Golden Globes 2022: Why Disney Might Lose Best Animated Feature
The Golden Globes 2022 are right around the corner. And while the awards ceremony itself won’t be available to watch along, fans can still catch up with many of the nominated movies from the comfort of their own homes. The Best Animated Feature category should be home to one of the more interesting races. Oftentimes, Disney walks away with the trophy. But this year, the House of Mouse might not be able to squeak out that Golden Globe win.
Disney often wins the animated categories during awards season
The Walt Disney Company, of course, pioneered animated film. Its Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was the first feature-length animated production. So it stands to reason Disney would have a foothold in the medium at the Golden Globes and beyond during awards season. And between Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, the company has two production houses to contend with.
In fact, Disney and Pixar have collectively won the Best Animated Feature category 11 of the 15 years since the category was introduced. Recent years have shown more diversity among the winners, however. Two of the last three winners — Laika’s Missing Link and Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came from other studios. And Disney’s loosening grip on the category could continue going into Golden Globes 2022.
But the studio faces steep competition at the Golden Globes 2022
A brief overview of the Best Animated Feature cateogy at Golden Globes 2022 might make it look like Disney has an easy victory. After all, the studio technically has three of the five nominees at play. These include Disney Animation’s Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon as well as Pixar’s Luca. But there’s a hidden dark horse among this year’s nominations for Best Animated Feature.
The Czech animated movie My Sunny Maad probably won’t be able to overcome Disney’s trio. But the animated documentary Flee just might. With a staggering 98 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is easily among the most beloved releases of the year. And it’s combination of a harrowing true story and the involvement of Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau could put it over the edge. Besides, Disney could split its own vote.
The 2022 Academy Awards could be a very different story
Even if Flee manages a win at Golden Globes 2022, Disney could still walk away triumphant at the Academy Awards. In 2020, Missing Link similarly beat out three Disney films: Frozen II, The Lion King, and Toy Story 4. But the Laika movie lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar to Toy Story 4, which became the first franchise to win the award twice.
The same could easily happen with Flee and another Disney film. Right now, Encanto seems to have the most support of the studio’s three contenders. The film secured three Golden Globe nominations and could be the leading contender for the Academy Award, if Disney campaigns it right. But first fans will discover who goes home with the Golden Globe.
