The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the qualifying contenders for the Animated Feature Film Oscar this year and the category is flush with international and independently made submissions. Of course, monster hits such as pressumed frontrunner “Toy Story 4” are in the mix, but so are celebrated smaller films such as Cannes standouts “I Lost My Body” and “The Last Fiction.” This year’s nominees could surprise as a majority of the studio fare released over the past 12 months had issues inspiring critics or audiences.
READ MORE: Record 93 films submitted for the International Film Oscar
The 32 submitted films are as follows:
“Abominable”
“The Addams Family”
“The Angry Birds Movie 2”
“Another Day of Life”
“Away”
“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”
“Children of the Sea”
“Dilili in Paris”
“Frozen II”
“Funan”
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Primal’ – Tales of Savagery”
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
“I Lost My Body”
“Klaus”
“The Last Fiction”
“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part”
“Marona’s Fantastic Tale”
“Missing Link”
“Ne Zha”
“Okko’s Inn”
“Pachamama”
“Promare”
“Rezo”
“The Secret Life of Pets 2”
“Spies in Disguise”
“The Swallows of Kabul”
“This Magnificent Cake!”
“The Tower”
“Toy Story 4”
“Upin & Ipin: The Lone Gibbon Kris”
“Weathering with You”
“White Snake”
The Academy made it clear that several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles seven-day qualifying run noting that all “submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the nominations voting process.” Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch are automatically eligible to vote in the category. AMPAS members outside of the branch can opt-in to participate, but must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.
Obviously, films that qualify for the Animated Feature Film category also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, etc.
Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced at an ungodly hour on Monday, January 13, 2020.