Take that, Oscar prognosticators! The precise greatest animated film of 2024 simply took house the Oscar for Finest Animated Characteristic on the 2025 Oscars. As visually fascinating and emotionally devastating as “The Wild Robotic” is, it simply would not really feel as groundbreaking a film as the true greatest animated film of the yr, “Movement.”
In case you have not had the pleasure of watching Latvia’s first Oscar-winning film, Gints Zilbalodis’s “Movement” follows a small black cat compelled to outlive a devastating apocalyptic flood by taking refuge in a ship alongside a canine, a lemur, a chook, and a capybara. It serves as each an outstanding catastrophe film and additionally an ideal post-apocalyptic film, solely starring a cat.
The movie is totally devoid of dialogue and not one of the characters are anthropomorphized, but every of them exudes character and appears like a fleshed-out, three-dimensional character. The movie options beautiful animation, particularly on the subject of the water, whereas Zilbalodis presents an enormous world stuffed with thriller and intrigue that retains you guessing as to what’s occurring outdoors of the story of the primary characters. It is a really particular work of animation, notably as a result of “Movement” is an indie manufacturing, with out the assist of both an enormous studio like DreamWorks or Disney, an enormous infrastructure for animation like there’s in nations like France, or perhaps a distributor with expertise with animated motion pictures and award seasons like GKIDS.
“Movement” successful Finest Animated Characteristic just isn’t solely deserved, however an indication of occasions altering on the subject of awards season, and we’re all the higher for it.
Finest Animated Characteristic is unpredictable and thrilling
“Movement” successful Finest Animated Characteristic appears like proof that we’re dwelling in a brand new period for the class and for the medium of animation. For a very long time, it felt as if the Oscars solely had a Finest Animated Characteristic class as an excuse at hand out awards to Disney and to make silly jokes in regards to the medium being for teenagers. However nowadays, the race for Finest Animated Characteristic is likely one of the most unpredictable and thrilling races in the complete Oscar season.
I’ve written earlier than about how nice it’s for the medium of animation that Disney is now not a powerhouse on the Oscars and barely will get nominated anymore, nevertheless it goes past that. Previously three years, we have seen a stop-motion animated movie from Guillermo del Toro win the Oscar, in addition to a hand-drawn Hayao Miyazaki film. Now, seeing “Movement” win the award, an indie animated film with no recognizable names and no multi-million-dollar funds for both manufacturing or advertising and marketing, really appears like affirmation that something can occur on the Oscars on the subject of animation.