Look Back Makes a Stand, Overtaking Wild Robot As 2024's Top-Rated Animated Movie of 2024

2024 was a great year for animated films, and few stood out more than Look Back and The Wild Robot. The former was a phenomenal adaptation of the Tatsuki Fujimoto manga of the same name, the latter was largely seen as the best DreamWorks film in years, and both are easy contenders for the best animated films of 2024, if not some of the best films of 2024, in general.

Look Back and The Wild Robot were two of the best animated films of 2024, by far, but one might have overtaken the other in prestige. With 2024 officially over, the full statistics of how certain films performed over the year are finally coming out, and to the surprise and joy of many, Look Back beat The Wild Robot in one of the biggest movie rankings of the year. It’s nothing but a testament to Look Back’s incredible quality, and it says great things about its chances at even more prestige.

Look Back Officially Overtakes The Wild Robot As The Top-Rated Animated Movie On Letterboxd

Letterboxd is a popular site for cataloging someone’s personal movie watchlist, and in recent years, it’s become a major tool for evaluating the quality of films for both casual viewers and self-proclaimed cinephiles. With how much attention Look Back and The Wild Robot received, they both ranked highly on Letterboxd’s end-of-year ranking lists, and surprisingly, Look Back surpassed The Wild Robot to be both the top-rated animated film of 2024 and the fourth-best film of 2024, in general, with The Wild Robot only ranking second and sixth on each respective list.

As for why Look Back ranked so highly, it’s easy to see why. It was one thing for the film to have creative and all-around gorgeous art and animation, but just like the original manga, Look Back tells a heartwrenching story about loss and finding yourself that anyone can relate to, and it stands out as the best adaptation of a Tatsuki Fujimoto work, by far. The Wild Robot, of course, is similarly great with its touching drama and gorgeous 3D visuals, but it makes sense that Look Back would beat it out on Letterboxd, if only by a little.

Look Back’s Letterboxd Ranking Makes Its Oscar Chances That Much Greater

Is Look Back A Shoe-In For The Oscars?

Look Back’s Letterboxd ranking is great to see, especially for what it could mean for future awards. Look Back is one of several anime movies eligible for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, and with its Letterboxd rankings solidifying its status as a high-quality film, Look Back’s Letterboxd rankings could give it a better chance at securing an Oscar nomination. Naturally, there’s no direct correlation between the two, but other major Oscar contenders like Flow, Dune: Part Two, and, of course, The Wild Robot have similarly high rankings, so things do seem to be going in its favor.

Naturally, Look Back getting at least a nomination, if not a win, would be great to see. Look Back’s quality is one thing, but anime is infamously underrepresented at the Academy Awards, so Look Back at least getting nominated for Best Animated Feature would go a long way toward helping anime receive more recognition at the Academy Awards. Overall, the success of both Look Back and The Wild Robot made 2024 a great year for animation, and it will be great to see what other honors they might receive.

Sources: Letterboxd on X, Letterboxd on X.