For our eleventh Rundown article, we look at the newest Oscar category. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Animated Feature as well as general commentary about the race. Thursday, we’ll examine the category that deals with putting all the pieces together.

Best Animated Feature

Winner Predictions

• Kubo and the Two Strings (PP O)
• Moana
• My Life as a Zucchini
• The Red Turtle
• Zootopia (WL O) (TB O) (TL O)

Runner-Up Predictions

• Kubo and the Two Strings (WL O) (TB O) (TL O)
• Zootopia (PP R) [New]

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Wesley Lovell: While the victory of Kubo and the Two Strings at the British Academy Awards fills my heart with hope, the Academy is seldom that forward-thinking. Only five films in the category’s 15-year history have gone to non-Disney/Pixar films. It was five years ago now that this last happened, which was five-years removed from the prior instance. Zootopia has the Annie Award, Producers Guild, and the Golden Globe. That may be all that Oscar voters pay attention to. Since they don’t have to watch all five films to vote and they will feel the need to recognize the racial parity on display in Zootopia, many voters won’t look past the political statement the film would make. However, if they actually watch Kubo, they may just recognize one of the finest films of the year, animated or otherwise. I will be thrilled if the Academy goes out of its way to honor Kubo, but I won’t get my hopes up.
Peter J. Patrick: Since this award is voted on by the entire membership and not just the animation branch, there’s a good chance that it will go to the best animated film of the year, which is Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings, not branch heavy Disney’s Zootopia, which is the perceived favorite.
Tripp Burton: Don’t count out Disney in this category. They have won 9 of the last 10 Oscars here (either for their flagship studio or with Pixar) and only lost in a year where they didn’t have a nominee. Zootopia has won a bulk of the precursors this year (editor’s note: after BAFTA and the Annie Awards, Zootopia has 15 precursor awards and Kubo also has 15), although losing the BAFTA this weekend might seem to hurt.
Thomas La Tourrette: With its domination at the Annie Awards, Disney’s Zootopia, long the frontrunner, has become the prohibitive favorite to win. Along with a win at the Golden Globes, it appears to be headed for the gold. It opened to strong notices and good box office, but I did not think it would be so dominant. I would have expected Kubo and the Two Strings to be stiffer competition, but it never got the traction to do that. Zootopia was fun, but I think that Kubo was the more inventive movie. Kubo was never the box office sensation that Zootopia was, which may be a factor in this race. The late release of Moana, another well liked Disney film would have seemed likely to hurt Zootopia’s chances to win as it could have resulted in a split vote, but that does not seem to have been a factor after all. I do not see The Red Turtle or My Life as a Zucchini having much impact in this race. Zootopia coasts to an easy win.

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