^{Credit: Arco (Neon)}

 Arco has won Best Animated Feature at the 97th National Board of Review Awards. Ugo Bienvenu's colorful sci-fi fantasy has been generating awards buzz ever since premiering at the 78th Cannes Film Festival last May, when it competed for the Camera d'Or. Arco went on to win the Cristal Award for Best Feature Film at Annecy, along with another award for Arnaud Toulon's music. The film not only gained a major U.S. distributor in Neon, but Natalie Portman came on board as a producer. Arco is also currently nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Astra Film Awards, while Portman is up for Best Voice Over Performance. Its National Board of Review win almost certainly means that it'll be nominated at the 98th Academy Awards in January. 

The National Board of Review has a solid track record for predicting the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Shrek, Spirited Away, Finding Nemo, Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Rango, Inside Out, Coco, Soul, Encanto, and Flow won the National Board of Review on their way to winning the Academy Award. Every NBR winner has at least been nominated at the Oscars: Corpse Bride, Cars, Wreck-It Ralph, The Wind Rises, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Kubo and the Two Strings, Incredibles 2, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. So, it would be unprecedented for Arco to miss out on an Oscar nomination. 

Arco's biggest competitor will be KPop Demon Hunters, which recently won Best Animated Film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. While KPop Demon Hunters has become a household name, Flow proved last year that a small, European animated feature can go all the way. Arco may do the same, especially if it continues to pick up critics' prizes leading up to the televised awards. Stay tuned on Cartoon Contender as we explore the animation races at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and the Golden Globes over the next week. 

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