The 97th Academy Awards are right around the corner, and I’ve been in a serious crunch to watch as many of the 2025 Oscar nominees as humanly possible. Lately, I’ve been focussing on the Best Animated Feature category, which I long thought would go to either The Wild Robot or Flow, two of the best 2024 movies. But that recently changed now that I’ve wrapped up the little marathon.
It appears I saved the best for last…
My favorite animated movie of 2024 ended up being a shocking surprise; an experience that resonated with me greatly and one I don’t think I’ll soon forget. But before I talk about my favorite 2025 Oscar-nominated animated film, first let me explain how I came to this decision.
The Wild Robot Was My Favorite For Months, But Then Flow Came Around And Left Me In Awe
I took my daughter to see The Wild Robot last fall, and the DreamWorks animated film blew me away on so many different levels. The emotional, gratifying, and triumphant story of a lone robot finding purpose in a strange world by raising a young gosling was like nothing I’d experienced before. The animation, which felt more like a moving watercolor painting than a 3D-animated feature film (as seen in the film's trailer) was so unique, so refreshing and so pleasing to the eyes that I have found myself looking at screenshots ever since it became available with a Peacock subscription.
But then I watched Flow. Though watching it with my kids was a mistake for a number of different reasons, this Latvian animated fantasy film about a cat trying to survive a mysterious flood with a group of other animals was a brilliant and contemplative exploration of life, death, rebirth, and survival. Utterly terrifying at times, and strikingly beautiful at others, this movie made entirely in the free and open-source Blender software was unlike any other animated film, or any other movie, in recent memory. I still need to revisit it with my Max subscription, though.
Inside Out 2 And Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Had Their Strengths, But Left Me Wanting More
I took my kids to see Inside Out 2 on the final day of our family vacation last summer, and it was honestly one of the most enjoyable and cathartic experiences of the year. The story of Riley Anderson coming to terms with her changing emotions while her inner feelings also grapple with the change (and new additions like Anxiety) was astonishing, moving, funny, and incredibly relatable. However, the animation itself wasn’t all that groundbreaking.
Sure, it was pretty to look at, as is the case with the best Pixar movies, but unlike The Wild Robot or Flow, it didn’t really do anything new. A technical achievement, yes; a work of art, not so much. I revisited Inside Out 2 with my Disney+ subscription when it dropped last fall, but was left feeling the same way about the visuals.
I had a similar experience when I watched Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl when the stop-motion animated movie became available with a Netflix subscription in early 2025 (it was released in the United Kingdom late last year). Only this time, I loved the painstakingly crafted claymation effects but I didn’t really connect with the story. Sure, I loved watching Gromit save Wallace from Norbot and his army of gnomes, but it didn’t check all the boxes like The Wild Robot or Flow.
However, there was a stop-motion animated movie that checked all the boxes and then some. I guess it’s time to talk about my favorite…
Memoir Of A Snail, With Its Stop-Motion Animation, Emotional Story, And Offbeat Tone Won Me Over
I first heard Memoir of a Snail at some point in 2024, but completely forgot about it until the Oscar nominees were announced this January. Well, I finally watched Adam Elliott’s stop-motion animated tragicomedy that explores death and loss with a whole lot of heart, emotion, and some offbeat comedy that left me crying one moment and laughing the next.
Centering on Grace Pudel, a lonely misfit who was separated from her twin brother following the tragic death of their father (their mother died years earlier in childbirth), the movie navigates the full gamut of emotion and life experiences. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the snails of life are all on display as the woman reflects on the trials and tribulations of her childhood, adolescence, and now adulthood.
Like The Wild Robot and Flow, Memoir of a Snail takes a lot of risks with its story, sticks the landing, and pretty much checks every other box I have in my head while watching films propped up to be “best of the year.” It also had the elements of Inside Out 2 and Vengeance Most Fowl that I enjoyed so much, as well as the aspects both of those films were missing.
In Fact, Memoir Of A Snail Impacted Me More Than Pretty Much Any 2024 Movie
I watched a lot of movies in 2024, and a lot of those impacted me in more ways than one. But the movie that impacted me more than pretty much any other was Memoir of a Snail. It’s been days since I watched Grace navigate grief in a mad, mad world, but I still can’t stop thinking about her journey, her experiences (both good and bad), and how she kept a positive and pragmatic attitude about life.
Similar to how I loved the way We Live in Time handled illness and death, this Oscar-nominated short film used its medium to argue that death, loss, and grief aren’t necessarily bad things. Sure, they bring pain and sorrow, but they also allow us to reflect and grow. These trials and tribulations, though hard to get through, make us better, more well-rounded, and more resilient when it’s all said and done.
Will I be mad if Memoir of a Snail loses to either The Wild Robot or Flow at the 97th Academy Awards? No, not really. But, I will be ecstatic if this weird little Australian stop-motion animation film defies the odds and wins it all!