Hello and welcome,
The Oscars are this Sunday. I know my awards season coverage has been lacking on all of my platforms this year for many reasons including a long illness but I’m back to give you my thoughts on the Best Animated Feature category this year.
If you want to know my predictions for all the categories, including the ones that the Academy thinks are unimportant, check out my new episode of In The Mind of Mr.Bee which I will soon upload to youtube (If I haven't already).
I have seen all the nominees for Best Animated Feature this year and I just so happened to have reviewed 3 out of the 5 movies (for the 3 movies I have reviewed, I have a link for you).
As I did the last time, I will talk about the movies from least likely to win to the most probable front runner but bear in mind that all of the nominees have a small chance of walking away with the Oscar
Let’s begin:
Raya and the Last Dragon
Now at first glance, this looks like a front runner. It’s Disney Animation and between them and Pixar, they have the majority of the Best Animated Feature Oscars. However, there are a few problems with that line of thinking for one, there is both a Pixar and another Disney movie nominated this year and secondly, Raya is nominated everywhere but, as far as I know, has only won one and that is North Texas Film Critics Award whose track record when comes to predicting the Oscars while not awful is not the most reliable either and critics do not vote for the Oscars.
Flee
This is the 1st movie in History to be nominated in not just in Best Animated Feature but also in Documentary Feature and International Feature. Out of the categories, it is a nominee for, it will not win International Feature because Drive My Car is a lock, given that is also nominated for Best Picture. getting back to Best Animated Feature Flee has not won many Best Animated Feature Awards but it did win the Annie for Best Animated Feature- Independent which has only been around for 7 years and has yet to be a predictor for the Oscar, but there is a first time for everything. Most of the Awards it has won are for Documentary and that is where it has its best shot, but I think Summer of Soul will win that Oscar for Documentary. Unfortunately for Flee, it is likely that it will go home empty-handed.
Luca
One thing I have learned in all my years following and covering the Oscars is it’s not wise to bet against Pixar. Out of the 20 years the Best Animated Feature category has been around,11 years have been Pixar wins. With that in mind, I think Luca will not be the winner tomorrow, but if is in fact the Winner I will not be the least bit surprised.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Up until Last Week, I was wondering if this was like the Spider-Verse year after Mitchells swept at Annie's by winning 8 out of 8, including Best Animated Feature! just like Spider-Verse did, but there is one problem with that comparison in that Spider-Verse was winning everywhere else as well but not Mitchells although it did win the Critics Choice Awards (again, critics do not vote for the Oscars). However, the Mitchells vs. the Machines can still win because out of the years that the academy has had a Best Animated Feature category, the Oscars and the Annies have only split 5 times.
Encanto
I believe this is the Winner because the movie and music are a phenomenon ensuring that most academy members have seen the movie or at least heard the soundtrack. It has also won the BAFTA, Producers Guild, and, for what it's worth, the Golden Globe.
Now, I have seen all the nominated movies and, if I were voting, I would personally give it to Encanto and anyone that has read my review knows that I fell in love with that movie. Unfortunately, the academy has yet invited me to become a member (how rude of them)! It bears repeating that I won't be surprised if any one of these movies wins (ok, maybe Raya). Enjoy the Oscars tomorrow!
Goodnight and Bee Happy!™
Mr. Bee
