We're just under four months away from the 2016 Academy Awards (for your diaries: February 28, 2016), but Mark Kermode already has a pick for the Best Picture prize.

Speaking to Digital Spy, the BBC Radio 5 live film critic backed Pixar's Inside Out to take home the top gong.

"I think it'd be great if 2016 was the year that Inside Out became the first animated feature to win the Best Picture Oscar," he said.

Beauty and the Beast, Up and Toy Story 3 are the only animated features to earn Best Picture nominations, but all three lost out on the night.

Inside Out's avalanche of critical praise - it sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes - and $840 million worldwide box office haul could help boost its chances.

BFI

"The odds are shortening, the last time I looked it was 16/1 - that's not actually bad going," Kermode added. "Beyond that, who knows? The Oscars are a strange beast."

Furthermore, Kermode believes that a nomination for George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road is "possible" since the Academy expanded its Best Picture nominees to a maximum of 10.

"They did that deliberately in order to get blockbuster movies in," Kermode explained. "But honestly, trying to second guess the Academy... you look at the list of winners and go 'really?!'

"I mean Driving Miss Daisy was the best film out that year? That must have been a strange year."

The nominations for the 88th Academy Awards will be announced on January 14, 2016. The ceremony - presented by Chris Rock - will follow on February 28.

Mark Kermode is introducing movie classics on the BFI's new streaming service BFI Player+.

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