^{Credit: Autokar (Sylwia Szkiladz), Forevergreen (Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears), Gigi (Cynthia Calvi), Wednesdays with Gramps (DreamWorks Animation), Cardboard (Locksmith Animation), Hurikán (Jan Saska)} 

Getting nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar is one thing, but simply qualifying is an obstacle course in and of itself. Typically, there are three ways to qualify: 1) Win a Student Academy Award, 2) Win an award at an Oscar-qualifying film festival, or 3) Have your short play theatrically in a commercial theater. The eligible entries are narrowed down to a shortlist of fifteen, which will be announced on December 16, 2025. From there, five nominees will be headed to the Oscars. Cartoon Contender previously discussed twenty-one animated shorts that we could see contend for the 98th Academy Awards. Here are twenty-one more:

Autokar

Sylwia Szkiladz’s coming-of-age short chronicles a young girl’s bus journey from Poland to Belgium as she retreats into her imagination. Winning the Oscar-qualifying Golden Pegasus at the Animator International Animated Film Festival and the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, will Autokar’s final destination be the Oscars?

Cardboard

Locksmith Animation previously brought us the features Ron's Gone Wrong and That Christmas. Jean-Philippe Vine is aiming to bring the studio their first Oscar nomination for Cardboard, which is eligible through exhibition. This personal story centers on a father pig and his two piglets, who move into a trailer park where make-believe helps them adjust to a new reality.

Dembaya

Dembaya tells an immigration story about a young African girl and her family who must flee to Ireland amid a war. Director Borja Espana Guillot took a step towards Oscar eligibility with the IFTA Award for Animated Short Film at the Irish Film & Television Awards.

Detlev

Ferdinand Ehrhardt’s surreal stop-motion short follows a cold man who seeks warmth in Toast Hawaii sandwiches, but it’s a strange who may melt his frozen heart. Detlev won Best Short Film, International Animation at Festival Internacional De Cine De Lebu, CINELEBU.

Forevergreen

Between Aaron Blaise’s Snow Bear and Forevergreen from directors Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears, it’s a great year for animated shorts about bears. The latter short tells the touching tale of a nurturing tree and a lost grizzly bear, whose appetite for trash leads to disaster. The film possesses a wood-carved aesthetic, although the story is anything but wooden.

Gigi

More people seem to be embracing The Little Mermaid as a trans story. Gigi, which qualified by winning the Helen Hill Animated Short Jury Award at the New Orleans Film Festival, dives headfirst into this allegory. The titular Gigi co-wrote the short with director Cynthia Calvi, telling the story of a woman leaning to be comfortable in her own skin/scales.

Hairy Legs  

In this story of self-acceptance, Andrea Dorfman discusses why she stands by her choice not to shave her hairy legs. Mixing stop-motion and hand-painted animation, this National Film Board of Canada short qualified for Oscar consideration with a theatrical run.

Hunting (Qui part à la chasse)

Lea Favre’s stop-motion short won the Silver Dragon for animation at the Krakow Film Festival, putting it in the hunt for Oscar consideration. In search of a subject for her documentary, the protagonist follows an old man, who turns the hunter into the hunted.

Hurikán 

Imagine After Hours meets Porco Rosso. That’s the only way I can think of to describe Jan Saska’s Hurikán, where a humanoid boar sets out on a hazardous beer run in a race against the clock. Winning Best Animated Short at the HollyShorts Film Festival, the titular Hurikán has come a long way since his comic debut.

I Died in Irpin

Taking home the Grand Prize for Short Film at the Bucheon International Animation Film Festival and Best Short Film at Manchester Animation Festival, I Died in Irpin is Anastasiia Falileieva’s harrowing story about fleeing from the capital of Ukraine amid Russia’s incursion. Along with her boyfriend, she seeks refuge in Irpin, but danger stretches further than anticipated.

Murmuration (Zwermen)

Winner of Best Animated Short Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Murmuration centers on an elderly man turning into a bird. Tim Frijsinger and Janneke Swinkels’ stop-motion short may fly its way from the nursing home to the Dolby Theatre.

No Vacancy

 

 

 

 

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Draped in neon, director Miguel Rodrick takes us inside protagonist Jack, whose dilapidated motel surroundings align with his deteriorating state of mind. No Vacancy won Best U.S. Latino Animated Short Award at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, earning a place in the Academy Screening Room.

Ovary-Acting

If they gave out Oscars for Best Title, Ovary-Acting would be the biggest lock since My Year of Dicks. Director Ida Melum’s stop-motion short qualified for Oscar consideration through a theatrical run courtesy of the Rhode Island International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prize. Meldum previously won an Annie for her student film, Night of the Living Dread, which also got a BAFTA nomination.

Pow!

Director Joey Clift based Pow! on his childhood experiences as a Native American boy who was regularly dragged to powwows, where he was usually more concerned about finding an outlet to plug in his handheld game console. Qualifying by exhibition, Pow! is ready for the next level. 

Scars We Love

Leïla and Gaspard are broken up, but the scars of their relationship still run deep, and the memories run even deeper. Raphaël Jouzeau won Best Short Film at the Kaboom Animation Festival for Scars We Love, which draws us in with eye-popping backgrounds.

Shadows

Rand Beiruty’s animated documentary puts us in the shoes of a 14-year-old mother preparing to leave her home in Baghdad, but shadows of the past stalk her throughout the airport. Picking up the World Animation Competition Grand Prize at the Leeds International Film Festival and the Grand Prize at Regard – Saguenay International Film Festival, Shadows may stand out this Oscar season like a deer among wolves.

Transferable

Agora Studio’s first original project, Transferable, has qualified through theatrical exhibition. It tells the tragic tale of a man watching a fatal illness drain his wife’s life force. He’d give anything to trade places with her, which isn’t out of the question in this world. Agora co-founder David Hubert directed Transferable with Jacob Gardner, whose personal experiences provided the seed of the story.

Two Ships

Director McKinley Benson and co-writer/producer Mackenzie Benson drew from their marriage in Two Ships, the story of a couple trying to stay connected as the tides of life pull them apart. Eligible through theatrical distribution, Two Ships was co-produced with Cola Animation, which previously worked on the Oscar-nominated Ice Merchants.

Wednesdays with Gramps

Brothers Chris and Justin Copeland explore inter-generational bonding in Wednesdays with Gramps, a highly stylized CG short with heart. It’s one of two theatrical shorts that DreamWorks Animation released this year, the other being The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis.  

Whale 52 - Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale

Bill Plympton has two Oscar nominations for Your Face and Guard Dog. Plympton's signature is all over director Daniel Neiden’s Whale 52, the tale of a silent child, an elderly widower, and the loneliest whale. One of the characters is voiced by Bruce Vilanch, who knows a thing or two about the Oscars. The film was co-written by Neiden and Edward Jordon, and was based on the latter's own experience working as a school volunteer.

Winter in March

The puppets in Natalia Mirzoyan’s stop-motion film find their surroundings literally unraveling as the war in Ukraine drives a couple to leave their home. Winning the Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Short Film at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Winter in March could make it to the Oscars this March.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!