93rd Academy Award Nominations Announced – Animation Categories

15 March 2021 // News

Ben Mitchell

Editor in Chief

This year’s nominations for the Academy Awards have been announced and, in keeping with site tradition, Skwigly are delighted to highlight the animation-oriented projects and artists in contention.

Another Skwigly tradition is our polls that give you a chance to let us know who you think will win, so vote ahead of the awards in April below.

Best Animated Feature

• Onward (Pixar)
• Over the Moon (Netflix)
• A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Netflix)
• Soul (Pixar)
• Wolfwalkers (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)

What a dream come true for Over the Moon to be recognized by the Academy today! We share this incredible honor with our entire cast and crew, who came together during this highly unusual time, to create something truly beautiful. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to share Fei Fei’s extraordinary journey of love, loss and healing with the world. We are also forever indebted to our screenwriter and friend, the late Audrey Wells, for entrusting us with this most precious love letter to her daughter. We hope our film moves and inspires those who may be trying to find their own way, and helps to make our world feel a little smaller and more connected. On behalf of the entire Over the Moon family, a huge thank you to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for this recognition!

–Over the Moon director Glen Keane, producer Peilin Chou and producer Gennie Rim

Shaun the Sheep nominated for an Oscar!? A collection of inaudible sounds followed by silence… And that’s just our reaction to the news! We’re absolutely thrilled to receive an Oscar nomination! This is an incredible experience and a reflection of the amazing hard work and talent of everyone who worked on the film.The message of making new friends, learning from each other and always remaining positive in spite of difficult circumstances is something that we think a lot of people have connected to. On behalf of our silent movie star, Shaun the Sheep, and all of us at Aardman, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Academy.

–A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon directors Will Becher and Richard Phelan

Soul has also received nominations for Best Original Score (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste) and Best Sound (Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott, David Parker).

 Loading ...

Best Animated Short

• Burrow (Disney Plus/Pixar)
• Genius Loci (Kazak Productions)
• If Anything Happens I Love You (Netflix)
• Opera (Beasts and Natives Alike)
• Yes-People (CAOZ hf. Hólamói)

We are truly honored to be nominated alongside this group of inspiring shorts. Our film was made around a kitchen table with a small group of amazing artists and we never imagined that we would be here. This film was a passion project and a deep meditation on grief. We see ourselves in the loss, we see ourselves in the grief and we see ourselves in the way forward. We are humbled that so many people opened their hearts to the film. A heartfelt thank you to the Academy. If Anything Happens I Love You, was created for the ones lost, and the ones left behind.

–If Anything Happens I Love You writers/directors Will McCormack and Michael Govier and producer Maryann Garger

It is such an incredible honor to have Opera nominated for an Oscar! I hope this recognition will bring a very positive impact on all the creators and audiences out there because Opera presents a different way to view and enjoy the medium of animation. I’m deeply grateful that the Academy believed in my vision for this film, and a huge thank you to every artist and friend who were a part of this project. Animation is a team effort and none of this would have been possible without your talent, love and support. To me, Opera carries an important message about our society and history. I hope this nomination helps Opera reach a broader audience so we can start the conversation to make our lives and ourselves better.

–Opera director Erick Oh

 Loading ...

Best Visual Effects

• Love and Monsters (Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox)
• The Midnight Sky (Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins)
• Mulan (Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram)
• The One and Only Ivan (Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez)
• Tenet (Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher)

 Loading ...

The 93rd Academy Awards will take place at Los Angeles’ Union Station and Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on April 25th 2021.

Who would you like to see win? Let us know in the comments below or on our Twitter and Facebook pages.