Zootopia 2 & Elio Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film

The 98^th Academy Awards will air live on ABC, stream live on Hulu, and air live in more than 200 territories worldwide on Sunday, March 15, from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The awards ceremony will be hosted once again by Conan O’Brien. This year The Walt Disney Company received 4 Oscar nominations including Best Animated Feature Film for both Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2 & Pixar Animation Studios’ Elio. In addition, Avatar: Fire and Ash received two nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects.

Let’s take a look at The Walt Disney Company’s two Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature Film.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2

First, the highest-grossing animated Motion Picture Association (MPA) film of all time, Zootopia 2, was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. The film is directed by the Oscar-winning team Jared Bush, Chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Byron Howard, Walt Disney Animation Studios Animator. The film is produced by Yvett Merino with the script written by Jared Bush.

Zootopia 2 stars Ginnifer Goodwin as the voice of Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman as the voice of Nick Wilde. In addition, the film introduces new characters and cast members including Ke Huy Quan as the voice of Gary De’Snake, Fortune Feimster as the voice of Nibbles and Quinta Brunson as the voice of Dr. Fuzzby.

To date, Zootopia 2 has grossed over $1.703 billion globally and is still in theaters.

Pixar Animation Studios’ Elio

In addition to Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2, Pixar Animation Studios’ Elio is also nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. The film is directed by Madeline Sharafian (Burrow Sparkshort), Domee Shi (Bao short, Turning Red) and Adrian Molina (co-screenwriter/co-director of Coco), and produced by Mary Alice Drumm (associate producer of Coco).

Elio features the voices of Yonas Kibreab as Elio, Zoe Saldaña as Aunt Olga, Remy Edgerly as Glordon, Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon, Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa and Shirley Henderson as OOOOO. Unlike Zootopia 2, Elio was not well received at the box office. However, the film was released on Disney+ on September 17 and quickly became a popular streaming hit. The film reached 5.6 million views in the U.S. during its first five days on Disney+, reaching the #1 spot on Disney+ charts.

The 98^th Academy Awards

In addition to Disney’s Zootopia 2 and Pixars Elio, other nominees for Best Animated Feature Film include Neon’s Arco, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters and GKIDS’ Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.

The 98^th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Emmy Award winners Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan return as executive producers of The Oscars^® for a third consecutive year. Jeff Ross and Mike Sweeney return as producers for a second time, with Sweeney also serving as a writer. The ceremony will air live on ABC and Hulu at 7pm ET and 4pm PT.