It’s Thursday and I’m back with a new Thursday Movie Picks feature post. This series is hosted by Wandering through the Shelves and offers you a weekly prompt to post some movie recommendations/talking points according to the theme. Usually, you are supposed to post about 3-5 examples, which I find a very manageable amount.

This week is once again part of the Oscar Winner Edition, which will continue to be a reoccurring theme during each month. After having taken a break during October in favor of a Halloween theme, we are back with Best Animated Movies. I can’t really recall watching an animated movie BUT I can proudly say that I have watched every single movie that has won an Oscar for best animated feature. The category “only” exists since around 2000, so I didn’t have that much to comb through, but how exciting? I think I genuinely liked 90% of the movies, so narrowing it down will be hard.

Spirited Away

I highly doubt I understood what this movie really entailed when I watched it as a little kid, but I definitely knew right away that it was something special. I fell in love with the style of animation, the quirkiness and oddness of the story, the (to me) unexpected depth. To this day, it’s my favorite Miyazaki movie.

Big Hero 6

Baymax being absolutely adorable aside, I loved the family aspect of this, especially the relationship between Hiro and Tadashi. I don’t know what else to say. It was really good.

Inside Out

This movie wrecked me when I watched it. There are so many layers to it and still, it works for children just as well as for adults. I’ve seen it several times now and found something new to appreciate upon each rewatch.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The animation for this movie is impeccable. The characters amazing. Miles Morales being front and center is pure satisfaction. You know me to be a Marvel simp, but I never expected to be that much into the animation. I usually prefer live-action, but this might just be the best Spider-Man movie we have.

Soul

Not gonna lie, Soul put me into a bit of an existential crisis, but in a good way. Totally in a good way! Pixar … they get me every single time.

Some of my Favorite Nominees

As I’ve stated in the beginning, I really enjoyed almost all the winners. They are fantastic movies, but I also wanted to give a quick shout out to some of my favorite nominees:

• Brother Bear
• Lilo & Stitch
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
• Monsters Inc.
• Coraline
• The Princess and the Frog
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Klaus

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I’m pretty sure all of those movies also made me cry at one point or another. So, I kind of even had a theme within the theme? Still, movies like Finding Nemo, Shrek, Wall-E, Up and so many more would have just as equally deserved to be mentioned this week. What are some of your favorite Best Animated Feature winners?