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Shortlists Unveiled For 98th Academy Awards, Including Animated Short And VFX Categories
Animation on this year’s shortlists is way down after a banner year in 2025. Only ‘Golden’ from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ appears in a non-dedicated category.
Shorts
Noomi Rapace, Alexander Skarsgård Headline All-Star Cast For Niki Lindroth Von Bahr’s Next Stop-Motion Short ‘The Rose’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Lindroth von Bahr offers a look into her unique casting process and creative approach, which helped her secure major Scandinavian and European acting talent.
Our Annual Look At The Year’s Oscar-Qualified Animated Shorts: 39 Profiles
With shortlist voting starting today, we’re revisiting all 39 Oscar-qualified animated short profiles we put together this year.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘The Quinta’s Ghost’ Director James A. Castillo
Castillo discusses the film’s horror roots, innovative technological pipeline, and adapting the aesthetic of Francisco de Goya’s Black Paintings in animation.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Butterfly’ Director Florence Miailhe
Miailhe’s painted animation brings Alfred Nakache’s memories to life, charting a swimmer’s resilience through beauty, trauma, and water.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Jesus 2’ Director Jesse Moynihan
Cartoon Network vet Moynihan delivers a surreal tale of rebirth and existential dread, blending sacred imagery with lo-fi aesthetics.N
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Forevergreen’ Directors Nathan Engelhardt And Jeremy Spears (EXCLUSIVE BTS)
The gorgeous CG short follows an orphaned bear cub taken in by a paternal tree, before a hunger for human leftovers leads to disaster.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Póg Mo Pigeon’ Director Clíodhna Lyons (EXCLUSIVE BTS)
Featuring 2D, storybook animation, ‘Póg mo Pigeon’ is the distinctly Irish tale of Mikey, a boy growing up in a strict Catholic household.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Luz Diabla’ Directors Gervasio Canda, Patricio Plaza, And Paula Boffo
‘Luz Diabla’ is a folk-horror story from the team behind 2022 standout ‘Carne de Dios,’ blending queer rave culture with Argentine myth and neon 2D animation.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘I Died In Irpin’ Director Anastasiia Falileieva
Ukrainian director Anastasiia Falileieva discusses ‘I Died in Irpin,’ her autobiographical documentary short on war, trauma, and resilience.
So This Is Christmas: Dave Mullins’s Oscar-Winning Anti-War Short ‘War Is Over!’ Is Online Now
Inspired by the music of John and Yoko and created in Unreal Engine, the short tells the story of two opposing soldiers’ unique battlefield connection.
Craving More ‘Zootopia’? These Four Dialogue-Free Chinese Shorts Have You Covered
Disney and Shanghai Animation Film Studio teamed on this four-pack of ‘Zootopia’ animated shorts in different traditional Chinese styles.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Cafuné’ Directors Carlos F. De Vigo And Lorena Ares (EXCLUSIVE BTS)
‘Cafuné’ examines Europe’s immigration crisis through a child’s eyes, tracing the echoing trauma of her perilous Mediterranean crossing.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Il Burattino E La Balena’ Director Roberto Catani
The haunting Ottawa-winning short explores identity, autonomy, and the human world through the eyes of a puppet who, unlike Pinocchio, rejects transformation.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Inkwo For When The Starving Return’ Director Amanda Strong
Strong’s haunting stop-motion short unspools in the near future, where the fate of the world rests on Dove, a mysterious warrior who can shift gender.
Disney Legend Andreas Deja’s Long-Awaited Directorial Debut ‘Mushka’ Will Finally Debut Online On Dec. 15
The long-anticipated short brings Deja’s extensive 2D expertise to global audiences, blending emotional storytelling with expressive hand-drawn animation.
Niles Atallah Takes Us Into A Twisted Utopia With The First Trailer For ‘Merrimundi’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The surreal sci-fi musical’s first trailer reveals Atallah’s hallucinatory blend of stop-motion, mixed-media animation, and cosmic sonic unrest.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘My Brother, My Brother’ Director Abdelrahman Dnewar
Abdel Dnewar’s hybrid-animated short examines twinhood, subjective memory, and loss, honoring the life and artistry of his late brother and co-director, Saad.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘A Sparrow’s Song’ Director Tobias Eckerlin
An elderly widow in WWII London finds healing through an unlikely bond with a sparrow, whose song brings hope to children sheltering from the bombs.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Voyage Of The Red Rabbit’ Director Sam Gualtieri
The SCAD thesis short blends real family recordings with a rabbit’s cosmic journey, brought to life through Maurice Noble–inspired animation.