Four categories can help predict two at the Oscars: Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short Subject. We’ll see how things go as the Annies often go big for one title over any others and that doesn’t always reflect at the Oscars.

ANNIE AWARDS

Best Animated Feature

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
The Sea Beast
Turning Red (RU:Wesley)
Wendell & Wild

Wesley Lovell: We have four of the five Oscar nominees here and it comes down to a race between Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, and Turning Red. Those are the major studio outputs plus Guillermo del Toro’s season leader. I’d have to say that del Toro’s film is probably favored due to its nominations count, but we’ve seen this organization go heavy for DreamWorks or Disney/Pixar films, so don’t write-off Turning Red, which has the benefit of being a notorious sore spot for Disney who thought it wouldn’t appeal to broad audiences and thus dumped it on Disney+ only for it to become one of the consistent titles throughout Oscar season.
Peter J. Patrick: Guillermo de Toro’s Pinocchio has won most animated feature awards this year. There’s no reason to doubt that it won’t win the Annie as well.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: Pinocchio has been winning most of the awards and it is hard to imagine it not winning this too. I do not think anything else will come close.

Best Animated Feature – Independent

Charlotte (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)
Inu-Oh
Little Nicholas, Happy As Can Be
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
My Father’s Dragon (RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: Only one Oscar nominee is on this list, so Marcel looks likely to be on track for winning, but don’t count out the Holocaust-related Charlotte.
Peter J. Patrick: Marcel with Shoes On has won just about any animated feature award that Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio missed. This separate category allows both to be honored.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is the sole Oscar nominee of the bunch and definitely made the biggest splash. I imagine it will go on to win.

Best Animated Short Subject

Amok (Thomas)
Black Slide
Ice Merchants (Wesley, Peter, RU:Thomas)
Love, Dad
The Flying Sailor (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Two Oscar nominees sit on this list, but neither of them are the strongest nominees at the Oscars. Still, it would be a bit surprising if one of them didn’t win, so Ice Merchant‘s more stylized, less clunky animation should win out over The Flying Sailor.
Peter J. Patrick: Pure guesswork on my part.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: The two Oscar nominees did not overwhelm me, so I could see it going to Amok.

Best Animated Special Production

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (Wesley, Peter, RU:Thomas)
The House
Prehistoric Planet (Thomas)
the Sandman (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)
Superworm

Wesley Lovell: The Boy is the only Oscar nominee on the list, so I’ll give it the edge. Surprises can still happen, though.
Peter J. Patrick: Oscar bound The Boy, the Moe, the Fox, and the Horse should take this one easily.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: I could see the dinosaurs of Prehistoric Planet winning this over the twee The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

Best Character Animation

.The Bad Guys – Jorge Capote
.The Bad Guys – Min Hong
.Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Tucker Barrie (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
.Turning Red – Teresa Falcone (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
.Turning Red – Eric Anderson

Wesley Lovell: Will split voting doom two of the three titles on this list? I suppose it could.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Character Animation – Live Action

Avatar: The Way of Water (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Beast (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)
Finch
Jurassic World: Dominion (RU:Thomas)
Peacemaker

Wesley Lovell: Like the Visual Effects Society, I don’t see Avatar losing any of the live-action categories.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Character Design

The Bad Guys (RU:Wesley)
Luck
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Peter, Thomas)
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
Wendell & Wild (Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: The Best Animated Feature leader is not here, which might lead to an unusual selection. I’ve gone with Wendell & Wild and their myriad unique faces over The Bad Guys for similar reasons. While it’s entirely possible that Puss in Boots could win, being one of the more prominent studio efforts, I don’t know that there are enough new characters to get the voters’ attentions.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best FX – Feature

Avatar: The Way of Water (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
Lightyear
Minions: The Rise of Gru
The Sea Beast

Wesley Lovell: Another win for Avatar? Maybe. This list also has animated titles, so don’t ignore that potential.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Storyboarding

.Minions: The Rise of Gru – Nima Azarba
.Minions: The Rise of Gru – Dave Feiss
.Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Anthony Holden (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
.Strange World – Javier Ledesma Barbolla (RU:Wesley, RU:Thomas)
.Strange World – Jeff Snow (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Another case of duelling entries that might well end up with Puss in Boots taking all the marbles.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Direction

Dean Fleischer Camp, Kristen Lepore, Stephen Chiodo – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Henry Selick – Wendell & Wild (RU:Wesley)
Domee Shi – Turning Red
Nora Towmey – My Father’s Dragon

Wesley Lovell: You have to go with the frontrunner for the win here, though Henry Selick is such an animation legend, I could imagine him winning on sentiment alone.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Voice Acting

David Bradley – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Thomas, RU:Peter)
Zaris-Angel Hator – The Sea Beast
Gregory Mann – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Wesley, Peter)
Wagner Moura – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (RU:Thomas)
Jenny Slate – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (RU:Wesley)

Wesley Lovell: Two stars of Pinocchio. There aren’t a lot of major names here, and this group loves to recognize young actors, so Gregory Mann should have the lead over well known voice actor Jenny Slate.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Writing

Eternal Spring (RU:Thomas)
Inu-Oh
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Turning Red (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: The Best Animated Feature leader isn’t here, which should help Marcel win, but watch out for Turning Red.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Music

The Bad Guys
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Mad God
The Sea Beast (RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
Turning Red (RU:Wesley)

Wesley Lovell: The closest one to an actual Oscar nomination will likely win.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Editorial

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Lightyear
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

Wesley Lovell: Gotta go with the frontrunner.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.

Best Production Design

The Bad Guys
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Wesley, Peter, Thomas)
Mad God
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (RU:Wesley, RU:Thomas)
The Sea Beast (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Notch one last win for Pinocchio.
Peter J. Patrick: No commentary provided.
Tripp Burton: No predictions or commentary provided.
Thomas LaTourette: No commentary provided.