By: Paul Jefferson

The Oscars will air on March 10, and a popular category every year is Best Animated Feature. These are the five nominees.

The Boy and the Heron

The Boy and the Heron is the latest movie from Hayao Miyazaki. He is one of the founders of Studio Ghibli and has made other Oscar-nominated movies such as Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, and the 2002 winner, Spirited Away. The film follows a boy who follows a heron into an abandoned tower in search of his thought to be dead mother.

Elemental

Elemental was this year’s Pixar release. Pixar has a long history at the Oscars, being nominated 18 times since 2001 and winning 11. However, some people are skeptical as to whether Elemental has what it takes to win this year. “The movie is good, but it’s nothing great,” senior Harrison Panstingel said. “Elemental didn’t do anything special and I don’t think it deserves the best animated feature this year.” Elemental is about Ember and Wade, who are made of fire and water respectively. The film looks into themes of love and choosing your own future.

Nimona

Nimona is the only nomination from Netflix this year. Originally produced by Blue Sky, the film found new life on Netflix after the studio’s closure in 2021. The movie is based on a graphic novel with the same name released in 2015. The movie follows Ballister and his goal to prove his innocence after being framed for killing the queen. Along the way he teams up with the shape shifter Nimona to help him.

Robot Dreams

Robot Dreams was a bit of a sleeper pick. A French-Spanish film without a wide release, not many people were talking about this movie when discussing possible nominees. Variety even put the film on their 22 Overlooked Films of 2023. The people who have seen the film, however, have loved it. It’s a simple story told with no dialogue about the bond between a dog and the robot he built in 1980s New York.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the much anticipated follow up to the film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”  Like its predecessor, this movie is adored by audiences for its innovative animation and its love for the history of comics. The movie achieved the highest Letterbox score of any movie this year, animated or not, and was the second highest grossing animated movie this year, bringing in 690 million. The movie follows Miles as he delves into the Spider-Verse and learns what it really means to be Spider-Man.