Nominations voting is from January 8-12, 2025, with official Oscar nominations announced January 17, 2025. Final voting is February 11-18, 2025. And finally, the 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2, and air live on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT. We update our picks throughout awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.
The State of the Race
The Oscar shortlist for Best Animated Short includes “Au Revoir Mon Monde,” “A Bear Named Wojtek,” “Beautiful Men,” “Bottle George,” “A Crab in the Pool,” “In the Shadow of the Cypress,” “Magic Candies,” “Maybe Elephants,” “Me,” “Origami,” “Percebes,” “The 21,” “Wander to Wonder,” “The Wild-Tempered Clavier,” and “Yuck!”
The list represents 13 countries (with two from the U.S.), with a preponderance of 2D and stop-motion over CG and some unique experimentation (such as painting on rolls of toilet paper). There is one Oscar-winning director and two nominees, and two Student Academy Award winners from 2024. Surprisingly, no American studio works made the cut (such as Disney’s “An Almost Christmas Story,” directed by David Lowery and produced by Alfonso Cuarón).
Among the buzziest contenders are “Wander to Wonder,” “Yuck!,” “Maybe Elephants,” “Beautiful Men,” “In the Shadow of the Cypress,” and “A Bear Named Wojtek.” In fact, all but “Maybe Elephants” received Annie Award nominations for short or special production.
“Au Revoir Mon Monde” (France, CG, directed by Estelle Bonnardel, Quentin Devred, Baptiste Duchamps, Maxime Foltzer, Florian Maurice, and Astrid Novais): The Student Academy Awards gold medal winner is about a meteor crash and a sushi restaurant mascot dressed as a fish who frantically rushes to a clock tower before the end of the world.
“A Bear Named Wojtek” (U.K., Poland, 2D, directed by Iain Gardner): An orphaned brown bear, previously adopted by Polish soldiers during World War II, is brought to Scotland, where he becomes Edinburgh Zoo’s famous bear, Wojtek.
“Beautiful Men” (Belgium, France, Netherlands, stop-motion, directed by Nicolas Keppens): Melding Fellini-esque reality and fantasy, it tells the story of three bald brothers on a trip to Istanbul for hair transplant surgery and their fears about aging.
“Bottle George” (Japan, stop-motion, directed by Dice Tsutsumi): Tonko House co-founder Tsutsumi (best known for “The Dam Keeper” nominated short) explores the relationship between a young girl struggling with her fear of her alcoholic father and a small creature trapped inside a bottle (voiced by Japanese comedian Akihiro Nishino).
“A Crab in the Pool” (Canada, 2D, directed by Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien Hamel): A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl who is annoyed by having to look after her younger brother but must find a way to heal their relationship.
“In the Shadow of the Cypress” (Iran, 2D, directed by Hossein Molayemi & Shirin Sohani): A former captain with PTSD, who lives with his daughter, is pulled out of his isolation by the unexpected arrival of a stranded whale.
“Magic Candies” (Japan, CG, directed by Daisuke Nishio): When a boy buys a bag of colorful, marble-shaped candies, he gains the ability to hear voices.
“Maybe Elephants” (Canada, Norway, 2D, directed by Torill Kove): Oscar winner Kove (“The Danish Poet”) offers an autobiographical ode to family from the National Film Board of Canada. It’s about a family trip to Nairobi in the ’70s with three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and a confusing memory about a herd of elephants.
“Me” (U.S., 2D, directed by Don Hertzfeldt): Indie Oscar-nominated legend Hertzfeldt salvaged an unrealized musical project (rumored to be with Arcade Fire) and turned it into a musical odyssey about humanity’s retreat inward as a way of dealing with trauma.
“Origami” (Japan, CG, directed by Kei Kanamori): The Student Academy Awards silver medal winner is about a magical character that transforms folded sheets of CG-animated paper into living plants and creatures.
“Percebes” (Portugal, France, 2D, directed by Alexandra Ramires & Laura Gonçalves): Winner of the Annecy Cristal for Best Short, this animated documentary explores the weird-looking barnacle known as percebes in Portugal.
“The 21″ (Egypt, U.S., U.K., 2D, directed by Tod Polson): Mixing live-action footage with animation in the style of Coptic iconography, the film pays tribute to the 21 Coptic men murdered by ISIS in Libya in 2015.
“Wander to Wonder” (Netherlands, stop-motion, directed by Nina Gantz): When the creator of an ’80s children’s TV series dies, the three tiny stars are all alone in the studio. They struggle to find enough to eat while continuing to make strange episodes for the fans.
“The Wild-Tempered Clavier” (Germany, stop-motion, pixilation, 2D, directed by Anna Samo): This is an experimental short inspired by the prelude to J.S. Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier” and a tribute to the technique of painting directly on 35mm by painting on rolls of toilet paper.
“Yuck!” (France, 2D, directed by Loïc Espuche): A group of kids at their holiday camp freak out when they witness adults of all ages kissing in public.
Potential nominees are listed in alphabetical order; no film will be deemed a frontrunner until we have seen it.
Frontrunners
“Beautiful Men”
“In the Shadow of the Cypress”
“Maybe Elephants”
“Wander to Wonder”
“Yuck!”
Contenders
“Au Revoir Mon Monde”
“A Bear Named Wojtek”
“Bottle George”
“A Crab in the Pool”
“Magic Candies”
“Me”
“Origami”
“Percebes”
“The 21”
“The Wild-Tempered Clavier”