Pixar’s ‘Coco’ is no shoo-in for BAFTA

On Tuesday, the BAFTAs introduced an interesting twist to the debate over the best animation of late.

As expected, the “British Oscars” nominated “Coco,” Pixar’s awards-season frontrunner that took home the Golden Globe on Sunday as the best animated feature.

And in a welcome affirmation, the European film “Loving Vincent,” also a Globe nominee, received a nod here, too.

But unlike the Globes, the BAFTAs did not include another major Hollywood studio animation like “The Boss Baby” or “Ferdinand.” Instead, the third and final BAFTA nod went to “My Life As a Courgette (My Life As a Zucchini),” the dark-humored charmer from Swiss director Claude Barras that qualified for an Oscar nomination last year.

Tuesday’s BAFTA threesome raises an interesting prospect: Could this be the major film award that steers away from the acclaimed “Coco” and prefers a movie that looks hand-crafted? “Courgette” uses winningly intricate stop-motion, and “Loving Vincent” employed scores of painters to create the many Van Gogh-style canvases that animate the film.

The thing is, such a Davidover-Goliath outcome is not without precedent. Just last year, the BAFTAs chose “Kubo and the Two Strings,” Travis Knight’s visually stunning stop-motion film from Laika, over three huge films from the Disney banner: “Moana,” “Zootopia” and Pixar’s “Finding Dory.”

“Kubo” marked the first time ever that the BAFTAs did not choose a primarily CG-animated film as its animated feature winner. (Also worth noting: Every previous BAFTA animation winner has had ties to an American studio.)

But after “Kubo,” we can’t count out the real option that the BAFTAs will be the rare awards body not to go with the beautiful “Coco.”

The BAFTA winners will be announced Feb. 18 at a Royal Albert Hall ceremony.