Oscars 2021: Predicting Winners In EVERY Category

Good quality animated films were fairly scarce in 2020 with the likes of Scoob! and Trolls World Tour coming and going with mixed response from audiences and little love from critics. However, after releasing Onward to a tepid response Pixar's second film Soul was greeted with much greater enthusiasm.

Led by Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey the film was embraced for tackling complex existential ideas as well as introducing a more diverse world seen through the eyes of jazz-enthusiast Joe Gardner, Pixar's first African American protagonist. This film winning Best Animated Feature may be the safest bet for Oscar victory mainly because no other animated film came close to Soul in regards to slick animation, critical approval or thoughtful storytelling.

One potential contender which could dethrone Soul is a small Irish animated film called Wolfwalkers which debuted on Apple TV+ to relatively little publicity despite receiving an outstanding 99% on the Tomatometer. While it would be a longshot if this critically acclaimed Celtic-inspired adventure even got nominated it would more than likely struggle to get the awards circuit buzz that Soul (with the might of Disney behind it) would attract.