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2023 Animated Feature Oscar Analysis

2023 wasn’t the greatest year for animation, but it was at least a solid one. The Academy’s slate consists of one anime movie that eventually won, which was wonderful to witness. The list also contains a superhero flick, a Netflix film, a Pixar romance and a Spanish indie gem. It’s an eclectic and solid list, but the quality of these movies varies wildly. The Academy did snub a couple of very good films this year, but at least their eventual slate was pretty diverse.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Yes, this movie’s ranking on this list will be a very contentious choice, but I am sticking with it as it’s my list and I genuinely think that this movie is mediocre. Yes, its animation is gorgeous and very artistic. But I couldn’t properly enjoy it as the movie was so hectically paced and so frenetic that it felt as if it was made just for teenagers and action fans. The score is horrendous and very annoying while the overall multiverse plot has become very tired and boring by now. It’s a very frustrating superhero movie and easily one of the most overrated animated films of all time.

4. Elemental

I actually liked Elemental. It had no business being nominated for sure, but the Academy loves Pixar and this movie at least is a solid one, though far from their truly strong efforts. I wanted more of those beautiful adventurous and/or adventurous moments instead of the tiresome family drama. The film was also in desperate need of humor, real conflict and original themes. But the central relationship was so well developed, a couple of sequences were quite enchanting, the voice acting was excellent, and the world building and animation are both incredible. It is the first ever romance story from Pixar, so it takes extra points for that.

3. Nimona

Nimona is a flawed animated flick that benefits from solid characterization and a fantastic, unique visual style to it. The main friendship was the emotional core of the movie and another highlight was this interesting world where the medieval meets the future. The third act was quite moving and strong, but the first half was overly loud and obnoxious in its punk rock music, juvenile humor and overwhelming action. It’s a film that is so predictable in its every plot beat that it will prove to be too familiar to animation fans.

2. The Boy and the Heron

The Boy and the Heron takes the second spot on my list. This is because that ending was very abrupt and the whole film was underwritten in story and quite rushed in pacing. With that being said, it’s still a wonderful Miyazaki movie that features mesmerizing animation, incredibly unique character designs and some highly mature themes handled properly. The world building is strong too while the score is phenomenal. It’s an artistic effort that is admirably ambitious, but a flawed one for sure.

1. Robot Dreams

And the best animated movie of the year that was thankfully recognized by the Academy is this Spanish indie charmer. Robot Dreams is full of simple, earthly pleasures and slice-of-life storytelling that you rarely see in films today. It’s, thus, elegant and timeless in its quality. It’s all about friendships and how the passage of time will inevitably affect them. The ending touched me deeply and it made me cry how powerful it was. It’s a wonderfully animated film that is both simple and complex in its own way and one of the best indie animations in recent memory.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – I really wished that the Academy nominated the newest TMNT movie, but they sadly didn’t. This film has such interesting grungy aesthetic to it that really made it pop. It also had strong characterization and a great tone throughout. It’s a rare Turtles movie that was genuinely rewarding for both kids and adults.

Suzume – While not everything worked here, Suzume was still a solid Makoto Shinkai effort and one of his better movies recently. The animation and score are gorgeous and the world building is superb. It’s a familiar tale for the director, but one that tackled some strong environmental themes regardless.