2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED FEATURE (November)
35 features are eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. The Academy released the official list of eligible films last week and while some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process, it’s a slim enough list this season that even carving out a top 10 is a tough task.
One film missing from the list was Ne Zha 2, not only the most successful animated film of all time but at $2.2 billion (almost entirely from China), it ranks as the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, just behind Titanic and ahead of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. It remains unclear why it wasn’t on the official list–it had a U.S. release–but even if it had been I’m not sure it would have made the final cut for a nomination.
Changes from last month to this include swapping out Netflix’s In Your Dreams for Pixar’s Elio and moving up The Bad Guys 2 to replace Ne Zha 2.
Here are my 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Animated Feature for November.
| 1. KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) |
| 2. Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney) |
| 3. Elio (Walt Disney/Pixar) ↑ |
| 4. Arco (NEON) |
| 5. Little Amélie or the Character of the Rain (GKIDS) |
| 6. In Your Dreams (Netflix) ↓ |
| 7. A Magnificent Life (Sony Pictures Classics) |
| 8. The Bad Guys 2 (Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation) ↑ |
| 9. Scarlet (Sony Pictures Classics) |
| 10. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (Paramount Pictures) |
Other contenders: Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Anaplex of America), Dog of God (Cartuna), The Twits (Netflix)
Here is the full list of eligible films:
All Operators Are Currently Unavailable
Arco
The Bad Guys 2
Black Butterflies
Boys Go to Jupiter
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
ChaO
Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing
David
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Dog Man
Dog of God
Dragon Heart – Adventures Beyond This World
Elio
Endless Cookie
Fixed
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
In Your Dreams
KPop Demon Hunters
The Legend of Hei 2
Light of the World
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Lost in Starlight
A Magnificent Life
Mahavatar Narsimha
Night of the Zoopocalypse
Olivia & las Nubes
100 Meters
Out of the Nest
Scarlet
Slide
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Stitch Head
The Twits
Zootopia 2
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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