No Oscar category showcases a broader creative spectrum than animation. Where else could a $10 million 2D philosophical French drama about death compete on equal footing with the sequel to a $1 billion blockbuster?

This year’s contenders for Best Animated Feature reach across genres, cultures and styles.

Neon’s hand-crafted Arco is a Hayao Miyazaki-style time-traveling fantasy about a boy from the future who travels on rainbows and offers humanity an alternative to climate change disaster. GKids’ intimate cross-cultural childhood drama Little Amélie or the Character of Rain , another 2D film, follows the internal life of a young Belgian girl growing up in post-war Japan. Among the studio titles, we have the noir-tinged crime tale of Disney’s marquee franchise sequel Zootopia 2

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