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2026 Oscars | 21 Potential Best Animated Short Contenders
Credit: Éiru (Cartoon Saloon), The Night Boots (Am Stram Gram), Playing God (Studio Croma), Snow Bear (Aaron Blaise Studios), A Sparrow’s Song (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg), Trash (Esma)
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. Here are twenty-one animated shorts that we could see contend for the 98th Academy Awards:
As If the Earth Had Swallowed Them Up (Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado)
Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado, or As If the Earth Had Swallowed Them Up, was among the year’s first shorts to qualify for Oscar consideration, winning the Short Film Jury Award: Animation at the Sundance Film Festival. This personal story from writer/director Natalia León centers on a young woman who returns to her homeland of Mexico, confronting the unresolved trauma she thought was in the past.
The Beasts (Les Bêtes)
In this black-and-white stop-motion short, director Michael Granberry channels legendary animator Ladislas Starevich with demented puppets and a dark atmosphere. Les Bêtes has already received over twenty accolades, including Oscar-qualifying prizes at Annecy and AmDocs Film Festival.
Budō
This stop-motion short, directed by Amanda Aagard and Alexander Toma, won the Best Animated Short prize at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, paving the way for Oscar eligibility. Also garnering Special Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival, this tale follows a widow who takes in a stray cat that quickly takes over her tiny Tokyo apartment.
Butterfly Kiss
Zohar Dvir’s short, which won the Chicago International Film Festival’s Gold Hugo prize, calls Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis to mind. Both concern a person transforming into an insect, although Butterfly Kiss also serves as an allegory for a woman’s fear of commitment. It’s where gamophobia and entomophobia coincide.
Cafunè
Directors Lorena Ares and Carlos Fernandez de Vigo won the Oscar-qualifying Goya Award for Cafunè, the tale of a young refugee whose harrowing experience at sea comes flooding back when her doll falls into a swimming pool.
Éiru
Cartoon Saloon is no stranger to the Oscars, scoring Best Animated Feature nominations for The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, and Wolfwalkers. The studio has also received a Best Animated Short nomination for Late Afternoon. Giovanna Ferrari could bring Cartoon Saloon an overdue win for Éiru, a mythical tale that won Best Animated Short at the RiverRun International Film Festival, the James Horgan Award at Galway Film Fleadh, and the Animated Grand Prize at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival. All three are Oscar-qualifying prizes.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
It’s been almost twenty years since Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski scored an Oscar nomination for Madame Tutli-Putli, which lost to Peter & the Wolf. The duo may return to the Oscars with The Girl Who Cried Pearls, an original story that plays like a classic fable. Their stop-motion short has qualified for Oscar consideration with its win for Best Canadian Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Humantis
Paris Baillie’s Humantis won the Grand Jury Prize for animation at AFI Fest. This experimental stop-motion short revolves around creatures known as Humantises, masters of deception who all fit the same mold. When one undergoes change, though, the Humantis struggles to find its place.
Mother’s Child
Qualifying for Oscar consideration through its win for Best Animated Short at the Dallas International Film Festival, director Naomi Noir tells the story of a mother trying to balance her career with raising her nonverbal son. With a surreal style, Mother’s Child communicates in ways that only animation can.
The Night Boots (Les Bottes de la nuit)
Pierre-Luc Granjon, who previously co-directed the feature The Inventor, won multiple awards at Annecy for his haunting yet charming short, The Night Boots. This included the Cristal for Best Short, qualifying it for the Oscars. Based on the shadowy designs, you might assume The Night Boots is closer to a nightmare than a pleasant dream, but as a young boy learns, appearances can be deceiving.
ParaNorman: The Thrifting!
ParaNorman scored the second Best Animated Feature nomination for Laika, a studio that’s been defined by its stop-motion artistry. While this short from director Thibault LeClercq is CG, it preserves the style and spirit of its predecessor with Anna Kendrick reprising her role as sister Courtney. The Thrifting accompanies the limited theatrical re-release of ParaNorman, possibly giving Laika another shot at the Oscars (assuming they keep it in theaters long enough to qualify).
Playing God
Imagine a body horror story told from a clay figure's perspective. That’s one way of describing Matteo Burani’s Playing God, which won Best Animated Short at the Oscar-qualifying Tribeca Film Festival. It could follow in the footsteps of An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It and Wander to Wonder, two Oscar-nominated shorts about little figures in a big world.
Retirement Plan
Actor Domhnall Gleeson lends his voice to Ray, a man who is eager to grow old and retire. Irish Director John Kelly won top prizes at Palm Springs International ShortFest and South by Southwest, meaning he may be able to retire with an Oscar nomination to his name.
The Shyness of Trees
Sofiia Chuikovska, Loïck Du Plessis D argentré, and Lina Han won the bronze prize at the Student Academy Awards for The Shyness of Trees. Mother Nature and Human Nature collide in this short as a woman struggles to accept the passing of her parent, who is becoming one with the Earth.
Silent Panorama
Winning the Grand Prix Anima at the Brussels Animation Film Festival, Nicolas Piret’s Silent Panorama is among the most uniquely crafted films in the Oscar conversation. The entire short was drawn and animated on one sheet of paper, telling the story of two campers answering the call of the wild.
Snow Bear
Former Disney animator Aaron Blaise shared in a Best Animated Feature nomination for Brother Bear. His background is on full display in Snow Bear, which achieved Oscar eligibility through its theatrical run, according to Cartoon Brew. Blaise may follow the same trajectory as fellow Disney alumni Glen Keane, who won Best Animated Short with Kobe Bryant for Dear Basketball.
A Sparrow’s Song
Tobias Eckerlin’s film was named this year’s recipient of the gold Student Academy Award in the animation category. This World War II-set short was inspired by a true story, following a grieving widow who tries to save a dying bird, finding hope against a bleak backdrop. Since 2016, two Student Academy Award winners have gone on to be nominated for Best Animated Short: Daughter and An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It. A Sparrow’s Song may be next.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey
Many felt Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem should’ve been nominated for Best Animated Feature a couple of years ago. The Animation Brand might right a wrong by nominating this Kent Seki-helmed short, which premiered at Annecy and will play theatrically with The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Seeing the turtles travel to New Jersey to confront a toy company ripping off their image, a nomination for Chrome Alone 2 would be reminiscent of when The Longest Daycare got in following The Simpsons Movie snub.
Trash
Nabbing Best in Show at SIGGRAPH, Trash is anything but. The story depicts an epic battle between a rat and a pigeon for a piece of pizza. Although it has eight credited directors (Gregory Bouzid, Maxime Crançon, Robin Delaporte, Mattéo Durand, Romain Fleischer, Alexis Le Ral, Margaux Lutz, Fanny Vecchie), only two can be designated as nominees if Trash makes the Oscar five. AMPAS really ought to revise that rule.
The 12 Inch Pianist
The silver Student Academy Awards went to Lucas Ansel’s The 12 Inch Pianist, a fresh spin on a “guy walks into a bar” joke adapted from a New Yorker short story.
Versa
Malcon Pierce, who has worked on several animated Disney films since Tangled, directed Versa, which chronicles a couple as they embark on “a cosmic dance of life.” According to Pixar Post, Versa played at the El Capitan Theatre for a week last April, which would qualify for Oscar consideration. Why Disney isn’t giving it the wide theatrical rollout with Zootopia 2 is beyond me.
Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!
