One Of 2025's Best Animated Movies Never Stood A Chance Against KPop Demon Hunters (And That's A Shame)

The 2026 Oscars have come and gone, and the biggest Cinderella story of the evening was "K-Pop Demon Hunters." The film went from a movie Sony Pictures Animation dumped on Netflix to one Netflix initially underestimated in favor of "In Your Dreams" as a K-pop musical about demon hunting, only to emerge as arguably the biggest film of 2025. It forced Netflix to partner with Mattel to produce toys, and it helped force the platform to partner with AMC to screen the hit animated musical in theaters. And, in the end, "K-Pop Demon Hunters" won not only Best Animated Feature, but also Best Original Song for "Golden."

It was a well-deserved victory for Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, even if it meant the Best Animated Feature race was over months before it even began. Other movies just as deserving of praise and awards never stood a chance. Such is the case with "Little Amélie or the Character of Rain."

Directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han, the film is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel "The Character of Rain" by Amélie Nothomb. It follows the titular French-speaking Amélie (Emmylou Homs), born to Belgian parents living in Japan in the 1960s. Amélie is so slow to develop at birth that a doctor tells her parents she's just "a vegetable." But when her grandmother visits the family one day and gives little Amélie some Belgian white chocolate, she immediately gains the ability to walk and talk with a better lexicon than most adults. Oh, and Amélie is also convinced that she's a god.

"Little Amélie" is one of the best movies of 2025, and even if the Academy was never going to reward it, it is still worth checking out.

Remember when "Inside Out" perplexed and marveled audiences with the sight of an animated kids' movie about a young girl who experiences depression? What if it had been even more emotionally devastating? That is "Little Amélie." 

This is a movie best described as the story of an extremely depressed 2-year-old with a sippy cup in one hand and a metaphorical cigarette in the other. The film leans into the Japanese folkloric belief that kids are close to the realm of the gods until age 3. And so, Amélie believes herself to be a god, navigating the world around her and all the challenges that come with it. 

Indeed, what makes this movie special — beyond just looking absolutely gorgeous — is how well it balances a child-like sense of wonder and discovery with the pain of grief. She learns of the horrors of the bombs that rained on Japan during WWII, and also how fun koi fish and traditional Japanese festivals are. 

"Little Amélie" owes a lot to Isao Takahata's masterpiece "The Tale of Princess Kaguya," one of only four perfect anime movies on Rotten Tomatoes. Both movies are about seemingly supernatural beings learning to be human, discovering the wonderful things in life, and the painful ones. Amélie learns of loss, death, and discrimination. She experiences despair to the point of trying to take her own life, yet continues to see the beauty in it. 

That this is a movie about a literal 2-year-old experiencing such things, and the fact that the movie treats it with as much gravitas as if it were a drama about a 30-year-old, makes "Little Amélie" one of the best movies of 2025.

As unfortunate as it is to see "Little Amélie" not really get a fair shot at the Best Animated Feature Oscar, it isn't uncommon. Every year, it seems there is one challenging movie dismissed from public favor because of its medium. If movies like "Flee" — which centers on the life of an Afghan refugee — or "Loving Vincent" — which pushes the medium of animation forward with experimental and spectacular visuals — were made in live action, they would be worshipped. Sadly, because they're animated, they are easily dismissed by Oscar voters.

Merit isn't everything when it comes to awards season. Yes, the Oscars can be quite unfair; this isn't news. Between the costs associated with an awards campaign and the sheer brand recognition of a big studio doing most of the heavy lifting, many smaller international movies never stand a chance. As seen almost every year at the Oscars, there is still a massive stigma that animation is just for children and that Disney is the only studio making it. Even when Disney doesn't win, the vast majority of Best Animated Feature winners are still big studio movies, often produced for "all ages."

The year "The Tale of Princess Kaguya," the very last movie Isao Takahata ever made, was nominated for an Oscar, it lost to "Big Hero 6." The phenomenal "Flee" lost to "Encanto." And those are only years where the winner was nowhere near as good or monumental as the underdog. There are years where, unfortunately, the big mainstream studio movie is just too good to ignore. "Anomalisa," as good and complex as it was, stood no chance against "Inside Out."

"Little Amélie" is a fantastic movie, but unfortunately, it had no chance against HUNTR/X.