OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Kubo and the Two Strings (Directed by Travis Knight)
Moana (Directed by Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker & Chris Williams)
Only Yesterday (Directed by Isao Takahata)
The Red Turtle (Directed by Michael Dudok de Wit)
Zootopia (Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore & Jared Bush)

AND THE WINNER IS:

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS (DIRECTED BY TRAVIS KNIGHT)

This is the first win and nomination for Travis Knight.

Laika studios continues to grow in my estimation. So much craft to their animation and so much care to their story telling Kubo is my estimation the greatest achievement from the young production company so far. Kubo gets so much into my soul on a plot level as a young child dealing with grief and loss so maturely is such a universal story. It also is expertly hand crafted from a visual level with the stop motion animation style in my opinion never looking better. Laika have hit a high with Kubo but they are so good they will continue to make great cinema I just wish it was more frequently.