who has seen it.  It won Best Animated Feature at the 50th Annual Annie Awards plus four other awards.  It won Best Animated Feature at BAFTA (The British Academy Awards) and The Golden Globes.

However, it’s chief competition is my favorite film of 2022, the ridiculously charming Marcel the Shell With Shoes On could come from behind.  Its momentum has been building.  It won Best Indie Feature at the Annies and well as two other awards.  Its only hiccup is its unique distinction of being a animated/live action hybrid, the first ever for this category.

The Winner: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
The Dark Horse: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

About the Author:

Jerry Roberts is a film critic and operator of two websites, Armchair Cinema and Armchair Oscars.
Filed in: The Oscar Nominees
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