Sony’s ‘Spider-Verse’ and Netflix’s ‘Blue Eye Samurai’ Sweep the Annies; ‘Robot Dreams’ Wins Best Indie Prize

The animation community showered Sony Picture Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams and Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai with a lot of love at the 51^st edition of the Annie Awards on Saturday night.

Spider-Verse, which has been going head to head with Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed hit The Boy and the Heron during the award season, ended up winning most of the major awards, with seven Annie nods (Best Studio Feature, Direction, Character Design, Effects, Music, Production Design and Editorial). The Boy and the Heron won two Annies, one for Best Storyboards (Miyazaki) and another one for Best Character Animation (Takeshi Honda). Spanish writer-director Pablo Berger took home the Annie for Best Independent Feature Annie for his charming underdog movie Robot Dreams, which was produced by his start-up studio Arcadia Motion Picture and has been picked up by Neon, with a late spring release date. Netflix’s Nimona, which was another popular title, also took home two Annies, for Voice Acting (Chloë Grace Moretz as Nimona) and for Best Writing (Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor).

On the TV/Streaming side, Blue Eye Samurai was the clear champion of the night. The Blue Spirit-Netflix series won six Annies (Best Mature TV Media, effects, character animation, production design, writing and editing). Set in 17^th century Edo period Japan, the beautifully animated 2D French-American series was created by wife and husband team Amber Noizumi and Micheal Green, with supervising director and producer Jane Wu. It debuted in November 2023 to top reviews, and it has been renewed for a second season.  Disney+’s Star Wars: Visions was another favorite. Cartoon Saloon co-founder Paul Young won the Best TV Direction Annie for the episode “Screechers Reach,” while Markus Wormstorm, Nadia Darries and Dineo du Toit won for Best Music for the episode “Aau’s Song.”

Here is the complete list of this year’s Annie winners (winning title is in bold).

2024 Annie Awards Winners & Nominees

BEST FEATURE

• Nimona – Annapurna Animation for Netflix
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse– Sony Pictures Animation
• Suzume – CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies
• The Boy and the Heron– Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS

BEST FEATURE-INDEPENDENT

• Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia– Folivari, Mélusine Productions, Studio Canal / Distributed by GKIDS
• Four Souls of Coyote– Cinemon Entertainment
• WINNER: Robot Dreams– Arcadia Motion Pictures
• The Inventor– Curiosity Studios
• White Plastic Sky– SALTO Films & Artichoke

BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION

• Invincible: Atom Eve – Amazon MGM Studios, Skybound Entertainment
• Shape Island: The Winter Blues– Bix Pix Entertainment in association with Apple
• WINNER: Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie – WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
• The Smeds and The Smoos– Magic Light Pictures
• The Velveteen Rabbit– Magic Light Pictures in association with Apple

BEST SHORT SUBJECT

• Carne de Dios– Ojo Raro & Fedora Productions
• Daffy in Wackyland– Warner Bros. Animation
• Humo – Outik Animation, 3rd Street Video, Mindsoup Entertainment, IMCINE
• Pina– Punchline Cinema / Next Days Films
• WINNER: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko– ElectroLeague

BEST SPONSORED

• WINNER: “Video Games” by Tenacious D – Pinreel Inc.
• Alzheimer’s Research UK “Change The Ending” – Passion Pictures
• “Laugh Track” by The National (featuring Phoebe Bridgers) – Bernard Derriman
• WWF “Up in Smoke” – NOMINT

BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL

• Batwheels“To the Batmobile!” – Warner Bros. Animation
• WINNER: Ghee Happy “Navagraha” – Ghee Happy Studio
• Playdate with Winnie the Pooh“Piglet, Tigger and the Cardboard Box” – Oddbot Inc.
• StoryBots: Answer Time“Fractions” – JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
• The Creature Cases“The Forest Food Bandit” – Silvergate Media/Team TO/Choice/Provisions/Netflix

BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN

• Curses!“The Baboon Temple” – DreamWorks Animation
• WINNER: Hilda “Chapter 8: The Fairy Isle” – Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
• Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Beyonder” – Flying Bark Productions / Disney Television Animation
• My Dad the Bounty Hunter“Bizarre Ride” – A Netflix Series
• Shape Island“Square’s Special Place” – Bix Pix Entertainment in association with Apple

BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE

• Big Mouth “The International Show” – Netflix
• WINNER: Blue Eye Samurai “Pilot: Hammerscale” – A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions
• Bob’s Burgers “Amelia” – 20th Television Animation
• Scavengers Reign “The Signal” – Max in association with Titmouse Animation and Green Street
• Tomato Kitchen –Special Production – Bilibili / Studio Reflection

BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES

• WINNER: Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire –“Enkai” – Triggerfish Animation Studio & Blinkink
• Only You: An Animated Shorts Collection– “Yellowbird” – Afterman production in association with Max/Warner Bros. Discovery
• Pokémon: Path to the Peak– “Episode: 1” – The Pokémon Company International

BEST STUDENT FILM

• From The Top– Student Director: Rich Farris – Student Producer: Martina Buendia Silva – School: National Film and Television School
• Kolaj– Student Director: Besen Dilek – Student Producer: Besen Dilek – School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
• La quête de l’humain– Student Team: Mélina Ienco, Lucie Juric, Caroline Leibel, Faustine Merle, Claire Pellet – School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image
• Quem Salva – Student Team: Laure Devin, Maxime Bourstin, Nathan Medam, Charles Hechinger, Titouan Jaouen – School: Supinfocom Rubika
• WINNER: The Little Poet– Student Director: Justine King – Student Producer: Justine King – School: California Institute of the Arts

BEST FX – TV/MEDIA

• WINNER: Blue Eye Samurai “All Evil Dreams and Angry Words” – Production Company: A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions – FX Production Company: Blue Spirit — Thomas Decaens, Karl Burtin, Laurent Bretonniere
• Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire“Moremi” – Production Company: Triggerfish for Disney+ – FX Production Company: Lucan — Matthew Dunwoody, Dmitry Sarkisov, Podchasha Yuri Anatolyevich, Richard Bothma, Emile Van Straaten
• Star Wars: Visions“Sith” – Production Company: Lucasfilm Ltd. – FX Production Company: El Guiri Studios — Jonatan Catalán, Alberto Sánchez, Phoebe Arjona, Virginia Cantaro, Rubén Hinarejos
• The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday – Production Company: DreamWorks Animation – FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation and 88 Pictures — Sateesh Malla, Russell Richardson Jr., Akash Gopal, Basavaraj P, Kevin Rumold
• What If…?– “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” – Production Company: Marvel Studios – FX Production Company: SDFX Studios — Ryan Barringer, Rajkumar Gurudu, Bipin Kumar Patra, Pranil Ravindra Mahajan

BEST FX – FEATURE

• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget– Production Company: Netflix Presents An Aardman Production – FX Production Company: Aardman Production — Charles Copping, Jon Biggins, Jim Lewis, Rich Spence, Martin Lipmann
• Elemental – Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios – FX Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios — Chris Chapman, Tim Speltz, Krzysztof Rost, Amit Baadkar, Ravindra Dwivedi
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse– Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation – FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks — Pav Grochola, Filippo Maccari, Naoki Kato, Nicola Finizio, Edmond Boulet-Gilly
• Suzume– Production Company: CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. – FX Production Company: CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. — Yoshitaka Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Seshita
• The Peasants– Production Company: Breakthru Films – FX Production Company: Breakthru Productions — Lukasz Mackiewicz, Kamil Polak

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA

• Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake– “The Winter King” – Cartoon Network Studios — Alex Small-Butera
• WINNER: Blue Eye Samurai Episodes 101, 104 and 106 – A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions — Alex Bard
• Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire“Moremi,” “Surf Sangoma,” “Stardust” – Triggerfish Animation for Disney+ — Andre DeVilliers
• Star Wars: Visions “I Am Your Mother” – Lucasfilm Ltd. — Laurie Sitzia
• The Amazing Digital Circus Pilot – Glitch Productions — Kevin Temmer

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE

• Elemental– Pixar Animation Studios — Jessica Torres
• Nimona– Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Toby Seale
• Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken– DreamWorks Animation — Prashanth Cavale
• Suzume– CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. — Kenichi Tsuchiya
• WINNER:  The Boy and the Heron – Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS — Takeshi Honda

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION

• Ahsoka– Production Company: Lucasfilm – FX Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic — Rick O’Connor, Mike Beaulieu, Stewart Alves, Kevin Reuter, Wai Kit Wan
• Cocaine Bear– Production Company: Wētā FX – FX Production Company: Wētā FX — Carmelo Leggiero, Steve Braggs, Kevin Kelm, Cedric Enriquez Canlas, Kane Elferink
• WINNER: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3– Production Company: Marvel Studios – FX Production Company: Framestore — Fernando Herrera, Chris Hurtt, Nathan McConnel, Daniel Cabral, Chris McGaw
• The Little Mermaid – Production Company: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures – FX Production Company: Framestore — Pablo Grillo, Kayn Garcia, Ferran Casas, Stuart Ellis, Joseph Lewis
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts– Production Company: Wētā FX – FX Production Company: Wētā FX — Kevin Estey, Kai-Hua Lan, Blaine Toderian Toderian, Richard John Moore, Joseph C.K Leong

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME

• Atomic Heart– Mundfish — Mundfish Animation Team
• Hogwarts Legacy– Avalanche Software ○ Tara Edwards Let’s! Revolution! – BUCK — BUCK Animation Team
• WINNER: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2– Insomniac Games — Insomniac Games Animation Team
• Teslagrad 2– Rain Games — Aslak Helgesen

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA 

• Clone High “Let’s Try This Again” – Max in association with Lord Miller, Doozer, ShadowMachine, and MTV Entertainment — Tara Billinger
• Jessica’s Big Little World “Bedtime Routine” – Cartoon Network Studios — Nick Winn
• Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire“ You Give Me Heart” – Triggerfish for Disney+ — Lesego Vorester
• WINNER: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Beyonder” – Disney Television Animation / Cinema Gypsy Productions — Jose Lopez
• Spirit Rangers“Water Protectors” – Laughing Wild / Netflix — Marie Delmas

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE

• Elemental– Pixar Animation Studios — Maria Yi
• Merry Little Batman – Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment — Nikolas Ilic
• Nimona– Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Aidan Sugano
• Robot Dreams – Arcadia Motion Pictures — Daniel Fernandez Casas
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse– Sony Pictures Animation — Jesús Alonso Iglesias

BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA

• Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire“Moremi” – Triggerfish Animation Studio & Lucan Studio — Shofela Coker, Andrew McNally
• My Dad the Bounty Hunter“Bizarre Ride” – A Netflix Series — Kenji Ono, Kai Akira, Patrick Harpin
• Pokémon Concierge“What’s on Your Mind, Psyduck?” – dwarf studios for Netflix — Iku Ogawa
• Scavengers Reign“The Fall” – Max in association with Titmouse Animation and Green Street — Diego Porral
• WINNER: Star Wars: Visions“Screecher’s Reach” – Lucasfilm Ltd. — Paul Young

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE

• Nimona – Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Nick Bruno, Troy Quane
• Robot Dreams– Arcadia Motion Pictures — Pablo Berger, Benoît Feroumont
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem– Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies — Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears
• The Boy and the Heron– Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS — Hayao Miyazaki 

BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA

• Animaniacs “Talladega Mice” – Warner Brothers Animation/Amblin Entertainment/HULU Originals — Steven Bernstein, Julie Bernstein
• Babylon 5: The Road Home Special Production – Warner Bros. Animation — Michael McCuistion, Kristopher Carter, Lolita Ritmanis
• PacemakerShort Film – A Running Commentary — Christopher Lennertz
• WINNER: Star Wars: Visions “Aau’s Song” – Lucasfilm Ltd. — Markus Wormstorm, Nadia Darries, Dineo du Toit
• The Smeds and The Smoos Special Production – Magic Light Pictures — René Aubry

BEST MUSIC – FEATURE

• Elemental – Pixar Animation Studios — Thomas Newman, Ari “LAUV” Leff
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Daniel Pemberton, Metro Boomin
• Suzume – CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. — Kazuma Jinnouchi, RADWIMPS
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies — Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
• The Boy and the Heron – Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS — Joe Hisaishi

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

• WINNER: Blue Eye Samurai “Hammerscale” – Netflix Animation — Jason Scheier
• Blue Eye Samurai “The Great Fire of 1657” – A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions — Toby Wilson, James Wilson, Emil Mitev
• Scavengers Reign “The Storm” – Max in association with Titmouse Animation and Green Street — Charles Huettner, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, Pauline Mauvière, Hugo Moreno, Jon Juarez
• Star Wars: Visions “Sith” – Lucasfilm Ltd. — Carlos Salgado
• What If…? “What if… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” – Marvel Studios — Paul Lasaine, Kristina Vardazaryan, Cynthia Halley, Ryan Magno, Simon Dunsdon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE

• Elemental – Pixar Animation Studios–  Don Shank, Maria Yi, Dan Holland, Jennifer Chang, Laura Meyer
• Nimona– Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Aidan Sugano, Jeff Turley
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse– Sony Pictures Animation — Patrick O’Keefe, Dean Gordon
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies — Yashar Kassai, Arthur, Tiffany Lam
• The Boy and the Heron – Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS — Yoji Takeshige

BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA

• Craig Before the Creek – Cartoon Network Studios — Erik Fountain
• Fright Krewe “The Blood Awakening, Part 1” – DreamWorks Animation — Leah Artwick
• Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai“Never Give Up” – Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Television — Kristine Lee
• Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight “Apok-ta-pokalypse Now, Part II” – DreamWorks Animation — Grace Liu
• WINNER: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Run the Rink” – Disney Television Animation / Cinema Gypsy Productions — Ben Juwono

BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE

• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget– Netflix Presents An Aardman Production — Richard Phelan
• Nimona– Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Esteban Bravo
• Robot Dreams– Arcadia Motion Pictures — Maca Gil
• Suzume– CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. — Makoto Shinkai
• WINNER: The Boy and the Heron – Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS — Hayao Miyazaki

BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA

• Archer“Keys Open Doors” – FX Productions — Aisha Tyler (Character: Lana Kane)
• Craig Before the Creek– Cartoon Network Studios — Vico Ortiz (Character: Serena)
• WINNER: Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Moon Girl Landing” – Flying Bark Productions / Disney Television Animation — Diamond White (Character: Lunella Lafayette / Moon Girl)
• Solar Opposites“The Re-Visibility Bouillabaisse” – 20th Television Animation — Dan Stevens (Character: Korvo)
• The Velveteen Rabbit– Magic Light Pictures in association with Apple — Alex Lawther (Character: Velveteen Rabbit)

BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE

• Merry Little Batman – Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment — David Hornsby (Character: Joker)
• Migration– Illumination — Tresi Gazal (Character: Gwen)
• WINNER: Nimona – Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Chloë Grace Moretz (Character: Nimona)
• Suzume – CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. — Hokuto Matsumura (Character: Souta Munakata)
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Illumination — Jack Black (Character: Bowser)

  

BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA

• WINNER: Blue Eye Samurai “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride” – A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions — Amber Noizumi
• Only You: An Animated Shorts Collection“Yellowbird” – Afterman production in association with Max/Warner Bros. Discovery — Tsvetelina Zdraveva, Jerred North
• Rock Paper Scissors“Birthday Police” – Nickelodeon Animation Studios — Josh Lehrman, Kyle Stegina, Aram Spencer Porter, Julia Prescott, Mike Trapp
• Rosie’s Rules“Time Trouble” – 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films — Leyani Diaz, Maria Escobedo
• Scavengers Reign“The Reunion” – Max in association with Titmouse Animation and Green Street — Sean Buckelew

BEST WRITING – FEATURE

• WINNER: Nimona – Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor
• Robot Dreams – Arcadia Motion Pictures — Pablo Berger
• Suzume – CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc. — Makoto Shinkai
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies — Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit
• The Boy and the Heron – Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS — Hayao Miyazaki

BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA

• WINNER: Blue Eye Samurai “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride” – A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions — Yuka Shirasuna
• Hilda “Chapter 6: The Forgotten Lake” – Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks — John Mckinnon, Mike Stefanelli
• I Am Groot “Groot’s Snow Day” – Marvel Studios — Dan Urrutia
• Star Wars: Visions “Screecher’s Reach” – Lucasfilm Ltd. ○ Richie Cody, ACE, BFE
• The Legend of Vox Machina “The Sunken Tomb” – Amazon MGM Studios, Critical Role Productions, Titmouse — Todd Raleigh, Joelle Kristy

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE

• Elemental – Pixar Animation Studios —  Stephen Schaffer, Amera Rizk, Gregory Snyder, Jen Jew, Kevin Rose-Williams
• Leo– Happy Madison for Netflix — Patrick Voetberg, Joseph Titone, Darrian M. James, Danny Miller, Brian Robinson
• Nimona – Annapurna Animation for Netflix — Randy Trager, Erin Crackel, Stephen Schwartz, Ashley Calle
• WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation — Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Editorial Team
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies — Greg Levitan, Illya Quinteros, David Croomes, Myra Owyang

This year’s Winsor McCay Juried Awards were given to:

• Legendary animator and director Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger (posthumous)
• Prolific Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi
• National Film Board animator and producer Marcy Page

The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact was given to BRIC Foundation, Alison Mann and Nicole Hendrix, co-founders.

The Ub lwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry was awarded to John Oxberry (posthumous).

The Special Achievement Award recognizing unique and outstanding achievement not recognized within the existing award category structure was given to The Artists of Walt Disney Animation.

For more info, visit annieawards.org.