2017 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED FEATURE (June)

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Is it just me or has the marketing and advertising for Pixar’s Finding Dory been a bit lacking? It almost feels like they’re so comfortable in the sequel being such a massive hit that they don’t really need to push it. An odd choice considering the film comes out just over a week from now. It may explain why the film finds itself in 4th place on the first Gold Rush Gang chart for the Animated Feature Oscar.

Ahead of Finding Dory we have the huge Cannes hit The Red Turtle, which was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, Zootopia from Disney, which just crossed the $1 billion mark last week and then, at #1 is Moana (also from Disney). Interesting, since we only have a few official stills of that film and no trailer to go from. What we do have is that Tony, Grammy, Emmy and Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) is writing original songs for the film. That news alone would be enough to earn the film the top spot but it’s also that it will be the first representation of the Māori people from New Zealand in a Disney film.

Elsewhere, smaller titles like Kubo and the Two Strings, Loving Vincent and April and the Extraordinary World find a place on the chart while bigger Hollywood fare like Kung Fu Panda 3, Angry Birds and a new Ice Age movie languish in the ‘Other Contenders’ section. Also there, but that could surprise, would be the hard R-rated Sausage Party or Netflix’s The Little Prince. We’ll keep an eye on both of those to possibly find themselves charting as the year goes on.

Here are the predictions for Animated Feature from The Gold Rush Gang:

OTHER CONTENDERS
Angry Birds
Henchmen
Ice Age: Collision Course
Kung Fu Panda 3
Phantom Boy
Sausage Party
Sing
Storks
The Breadwinner
The Little Prince
The Secret Life of Pets
Trolls

Follow the updated Gold Rush Gang predictions in other Oscar categories here:

BEST PICTURE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ACTOR
BEST ACTRESS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BEST FILM EDITING
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• 2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) - November 21, 2024
• 2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards - November 21, 2024
• Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives - November 21, 2024