FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED FEATURE
With Annie, Critics Choice and Golden Globe nominations, there is a very clear top five for Animated Feature and in a largely lackluster year overall, I’m not sure there’s much room to break into it.
KPop Demon Hunters, which won Critics Choice and the Golden Globe in the first two weekends of January, remains the overwhelming frontrunner, then Zootopia 2, Arco, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Elio.
If there is an upset here, either In Your Dreams or Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle are the most likely to mount it. But I’m not counting on it.
Here are my final 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Animated Feature.
| 1. KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) | Annie, CCA, GG |
| 2. Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney) | Annie, CCA, GG |
| 3. Arco (NEON) | Annie, CCA, GG |
| 4. Little Amélie or the Character of the Rain (GKIDS) | Annie, CCA, GG |
| 5. Elio (Walt Disney/Pixar) | Annie, CCA, GG |
| 6. In Your Dreams (Netflix) | CCA |
| 7. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (Anaplex of America) ↑ | GG |
| 8. The Bad Guys 2 (Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation) | Annie |
| 9. Scarlet (Sony Pictures Classics) | Annie |
| 10. A Magnificent Life (Sony Pictures Classics) ↓ |
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), 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.
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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