The 2025 Academy Awards have unveiled a compelling shortlist of animated films, blending whimsy, innovation, and emotional heft. From existential stop-motion dramas to sequels straddling legacy and lethargy, this year’s nominees reflect animation’s boundless potential – and its occasional pitfalls. Below, we dissect all contenders across both feature and short categories, ranked from least to most Oscar-worthy.
Best Animated Short Film 5th Place: Beautiful Men (Nicolas Keppens) This Belgian-French-Dutch co-production, a puppet animation following three balding brothers vying for a single hair transplant slot in Istanbul, stumbles into awkward satire. While its title cheekily subverts gendered beauty norms (beautiful vs. handsome), the execution feels tonally adrift. Clocking in at 18 minutes, the film’s commentary on male vanity lacks punch, veering into repetitive gags about follicular desperation. A rare misfire in a category often celebrated for precision.
4th Place: Magic Candies (Daisuke Nishio) A Japanese-Korean hybrid adapting Heena Baek’s children’s book, Magic Candies employs meticulous stop-motion to tell the story of a lonely boy communing with objects via enchanted sweets. While visually sumptuous – particularly a haunting conversation with autumn leaves – the narrative drowns in saccharine sentiment. Nishio’s attempt to channel Miyazaki-esque wonder falls short, prioritising style over emotional depth. A feast for the eyes, but not the soul.
3rd Place: Yuck! (Loïc Espuche) France’s charming entry captures the cringe and thrill of a first kiss at summer camp. Espuche’s minimalist 2D animation – where characters’ lips glow with nervous energy – elevates a well-trodden premise. While slight, its authenticity resonates: the fumbled dialogue, exaggerated blushes, and heart-fluttering soundtrack feel universally relatable. A delightful, if fleeting, ode to adolescent awkwardness.
2nd Place: Wander to Wonder (Nina Gantz) This Dutch stop-motion gem plunges into existential dread as puppets from a cancelled children’s show spiral into madness post-host’s death. Gantz’s claustrophobic staging and jarring tonal shifts – from slapstick to horror – evoke Toy Story meets Black Mirror. The metaphor of creatorless beings devolving into chaos is chilling, though perhaps too bleak for Oscar voters. A masterclass in atmospheric storytelling, nonetheless.
1st Place: In the Shadow of the Cypress (Hossein Molaei & Shirin Sohani) Iran’s heart-wrenching entry follows a PTSD-stricken ex-ship captain and his daughter nursing a beached whale. Rendered in haunting watercolours, the film intertwines personal and ecological trauma, echoing The Red Turtle’s lyrical minimalism. Molaei and Sohani’s decision to anchor the story in the Iran-Iraq War’s aftermath adds searing political weight. A frontrunner for its poetic ambition and emotional precision.
Best Animated Feature 5th Place: Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann) Pixar’s sequel to its 2015 phenomenon revisits Riley’s mind as she navigates teenage angst with new emotions: Anxiety (Maya Hawke) and Envy (Ayo Edebiri). While Hawke’s jittery vocal performance dazzles, the film strains under franchise expectations. Expanding the “brain headquarters” lore feels formulaic, lacking the original’s inventive spark. A competent but uninspired retread.
4th Place: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham) Aardman’s long-awaited sequel sees the duo battling Feathers McGraw, a vengeful penguin from 1993’s The Wrong Trousers. Though packed with Park’s signature claymation charm, the plot – a robotic garden gnome heist – feels overstuffed. Jabs at AI and tech dystopia land clumsily, paling beside classics like Chicken Run. Nostalgic fun, but no revolution.
3rd Place: The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders) DreamWorks’ visually stunning survival tale follows a robot mother (Lupita Nyong’o) bonding with a gosling on a deserted island. Sanders trades How to Train Your Dragon’s bombast for Miyazaki-inspired tranquillity, with hand-painted vistas and a meditative pace. While the third act’s eco-fable messaging grows heavy-handed, its core – a meditation on found family – shines. A bold step beyond franchise formulas.
2nd Place: Memoir of a Snail (Adam Elliot) Australia’s claymation maestro Elliot (Mary and Max) returns with Grace, a lonely woman (Sarah Snook) obsessed with snails and friendship with eccentric Pinky (Jacki Weaver). Unflinching in its exploration of grief and mental illness, the film’s grotesque beauty and wrenching pathos divide critics. Some decry emotional manipulation; others hail it as a masterpiece. Not for the faint-hearted, but impossible to ignore.
1st Place: Flow (Gints Zilbalodis) Latvia’s wordless epic, also nominated for Best International Feature, trails a cat and animal refugees fleeing a climate apocalypse via makeshift raft. Zilbalodis’s minimalist 3D animation – think The Red Turtle meets Mad Max – balances existential dread with wry humour. A capybara’s growls (voiced by a baby camel) and a surreal iceberg sequence cement its ingenuity. A timely, transcendent ode to resilience that’s this year’s indisputable frontrunner.
The Verdict While Flow and In the Shadow of the Cypress dominate as arthouse darlings, surprises lurk. Could Memoir of a Snail’s raw vulnerability or The Wild Robot’s visual splendour upset? Either way, 2025 proves animation’s power to captivate, challenge, and console – no cape or catchy song required.
