The Critics Choice Association (CCA) celebrated the winners of the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards Sunday night during a gala ceremony hosted by Chelsea Handler. Among the roster of film and television honorees across numerous categories, we were of course most interested to see which film and series took home the animation gold as Awards Season rolls on!
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio scored another accolade for Netflix Animation and its multi-award-winning director, winning Best Animated Feature. This audience and critic-lauded new take on the classic Collodi story about a wooden puppet brought to life has won dozens of honors, including the Golden Globe for animated motion picture, and from critics’ groups across the country.
While Pinocchio was the sole animated breakout in this year’s CCA nominees, it did not come out on top in the Best Song or Best Score competition. These went to RRR tune “Naatu Naatu” and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir for Tár.
James Cameron’s blockbuster return to Pandora, Avatar: The Way of Water also continued its critics’ and film society winning streak with the Critics Choice Award for Best Visual Effects. The sci fi epic hit a worldwide box office of $1.9+ billion as of Sunday.
In the television contests, HBO Max adult comedy toon Harley Quinn scored its first official Critics Choice Award for Best Animated Series. The acclaimed DC series won for Best Voice Actress in an Animated Series (Kaley Cuoco, voice of Harley Quinn) at the inaugural Critics Choice Super Awards for genre entertainment in 2021, where it was also nominated for Best Voice Actor (J.B. Smoove as Frank the Plant) and Best Animated Series.
In addition, Janelle Monáe received the SeeHer Award, and Jeff Bridges was honored with the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
You can find the full lists of winners and nominees at criticschoice.com.
Best Animated Feature
- WINNER: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)
- Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (A24)
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (DreamWorks/Universal)
- Turning Red (Pixar/Disney)
- Wendell & Wild (Netflix)
Best Animated Series
- WINNER: Harley Quinn (HBO Max)
- Bluey (Disney+)
- Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
- Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal (Adult Swim)
- Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+)
- Undone (Prime Video)
Best Visual Effects
- WINNER: Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century)
- The Batman (DC/Warner Bros.)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel/Disney)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
- RRR (Variance/Sarigama)
- Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount)
