For our fourth Rundown article, the youngest Oscar category shows the big boys how it’s done…sometimes. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Animated Feature as well as general commentary about the race. Tomorrow, we’ll cover one of the few categories this year where most prognosticators have declared the race over.

Best Animated Feature

Winner Predictions

• Brave
• Frankenweenie
• ParaNorman
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits
• Wreck-It Ralph (R) [New] (R) [New] (R) [New]

Runner-Up Predictions

• Brave (R) [New]
• Frankenweenie (R) [New]
• ParaNorman (R) [New]

(color and symbol key at bottom of page)

Wesley Lovell: When the nominations first came out, ParaNorman was building steam through the precursors, but since then Wreck-It Ralph has suddenly emerged as a force in the race. With Disney never having won this prize except under distribution deals with Pixar or Studio Ghibli, I think Ralph may finally be their winner. Brave seems like also-ran Pixar and ParaNorman suffers the Caroline curse of beloved critic darling ignored by the Academy. Frankenweenie might also contender, but I doubt that leaving The Pirates! as the only film that has no shot at winning.
Peter J. Patrick: I have no idea what voters look for in this category, but Wreck-It-Ralph seems to be the most popular, with Brave, Frankenweenie and ParaNorman also having their supporters in about that order.
Tripp Burton: Wreck-It Ralph seems to have the right mix to win this award: strong box office, great reviews, a strong following and a film that kids and adults both find lovable. Oscar-less auteur Tim Burton, though, could surprise everyone by finally winning an award with his long-awaited personal project Frankenweenie.

KEY: