Pixar always wins is this category.. right? This category is difficult to predict this year, but I’ll do my best. It’s interesting that none of this years animated films are nominated for anything outside of their own categories, not even original score or original song. With that said, let’s get on to the nominees.

I’m starting to think that I may have overhyped Brave, getting way too excited about Pixar. I haven’t seen the movie after my theater run, so I don’t really have time to gain a second opinion on the movie. The Golden Globes gave the movie their award, showing that Pixar may take the award on the simple ground that it’s a Pixar movie.

The next nominee is Frankenweenie. The academy seems to have a love-hate relationship with Tim Burton. Just looking at his animation career, he was previously nominated for Corpse Bride, but lost to Aardman’s Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. Frankenweenie has managed good reviews, but is unlikely to match up to this year’s frontrunner. Plus, the fact that it’s not as good as some of it’s fellow nominees.

And that includes The Pirates! Band Of Misfits. With Aardman currently possessing the only Animated Feature oscar for a stop-motion movie, we could see an instance of history repeating itself, for the funny Pirates Of The Caribbean wannabe. However, the main disadvantage for this movie is the fact that it came out way back in March, and many academy voters may have forgotten about it. I think that if any stop-motion film is going to walk away with this award, it’s going to be..

ParaNorman. Much like Coraline, I was frightened away by the promos, but both movies proved to be beautiful and incredibly dark animated movies to go down in history. I know that I can never doubt Laika again, and the film’s August release date means that more academy voters will still remember it and be willing to award the film for it’s artistry and story. I would be happy to see it win, but if not, hey! I can’t wait to see what Laika plans to release in the future.

But the most likely winner is Wreck-It Ralph. Not only is it easily the best video-game movie ever made, but watching it again, I found myself liking it even more and started to make sense of some of the plot holes. Nowadays, I spend a lot of my free time reading Wreck-It Ralph fanfiction, which certainly speaks to the power of the movie. And you have to love the art direction, creating three very distinct worlds that the viewers long to visit. Also, have you noticed that Walt Disney Animated Studios has NEVER won in this category? Well, there’s a first time for anything, and I have changed my mind on which is the better movie.

Will Win: Wreck-It Ralph
Runner’s Up: Brave
Should Win: Wreck-It Ralph