Annie Awards: ‘Pinocchio’ Leads the Pack with Nine Nominations; Juried Awards Announced

This morning, ASIFA-Hollywood announced that nominees for this year’s 50th Annie Awards (annieawards.org), celebrating excellence in animation and VFX across movies, series, shorts and more. The nominations span over 30 categories, including a new Limited Series contest.  The winners will be announced at an in-person ceremony held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday, February 25.

Netflix has a significant presence this year, with three feature film contenders the Best Feature race and another in the Indie Feature category. In fact, festival favorite and major hit for the streamer Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is the most-nominated title over all, receiving nine nods including Best Feature and Best Director. Netflix series and special productions like Love, Death + Robots Vol. III, The House and Oni: Thunder God’s Tale are also multi-category nominees.

Top 5 Most-Nominated Films 

• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix) – 9 nominations
• Turning Red (Disney/Pixar) – 7
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal/DreamWorks) – 6
• The Sea Beast (Netflix) – 6
• The Bad Guys (Universal/DreamWorks) – 5

Top 5 Series & Specials

• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Hare (Apple TV+) – 7 nominations
• The House (Netflix) – 6
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale (Netflix) – 6
• Love, Death + Robots (Netflix) – 5
• BAYMAX! (Disney+) – 3

The winners of the 2023 Juried Awards were also announced, honoring unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation:

• The Winsor McCay Award in recognition of lifetime or career contributions are being presented to three recipients –
  • Pete Docter, animated feature writer/director and Pixar CEO
  • Evelyn Lambart (posthumously), early National Film Board of Canada collaborator, including her significant series of short films
  • Craig McCracken, prolific, influential television series creator
• The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact will be awarded to Mindy Johnson, author, historian and educator.
• The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry will be presented to Visual Effects Reference Platform, initially developed by Nick Cannon and Francois Chardavoine to eliminate incompatibilities between digital content creation software.
• The Certificate of Merit Award for service to the art and industry will be presented to John Omohundro.

And the nominees are…

BEST FEATURE

• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio– Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish– DreamWorks Animation
• The Sea Beast – Netflix
• Wendell & Wild – Netflix Presents A Monkeypaw Production / A Gotham Group Production

BEST INDIE FEATURE

• Charlotte – January Films, Ltd., Balthazar Productions, and Walking the Dog
• Inu-Oh – Science SARU
• Little Nicholas, Happy as Can Be – On Classics (Mediawan) / Bidibul Productions
• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC
• My Father’s Dragon – Cartoon Saloon for Netflix

BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION

• Prehistoric Planet – BBC Studios in association with Apple
• Superworm – Magic Light Pictures
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions
• The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix
• The Sandman – A Netflix Original Series / A Warner Bros. Television Production

BEST SHORT SUBJECT

• Amok – Boddah
• Black Slide – The Hive Studio, in co-production with FlipBook Studio
• Ice Merchants – COLA Animation production & Wild Stream
• Love, Dad – 13ka, in co-production with FAMU & nutprodukcia
• The Flying Sailor – National Film Board of Canada

BEST SPONSORED

• Can’t Negotiate the Melting Point of Ice – NOMINT
• Minions: The Rise of Gru / The Office – Illumination
• Save Ralph – Arch Model Studio ●
• Ted Lasso: The Missing Christmas Mustache – Apple presents a Doozer Production in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television
• Today’s Holiday Moments Are Tomorrow’s Memories – Hornet

BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL

• Elinor Wonders Why “Rest Is Best” – SHOE Ink. LLC
• Gabby’s Dollhouse “Cakey’s Cupcake Cousins” – DreamWorks Animation
• Rise Up, Sing Out “Name Tag” – Disney TV Animation
• Spirit Rangers “Thunder Mountain” – Laughing Wild / Netflix
• The Tiny Chef Show “Pancakes” – Tiny Chef Productions LLC / Imagine Entertainment

BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN

• Abominable and the Invisible City “Everest Returns” – DreamWorks Animation
• Big Nate “The Legend of the Gunting” – Nickelodeon Animation
• Moominvalley “Lonely Mountain” – Gutsy Animations
• The Owl House “King’s Tide” – Disney TV Animation
• We Baby Bears “A Real Crayon” – Cartoon Network Studios

BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE

• Bob’s Burgers “Some Like it Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner” – 20th Television/Bento Box Entertainment
• Harley Quinn “Batman Begins Forever” – Warner Bros. Animation
• Rick and Morty “Night Family” – Rick and Morty LLC
• The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII” – A Gracie Films Production in Association with 20th Television Animation
• Tuca & Bertie “The Pain Garden” – The Tornante Company

BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES

• BAYMAX! “Sofia” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
• El Deafo “Everybody Sounds So Weird” – Lighthouse Studios in association with Apple
• HouseBroken “Who’s Having a Merry Trashmas?” – Kapital Entertainment and FOX Entertainment
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale “The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production
• Undone “Rectify” – Tornante Company and Amazon Studios

BEST STUDENT FILM

• Au revoir Jérôme! – Student director: Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet & Chloé Farr | Gobelins, l’école de l’image
• Birdsong – Student director/producer: Michelle Cheng | California Institute of the Arts
• Synchronie Passagère – Student director: Julia Le Bras-Juarez | Supinfocom Rubika
• The Most Boring Granny in the Whole World – Student director: Damaris Zielke | Student producer: Jiayan Chen | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
• The Soloists – Student directors: Mehrnaz Abdollahinia, Feben Elias Woldehawariat, Razahk Issaka, Celeste Jamneck & Yi Liu | Gobelins, l’école de l’image

BEST FX – TV/MEDIA

• Cars on the Road “Road Rumblers” – Pixar Animation Studios – Christopher Foreman, Elana Lederman, John Lockwood, Jae Jun Yi, Justin Ritter
• Love Death + Robots “Bad Traveling” – Blur Studio for Netflix | FX Production Company: Blur Studio – Kirby Miller, Igor Zanic, Joseph H. Coleman, Steven Dupuy, Josh Schwartz
• Prehistoric Planet “Coasts” – BBC Studios in association with Apple | FX Production Company: MPC
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions | FX Production Company: NoneMore Productions – Peter Baynton, Raymond Pang, Martial Coulon
• The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix | FX Production Company: Nexus Studios – Germán Díez, Álvaro Alonso Lomba, Hugo Vieites Caamaño

BEST FX – FEATURE

• Avatar: The Way of Water – 20th Century Studios / Disney Studios | FX Production Company: Wētā FX – Johnathan M. Nixon, David Moraton, Nicholas Illingworth, David Caeiro Cebrian, Alex Nowotny
• Lightyear – Pixar Animation Studios | FX Production Company: Pixar – Carl Kaphan, Cody Harrington, Hope Schroers, Jon Barry, Nate Skeen
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company | FX Production Company: MPC – Aaron Weintraub, Warren Lawtey, Alireza Malmiri, Baptiste Malbranque, Mikhail Donchenko
• Minions: The Rise of Gru – Illumination – Frank Baradat, Simon Pate, Milan Voukassovitch, Milo Riccarand
• The Sea Beast – Netflix | FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks – Spencer Lueders, Dmitriy Kolesnik, Kiel Gnebba, Oleksandr (Alex) Loboda, Jeremy Hoey

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA

• Entergalactic – Netflix / Mad Solar / Khalabo Ink Society / Edelgang – Aziz Kocanagullari
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale “The Mighty Storm Gods” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Toshihiro Nakamura
• StoryBots: Answer Time “Taste” – JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix – Henrique Baron
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Tim Watts
• The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Kecy Salangad

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE

• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Teresa Falcone
• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Eric Anderson
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Tucker Barrie
• The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Jorge Capote
• The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Min Hong

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION

• Avatar: The Way of Water – 20th Century Studios / Disney Studios | FX Production Company: Wētā FX – Daniel Barrett, Stuart Adcock, Todd Labonte, Douglas McHale, Stephen Cullingford
• Beast – Universal Pictures, RVK Studios, Will Packer Productions | FX Production Company: Framestore – Alvise Avati, Chris McGaw, Bora Şahin, Krzysztof Boyoko, Laurent Benhamo
• Finch – Amblin Partners, Apple Original Films | FX Production Company: MPC – Simon Allen, Harinarayan Rajeev, Paul Nelson, Matthias Schoenegger
• Jurassic World Dominion – Amblin Entertainment & Universal Pictures | FX Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic – Jance Rubinchik, Alexander Lee, Rich Bentley, Antoine Verney Carron, Sally Wilson
• Peacemaker – HBO Max | FX Production Company: Wētā FX – Michael Cozens, Mark Smith, Kai-Hua Lan, Selene McLean, Richard John Moore

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME

• Cuphead – The Delicious Last Course – Studio MDHR – Chad Moldenhauer, Hanna Abi-Hanna
• God of War Ragnarök – Santa Monica Studio
• Horizon Forbidden West – Guerrilla – Richard Oud, Jan-Erik Sjovall, Guerrilla Animation Team
• Moss: Book II – Polyarc – Richard Lico
• Potionomics – Voracious Games – Emily Lattanavong , Anguel Bogoev

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

• Amphibia “The Hardest Thing” – Disney TV Animation – Joe Sparrow
• Entergalactic – Netflix / Mad Solar / Khalabo Ink Society / Edelgang – Meybis Ruiz Cruz
• Love Death + Robots “Jibaro” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Alberto Mielgo
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale “The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Rebecca Chan
• Spirit Rangers “Belly of the Beast” – Laughing Wild / Netflix – Marie Delmas

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE

• Luck – Skydance LLC – Massimiliano Narciso
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – Jesús Alonso Iglesias
• Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie – Nickelodeon Animation Studio – Ida Hem
• The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Taylor Krahenbuhl
• Wendell & Wild – Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production / A Gotham Group Production – Pablo Lobato

BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA

• BAYMAX! “Sofia” – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Lissa Treiman
• exception / エクセプション “Misprint” – Studio 5 / Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. for Netflix – Yûzô Satô | サトウユーゾー
• More Than I Want to Remember – Mugeni Film LLC, MTV Entertainment Studios – Amy Bench, Maya Edelman
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale “The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Daisuke ” Dice” Tsutsumi
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE

• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Domee Shi
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson
• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC – Dean Fleischer Camp, Kirsten Lepore, Stephen Chiodo
• My Father’s Dragon – Cartoon Saloon for Netflix – Nora Twomey
• Wendell & Wild – Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production / A Gotham Group Production – Henry Selick

BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA

• Love Death + Robots “The Very Pulse of the Machine” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Rob Cairns
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale “Onari’s Kushi Power” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Zach Johnston, Matteo Roberts
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Isobel Waller-Bridge, Charlie Mackesy
• The Cuphead Show! “Carn-Evil” – Netflix Animation – Ego Plum
• The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Gustavo Santaolalla

BEST MUSIC – FEATURE

• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Ludwig Göransson, Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale
• Mad God – Tippett Studio – Dan Wool
• The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Daniel Pemberton
• The Sea Beast – Netflix – Mark Mancia, Nell Benjamin, Laurence O’Keefe

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

• Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Echoes of Eternity” – Adult Swim ○ Scott Wills
• Mall Stories – Atilla the Grilla – Chromosphere / Kikutowne – Jasmin Lai, Lauren Zurcher, Junyi Wu
• Oni: Thunder God’s Tale “The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Robert Kondo, Rachel Tiep-Daniels, Lia Tin, Yohei Hashizume, Masa Inada
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Mike McCain
• The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Niklas Nilsson, Alexandra Walker

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE

• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Curt Enderle, Guy Davis
• Mad God – Tippett Studio – Phil Tippett
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – Nate Wragg, Joseph Feinsilver, Claire Keane, Wayne Tsay, Naveen Selvanathan
• The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Luc Desmarchelier, Floriane Marchix
• The Sea Beast – Netflix – Matthias Lechner, Jung Woonyoung

BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA

• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners “Let You Down” – CD Projekt Red in association with Netflix – Kaneko Yoshiyuk
• Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight “The Knight’s Code” – DreamWorks Animation – Grace Liu
• Looney Tunes Cartoons “Hex Appeal” – Warner Bros. Animation – Mike Ruocco
• Love Death + Robots Episode “The Very Pulse of the Machine” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Emily Dean
• The Cuphead Show! “A Very Devil Christmas” – Netflix Animation – Karl Hadrika

BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE

• Minions: The Rise of Gru – Illumination – Nima Azarba
• Minions: The Rise of Gru – Illumination – Dave Feiss
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – Anthony Holden
• Strange World – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Jeff Snow
• Strange World – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Javier Ledesma Barboll

BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA

• Looney Tunes Cartoons “Hex Appeal” – Warner Bros. Animation – Candi Milo (character: Witch Hazel)
• StoryBots: Answer Time “Glue” – JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix – Fred Tatsciore (character: Bang)
• Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls Mayhem in the Multiverse – Warner Bros Animation – Tara Strong (character: Harley Quinn)
• The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder “New Kids on the Block” – Disney TV Animation – Karen Malina White (character: Dijonay Jones)
• Zootopia+ “The Godfather of the Bride” – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Maurice LaMarche (Character: Mr. Big)

BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE

• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – David Bradley (character: Geppetto)
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Gregory Mann (character: Pinocchio)
• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC – Jenny Slate (character: Marcel)
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – Wagner Moura (character: Wolf)
• The Sea Beast – Netflix – Zaris-Angel Hator (character: Maisie Brumble)

BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA

• BAYMAX! “Sofia” – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Cirocco Dunlap
• Big Nate “The Legend of the Gunting” – Nickelodeon Animation Studio – Mitch Watson, Emily Brundige, Ben Lapides, Sarah Allan
• Love Death + Robots “Bad Traveling” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Andrew Kevin Walker
• The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Enda Walsh
• Tuca & Bertie “The Pain Garden” – The Tornante Company ○ Lisa Hanawalt

BEST WRITING – FEATURE

• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Domee Shi, Julia Cho
• Eternal Spring (長春) – Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc. – Jason Loftus
• Inu-Oh – Science SARU – Akiko Nogi
• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC –  Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm

BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA

• Amphibia “All In” – Disney TV Animation – Andrew Sorcini, Yoonah Yim, Jennifer Calbi, Julie Anne Lau, Louis Russell
• Green Eggs and Ham “The Sam Who Came in from the Cold” – Gulfstream Pictures/ A Stern Talking To/A Very Good Production in association with Warner Bros. Animation for Netflix – Margaret Hou
• Karma’s World “Keys, The Inventor” – 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films and Karma’s World Entertainment for Netflix – Damien Dunne, Ultan Murphy, Emma O’Brien, Fred O’Connor, Aiden McKenna
• Star Trek: Lower Decks “The Stars at Night”– CBS’s Eye Animation Productions, Titmouse; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment – Andy Maxwell, Zach Lamplugh, Brandon Brocker, Paul Mazzotta
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Daniel Budin

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE

• Lightyear – Pixar Animation Studios – Tony Greenberg, Katie Bishop, Chloe Kloezeman, Axel Geddes, Tim Fox
• Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Nicholas Smith, Steve Bloom, David Suther, Anna Wolitzky, Christopher Zuber
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Ken Schretzmann, Holly Klein, Emily Chiu, Hamilton Barrett
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – James Ryan, ACE, Jacquelyn Karambelas, Natalla Cronembold, Joe Butler, Katie Parody
• The Sea Beast – Netflix – Joyce Arrastica, ACE, Will Erokan, Vivek Sharma, Michael Hugh O’Donnell, Daniel Ortiz