^{Best Animated Short Shortlist for the 98th Academy Awards}

113 films were submitted for Best Animated Short consideration at the 98th Academy Awards. That longlist has now been narrowed down to a shortlist of fifteen. The contenders that will move on to the next round of voting are...

Autokar (Sylwia Szkiladz)

Butterfly (Florence Miailhe)

Cardboard (J.P. Vine)

Éiru (Giovanna Ferrari) 

Forevergreen (Jeremy Spears, Nathan Engelhardt)

The Girl Who Cried Pearls (Maciek Szczerbowski, Chris Lavis)

Hurikán (Jan Saska)

I Died in Irpin (Anastasiia Falileieva)

The Night Boots (Pierre-Luc Granjon)

Playing God (Matteo Burani)

The Quinta’s Ghost (James A. Castillo)

Retirement Plan (John Kelly)

The Shyness of Trees (Bingqing Shu, Maud Le Bras, Simin He, Loïck Du Plessis D'Argentré, Sofiia Chuikovska, Lina Han, Jiaxin Huang)

Snow Bear (Aaron Blaise)

The Three Sisters (Konstantin Bronzit, aka Timur Kognov)

While many of the above films were expected to make the shortlist, several acclaimed shorts were left out, including As If The Earth Had Swallowed Them Up (Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado), Gigi, Murmuration, My Brother, My Brother, Ovary-Acting, Two Ships, and Whale 52, to name a few. Some of the industry's most prominent studios produced animated shorts this year, such as DreamWorks' Wednesdays with Gramps, Disney's Versa, and Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey. None of those made the lineup, although Cardboard from Locksmith Animation and Éiru for Cartoon Saloon did. 

Miyu Distribution released three of the shorts on this list: Autokar, Hurikán, and The Shyness of Trees, the latter of which won the bronze Student Academy Award for animation. Interestingly, neither the gold winner, A Sparrow’s Song, nor the silver winner, The 12 Inch Pianist, was shortlisted. Butterfly was produced by Ron Dyens, who shared in the Best Animated Feature win for Flow. Snow Bear is the longtime passion project of Aaron Blaise, who was previously nominated for Brother Bear. Snow Bear isn't the only bear-related short in contention, as Forevergreen centers on an orphaned grizzly.

For those who want to watch all of the shortlisted films, Butterfly, Retirement Plan, The Shyness of Trees, and Snow Bear are currently on YouTube. Autokar, Butterfly, Cardboard, Éiru, Forevergreen, The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Hurikán, I Died in Irpin, The Night Boots, Playing God, The Quinta’s Ghost, Retirement Plan, The Shyness of Trees, Snow Bear, and The Three Sisters are all available through The Animation Showcase's streaming platform, which industry professionals can join free of charge. The final five nominees for Best Animated Short will be announced along with the rest of the Oscar nominations on January 22, 2026. Stay tuned here on Cartoon Contender for predictions and more! 

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