I obviously haven't seen 'Soul' so it's hard to compare it. I'd say under normal circumstances there is absolutely no way 'Best Film' would even be on the table based on the previews I've seen. We're talking a genre where Spirited Away did well to win best animated film and 'Soul' isn't even in the same sport, much less the same league. There's also the timing of the release days before the end of the year with few people even going to see it this year. It's pretty obvious that's intentional to force it to be considered this year. That shouldn't be rewarded. It will almost certainly win best animated film being from Disney. Regardless of how stunning Wolfwalkers is, unless you know a little about the history and myths of Ireland, some of what goes on doesn't have a lot of context for those in the US. It's not as obscure as 'Secret of Kells', but still. If it were to win best film, I think a lot of people would see it as an 'apology Oscar' for not awarding one to them sooner. That's certainly happened a number of time for live acted films, but it would be a shame for that to be the case for the first animated film to win.
I obviously haven't seen 'Soul' so it's hard to compare it. I'd say under normal circumstances there is absolutely no way 'Best Film' would even be on the table based on the previews I've seen. We're talking a genre where Spirited Away did well to win best animated film and 'Soul' isn't even in the same sport, much less the same league. There's also the timing of the release days before the end of the year with few people even going to see it this year. It's pretty obvious that's intentional to force it to be considered this year. That shouldn't be rewarded. It will almost certainly win best animated film being from Disney. Regardless of how stunning Wolfwalkers is, unless you know a little about the history and myths of Ireland, some of what goes on doesn't have a lot of context for those in the US. It's not as obscure as 'Secret of Kells', but still. If it were to win best film, I think a lot of people would see it as an 'apology Oscar' for not awarding one to them sooner. That's certainly happened a number of time for live acted films, but it would be a shame for that to be the case for the first animated film to win.