STORYLINE: In 2075, a girl witnesses a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit fall from the sky. He comes from an idyllic far future where time travel is possible. She shelters him and will do whatever it takes to help him return to his time. (IMDb) 

  Elio, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2 are all all currently nominated for the best animated featured Oscar.  Rounding out the field of nominees is the French anime, fantasy feature Arco.  

    The heart of the story is a simple boy meets girl story.  Within that story are elements that make it a classic fantasy feature, such as time travel, and robots.  There are exciting, yet still age appropriate, chases to spice up the film.  It is an entertaining story.

    Arco has three distinct animated looks. There is a dark distinct look for the dystopian scenes.  The time travel sequences are bright, as to be ecoected since rainbows are the way to tine travel. In between, and for the majority of the movie, is a middle ground of the two.  

   In a year of, at best, mediocre animated features Arco is the best of the nominees for animated feature film.  That disappoints me, because the past few years have produced some incredibly strong nominees and winners with folks such as Flow (2024), Spider Man Across the Universe (2023), Boy & the Heron (2023), and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022).  I hope Arco wins, because it has the best story. In the end I think the winner will, unfortunately be, KPop Demon Hunters. The category will go for popularity over quality. 

   Arco is an Oscar nominated anime fantasy feature, that is entertaining.

    Until next time I will see you at the movies!