35 Animated Features Have Qualified For The 98th Oscars

 

One of the most fun parts of every year is the race for Best Animated Feature. Numerous awards organisations and critics circles give out the accolade throughout awards season. But let's face it.. the one everyone still wants to win is the Oscar.

As the season approaches, The Academy reveals longlists for a number of categories. These don't reveal what films will be nominated, merely which films have qualified for consideration. Following the announcement of the longlist for Best Animated Short, The Academy have now announced the films that have qualified for the Best Animated Feature Award.

35 films have made the list. Some of the featured films have yet to complete their qualifying release, but are expected to by the end of the year.

The list includes all the major animation releases of the year such as K-Pop Demon Hunters, Zootopia 2, The Bad Guys 2, In Your Dreams, The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Square Pants and Elio. It also includes a number of notable indies such as Arco, Boys Go To Jupiter, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Black Butterflies. Also in the run are several anime titles, including Mamoru Hosoda's Scarlet, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

The potential nominees will be narrowed down to a list of five, voted on by members of the Animation branch. Academy members outside the branch are able to opt-in, but must complete a minimum viewing requirement to be able to vote in the category. Films are also able to compete in other categories, including Best Picture. This year, Endless Cookie has also qualified for the Best Documentary category and Dog Of God has qualified for the International Feature Film category, representing Latvia- hoping for a replay of this year's Flow.

Voting for select categories in the 98th Academy Awards will run from December 8- December 12. Shortlists for the awards will be announced on December 16. The final nominations will be announced on January 22, 2026, and the ceremony will be held on March 15, 2026.

Eligible Animated Feature Films:

Arco

The Bad Guys 2

Black Butterflies

Boys Go to Jupiter

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

ChaO

Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing

David

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

Dog Man

Dog of God

Dragon Heart – Adventures Beyond This World

Elio

Endless Cookie

Fixed

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie

In Your Dreams

KPop Demon Hunters

The Legend of Hei 2

Light of the World

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Lost in Starlight

A Magnificent Life

Mahavatar Narsimha

Night of the Zoopocalypse

Olivia & the Clouds (Olivia & las Nubes)

100 Meters

Out of the Nest

Scarlet

Slide

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants

Stitch Head

The Twits

Zootopia 2

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