ASIFA-Hollywood’s 48th Annual Annie Awards, honoring overall excellence as well as individual achievement in animation across 36 categories, were held tonight as a live streamed virtual ceremony this Friday, April 16. The star-studded presentation, often a predictor for the Oscar animation races, bestowed multiple honors on awards-season favorites Soul (seven wins, including Best Feature) and Wolfwalkers (five, including Best Indie Feature) — which tied for most nominations this year with 10 each; graphic novel-inspired streaming series Hilda (three) and Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal (two).
The virtual awards show made the best of its format, with lively presenters such as Josh Gad, Matthew Rhys, Philippa Soo, Eva Whittaker, Patrick Warburton, composer Michael Giacchino and directors Sergio Pablos, Jill Culton, Nora Twomey and Matthew A. Cherry. Many of the award winners offered hilarious and poignant acceptance speeches, especially the team at Cartoon Saloon who stole the show with their clever and creative spots. Hats off to everyone at ASIFA for producing such an entertaining and satisfying virtual show. Of course, we do look forward to going back o the live version of this annual event in 2022, fingers crossed.
See the full list of nominees here.
And the winners are…
BEST FEATURE: Soul | Pixar Animation Studios
BEST INDIE FEATURE: Wolfwalkers | Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION: The Snail and the Whale | Magic Light Pictures
BEST SHORT SUBJECT: Souvenir Souvenir | Blast Production
BEST SPONSORED: There’s a Monster in My Kitchen | Cartoon Saloon, Mother
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL: The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru” | Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN: Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” | Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
BEST TV/MEDIA – GENERAL AUDIENCE: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Coven of the Damned” | Cartoon Network Studios
BEST STUDENT FILM: La Bestia | Gobelins, l’école de l’image | Directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt
BEST FX FOR TV/MEDIA: Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World” | Production Company: DreamWorks Animation | FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation and CGCG Inc. | Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang, Chris Wombold, Kyle Goertz, Kathy D. Tran
BEST FX FOR FEATURE: Soul | Production/FX Company: Pixar Animation Studios | Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA: Hilda | Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks | David Laliberté
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE: Soul | Pixar Animation Studios | Michal Makarewicz
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION: The Mandalorian | Production Company: Lucasfilm | FX Production Company: Image Engine | Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Insomniac Games | Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA: Amphibia “The Shut-In!” | Disney TV Animation | Joe Sparrow
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE: Wolfwalkers | Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS | Federico Pirovano
BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Plague of Madness” | Cartoon Network Studios | Genndy Tartakovsky
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE: Wolfwalkers | Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS | Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA: Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death” | Lucasfilm Animation | Kevin Kiner
BEST MUSIC – FEATURE: Soul | Pixar Animation Studios | Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA: Shooom’s Odyssey | Picolo Pictures | Julien Bisaro
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE: Wolfwalkers | Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS | María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA: Looney Tunes Cartoons “Big League Beast / Firehouse Frenzy” | Warner Bros. Animation | Andrew Dickman
BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE: Soul | Pixar Animation Studios | Trevor Jimenez
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA: Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act” | DreamWorks Animation | David Bradley (Merlin)
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE: Wolfwalkers | Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS | Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)
BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA: Big Mouth “The New Me” | Netflix | Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison
BEST WRITING – FEATURE: Soul | Pixar Animation Studios | Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA: Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” | Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks | John McKinnon
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE: Soul | Pixar Animation Studios | Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk
JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award: Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously), Bruce Smith
June Foray Award: Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi
Ub Iwerks Award: Epic Games’ Unreal Engine
Special Achievement Award: Howard
