With 1/10 odds from our 26 movie Experts, “Zootopia” is predicted to win Best Animated Feature at Sunday’s Academy Awards. It was produced by Walt Disney and directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. Both directors are nominated for the second time — Howard has a past bid for “Bolt” (2008), and Moore contended for “Wreck-It Ralph” (2012) — and Disney has been nominated 10 times (not counting Pixar productions), winning for “Frozen” (2013) and “Big Hero 6” (2014). This season, “Zootopia” has already won the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature in addition to victories at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and Producers Guild Awards. The 2017 Oscars air live Sunday on ABC and are hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Sign up to get Gold Derby’s free newsletter
with experts’ latest predictions and breaking news
Twenty-five of our 26 Experts are predicting a “Zootopia” victory: Thelma Adams (Gold Derby), Matt Atchity (Rotten Tomatoes), Erik Davis (Fandango), Eric Deggans (NPR), Edward Douglas (Weekend Warrior), Joyce Eng (TV Guide), Bonnie Fuller (Hollywood Life), Tim Gray (Variety), Matthew Jacobs (Huffington Post), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Scott Mantz (Access Hollywood), Jack Mathews (Gold Derby), Michael Musto (Out.com), Tom O’Neil (Gold Derby), Kevin Polowy (Yahoo), Christopher Rosen (Entertainment Weekly), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Nicole Sperling (Entertainment Weekly), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily), Anne Thompson (IndieWire), Peter Travers (Rolling Stone), Brian Truitt (USA Today), Adnan Virk (ESPN), Glenn Whipp (LA Times) and Susan Wloszczyna (RogerEbert.com).
In second place is “Kubo and the Two Strings” with 16/1 odds; the one Expert picking that film to win is Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby). It’s directed by Travis Knight for Laika, the stop-motion animation production company that has earned four previous nominations in this category without a win. Knight himself is nominated for the second time, following another Laika film two years ago, “The Boxtrolls” (2014). This season “Kubo” has been nominated at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes and Producers Guild Awards, and it pulled off a surprise victory against “Zootopia” at the BAFTAs.
Dish the Oscars with Hollywood insiders in our notorious forums
Much further behind are “Moana” (directed by Ron Clements and John Musker) with 50/1 odds, “The Red Turtle” (directed by Michael Dudok de Wit) with 66/1 odds, and “My Life as a Zucchini” (directed by Claude Barras) with 80/1 odds. “Moana’s” Clements and Musker were both previously nominated in this category for “The Princess and the Frog” (2009), and Clements had one other nomination for “Treasure Planet” (2002). “Red Turtle’s” Dudok de Wit has two previous noms for Best Animated Short, winning for “Father and Daughter” (2000). And “Zucchini’s” Barras is a first-time nominee.
According to our overall combined odds featuring the predictions of all Experts, Editors, Top 24 Users (those who did the best at their winner picks last year), All-Star Top 24 (who got the highest scores when you combine the last two years’ Oscars) and All Users, the rankings are exactly the same. The favored pick of over 2,400 people is “Zootopia” with 1/5 odds over “Kubo and the Two Strings” with 15/2 odds. “Moana” follows with 40/1 odds, and then “The Red Turtle” at 66/1 and “My Life as a Zucchini” at 80/1.
Predict the Oscar winners now; change them till February 26
Be sure to make your Oscar predictions. Weigh in now with your picks so that Hollywood insiders can see how their films are faring in our Oscar odds. You can keep changing your predictions right up until just before winners are announced on February 26 at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET. And join in the fierce debate over the Oscars taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our forums.
