The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has announced the honorees for outstanding achievement in animation, who will be celebrated at the 44th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Friday, April 28 in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Netflix/DreamWorks Animation Television series dominate this year’s half-dozen selections, with two artists each from Trollhunters and The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show to be feted, as well as representatives of Nickelodeon’s Pig Goat Banana Cricket and Amazon’s Little Big Awesome (animated by Titmouse).
These juried awards are decided by a panel of industry judges who review submissions from individuals and chosen based on a single episode’s work. Individual Achievement in Animation honors recognize specialized craft areas in animation, such as character design, storyboard, art direction, background design, character animation, et al.
“We received an unprecedented number of submissions this year and the level of accomplishment shown by these animators is amazing,” said David Michaels, SVP, Daytime Emmy Awards. “The panel of peer judges have an incredibly high bar for these animators to reach and the work of these individuals chosen were all unanimously agreed upon as worthy of the prestigious Emmy Award.”
This year, the judges panel has selected six stand-out artists for the honors.
2017 Individual Achievement in Animation awardees:
Mike Chaffe, Animator
Trollhunters “Becoming, Part 1” (Netflix)
Kevin Dart, Art Director
The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show “The Wrath of Hughes” (Netflix)
Phil Jacobson, Storyboard Artist
Pig Goat Banana Cricket “Mall Ya Later” (Nickelodeon)
Victor Maldonado, Character Designer
Trollhunters “Win, Lose or Draal” (Netflix)
Khang Le, Art Director
Little Big Awesome (Amazon)
Eastwood Wong, Background Painter
The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show “Pea Dummy/Mary Anning” (Netflix)