Mar 9, 2021

2021 BAFTA Nominations: Cartoon Saloon "Wolf Walker" takes on Pixar's "Soul" and "Onward"

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has unveiled the nominees for the 74th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), the U.K.'s equivalent of the Oscars. A few takeaways:

Pixar will be happy this morning: both its contenders, Soul and Onward, are up for the best animated feature award. The category is rounded out by Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers, an Apple TV+ exclusive. This marks the first ever BAFTA nomination for the Irish studio, which has four Oscar nominations to its name.

The BAFTAs typically nominate only three films in this category, but sometimes go for four (like last year) - the decision is made “at the discretion of the Film Committee and dependent on number of entries.”

Netflix, which won last year's award with Klaus, has less cause for cheer this time. It had two features in the longlist, Over the Moon and The Willoughbys, both of which have fallen out of the race. So has the sixth longlisted film, Dreamworks Animation's The Croods: A New Age.

In recent years, Disney hasn't dominated this category as decisively as at the Oscars or Golden Globes: it has won the BAFTA in two of the last six years. But this is the first time since 2014 that it has accounted for the majority of the nominees, and Soul, fresh from winning at the Globes, goes into this award as the favorite. The film has picked up two additional nominations, for best original score and best sound.

The BAFTAs' animated short category generally throws up interesting, relatively unhyped nominees, restricted as it is to films with “significant creative involvement” from Brits. This year's crop includes two student films from the National Film and Television School, Renaldho Pelle's The Fire Next Time and Daniel Quirke's The Song of a Lost Boy, as well as The Owl and the Pussycat.

This category is set to be shaken up next year, as the BAFTA intends to introduce a new entry requirement: qualifying shorts will have to meet the BFI Diversity Standards, which aim to boost diversity in film production. The requirement is already in place for certain other British film categories at the awards.

This year's overall list of nominees has been praised for its diversity, the focus of a seven-month review that was launched after last year's less-than-diverse selections. The organization introduced sweeping changes to its rules and processes as a result.

The winners of this year's British Academy Film Awards will be announced on April 11. The two animation categories are voted for by opt-in chapters which any BAFTA voter can join.

Here is the full list of nominees in the animation and vfx categories: