‘Coyote vs. Acme' Ruled Eligible for Best Animated Feature Oscar — Crashes the Race Against ‘Wildwood’ and ‘Toy Story 5’

“Coyote vs. Acme," the movie David Zaslav once tried to bury as a tax write-off, has officially been ruled eligible for Best Animated Feature at the 2027 Oscars, via Gold Derby.

This wasn't a given. Back in August, word was that Ketchup Entertainment wouldn't even submit the film, since it might fall short of the Academy's rule that animation must fill 75% of the runtime. That stance softened to "pending further review," and now the Academy has ruled in the movie's favor.

If "Coyote vs. Acme" gets nominated, it would be only the second live-action/animation hybrid ever nominated in the category, after "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On." It would also be the first Looney Tunes feature to land with the Academy. "Back in Action" and "The Day the Earth Blew Up" got nothing.

I've been covering this saga since November 2023, when Warner Bros. shelved the completed $70M Dave Green film, produced by James Gunn, for a $30M tax break, a year after it wrapped. It tested in the high 90s. Zaslav reportedly never even watched it. Multiple buyers showed interest, and Warners turned them all away. It looked dead.

Then Ketchup stepped in, paying around $50M for worldwide rights. The film opened to $15M in late August and, and went on to gross about $125M+ worldwide. Not a blockbuster, but a strong result for a movie that wasn't supposed to exist.

This eligibility ruling comes 48 hours after Eric Bauza, who voiced the Road Runner in the film along with Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Tweety, passed away. There’s certainly now going to be a sentimental angle to the whole thing.

Now for the race. Until now, Best Animated Feature has been a two-horse race between Laika's "Wildwood" and Pixar's "Toy Story 5." "Wildwood" is the critical darling, the most beautiful stop-motion film I've seen in years, but its box office has been soft. "Toy Story 5" is fine, but does anybody really feel the urge to hand Pixar a third straight "Toy Story" Oscar? “Coyote vs. Acme” has now turned into the dark horse. The other contenders in the category include “Iron Boy,” “Tangles,” “Ray Gunn,” “Hoppers,” and “Forgotten Island.”

I'm thinking, should "Coyote vs. Acme" even be considered an animated film? Will Forte and John Cena are real people arguing in a real courtroom. That's ‘Roger Rabbit’ territory. The Academy requires animation to cover 75% of a film's runtime, and somehow this movie cleared that bar. What do you guys think?