No anime in 93rd Oscars Animated Feature nominee list

93rd Oscars Best Animated Feature category doesn’t include any anime film, and fans are sad.

The announcement for the 93rd Oscars held just a few hours ago gave no mention of any anime movie in the nomination list.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has live-streamed their announcement for the Best Animated Feature category today March 15, 2021. The nomination list honors movies released in 2020.

Likewise, the Oscars nominates these films for the Best Animated Feature award:

• Onward (Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae)
• Over the Moon (Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou)
• A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmaggedon (Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley)
• Soul (Pete Docter and Dana Murray)
• Wolfwalkers (Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants)

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was submitted for the nomination for the 93rd Oscars Best Animated Feature category. However, it failed in making the list. Additionally, fans of the movie have voiced their disappointment in its exclusion from the list online.

The film was set to have a special release at the Aratani Theater inside Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo community on March 31, 2020. Instead, the anime’s official English website states that it will be coming to U.S. & Canada in early 2021.

Earwig and the Witch, Lupin III: The First, On-Gaku: Our Sound, Ride Your Wave, and A Whisker Away are the other anime films gunning for this year’s nomination.

How the Oscars nominate animated films

All Oscar-nominated films should be screening three times daily in Los Angeles County theaters for at least 7 days. The Academy defines its criteria (PDF) for the Best Animated Feature award as follows:

• An animated feature film has a running time of more than 40 minutes.
• In an animated film, the animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time.
• In addition, a narrative animated film must have a significant number of the major characters animated.
• If the picture is created in a cinematic style that could be mistaken for live-action, the filmmakers must prove why it’s not a live-action movie.

In addition, the Academy adapted its rules for the pandemic. To sum up, a film can be considered if it:

• Had a previously planned release but is initially made available through streaming or other platforms.
• Is streaming on the Academy’s Screening Room member site. (Within 60 days of the film’s streaming/VOD release or broadcast)

Brief History of Oscars Anime Film nominations

The Oscars hold the awarding for the Best Animated Feature since its 74th edition in 2002. In summary, here’s the list of animated films made in Japan which are nominated:

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