Awards season is officially underway, and this year’s biggest kids movie is going up, up, up on everyone’s prediction lists.

The Golden Globes announced its 2026 nominees this morning, and Netflix’s summer sensation KPop Demon Hunters (pictured) came out swinging in three categories. 

As for other family-friendly films officially in the running, Disney’s just-released Zootopia 2 bagged two nominations, and Universal’s live-actioner Wicked: For Good earned five.

KPop and Zootopia 2 are both nominated in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category, where kids movies historically dominate. Though it’s hard to deny that KPDH‘s breakout success has defined the year, the Zootopia sequel has very strong momentum out of the gate and is rapidly hurtling towards the billion-dollar mark with the help of Chinese audiences. Disney also has a second horse in this race with Pixar’s sci-fi feature Elio, which underperformed at the box office, earning US$154 million against a budget in the range of US$150 million to US$200 million.

The Globes are striking a good balance this year, with two French indie films also in the mix for best animated feature. There’s Arco, a fantasy film that picked up the top prize at Annecy this year and has been gaining steam ever since; and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, which is fresh off a win at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. Japanese anime also made it onto the shortlist with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, which has made an impressive US$780 million in ticket sales.

The feel-good earworm “Golden” has also put KPop in the running for Best Original Song – Motion Picture. This nomination is really no surprise, since the Billboard Global 200-topping song has been an integral driver of the Netflix film’s viral success. But it’ll have plenty of competition from Wicked: For Good, which scored nods with two new tracks written for the movie, “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble”. 

What’s more interesting is that KPop Demon Hunters joins the Zootopia and Wicked sequels in being nominated for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement—a two-year-old category that has only shortlisted big-screen releases until now, considering that “box office” is in the name of the award. This recognition means the Globes simply couldn’t ignore the unique trajectory of a streaming-first release like KPDH. It’s a success story that even pushed Netflix—which typically keeps theaters at arm’s length—to make an exception with not one but two limited theatrical engagements.