British Animation Awards Announces 2024 Nominees

The finalists for the British Animation Awards 2024 (britishanimationawards.com) have been announced. The BAAs are the only awards to recognize all forms of animation and artists at all levels in their careers across all aspects of the U.K. animation industry from student work to commercials, children’s entertainment, short and experiential films, music videos and new technologies.

Now in its 28th year, the 2024 BAA ceremony is being held at London’s BFI Southbank on March 7. Presented by the German Comedy Ambassador Henning Wehn, the awards will unveil the latest names to join the list of winners from past years, which includes Nick Park, Joanna Quinn, Tim Burton, Martin Freeman, Simon Tofield and Gorillaz.

Competing for honors in the Best Feature Film category are: Aardman Animation’s latest blockbuster for Netflix, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (director: Sam Fell), which sees a band of fearless fowl flock together to save chicken-kind from a new threat; A Cat Called Dom, Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson’s inventive film about a son dealing with his mother’s cancer diagnosis; Lupus Films’ hand-drawn animated feature film based on Michael Morpurgo’s classic adventure story about a boy washed up on a seemingly deserted island, Kensuke’s Kingdom (dir: Neil Boyle, Kirk Hendry); Cartoon Saloon and Dog Ear’s Netflix feature about an island and its avian inhabitants facing the perils of climate change, Puffin Rock and the New Friends (dir: Jeremy Purcell); and Sky Cinema’s fantasy comedy feature based on the Terry Pratchett novel about a streetwise cat and his gang of rats, The Amazing Maurice (dir: Toby Genkel, Florian Westermann).

The Best Long Form category contenders are The Illuminated Film Company’s special about Edinburgh Zoo’s famous brown bear, A Bear Named Wojtek (dir: Iain Gardner); Bad Robot/NoneMore Productions’ Oscar-winning short about the unexpected friendship between The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (dir: Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy); Blink Industry’s animated re-telling of the classic story Peter and the Wolf by musicians Gavin Friday and Bono (dir: Stephen McNally, Elliot Dear); and Lupus Films’ festive hand-drawn animation about everybody’s favorite cat, Mog’s Christmas (dir: Robin Shaw).

Up for Best Short Film are Christopher at Sea by Tom C J Brown, The Debutante by Elizabeth Hobbs and All Gucci My Broski by Harry Plowden.

ITV series dominate the Best Children’s Series award with contenders including The Sound Collector “Harp Strings,” The Rubbish World of Dave Spud “Moonbreaker” and Lloyd of the Flies. Channel Five’s Milkshake!’s Tweedy and Fluff completes the nominations.

Nominees for Best Children’s Preschool are family favorites Hey Duggee, The Adventures of Paddington, The Very Small Creatures and Odo.

The Best International Animated Series will be decided between Captain Fall, Milo, The Tiny Chef Show and Supa Team 4.

“Despite a myriad of changes and challenges facing the animation industry in the U.K. over the last couple of years, the sector remains thriving and productive,” said BAA Director Helen Brunsdon and Producer Kieran Argo. “The quality and quantity of the work submitted to the BAAs is evidence of the dedication and creative ingenuity of all who work in animation and is a great indication of how U.K. animation continues to punch above its bodyweight on the world stage.”

Additional category nominees are:

Best Design

• Ms. Marvel – Head Creative: Ian Spendloff, Lead Designer: David Lochhead
• Odo “Mum” – Dir: Piotr Szczepanowicz, Mikolaj Pilchowski, Art directors Alicja Gapińska, Natalia Garbaciak
• Puffin Rock and The New Friends – Dir: Jeremy Purcell, Art director, Design team

Best Use of Sound

• Kensuke’s Kingdom – Dir: Neil Boyle, Kirk Hendry, Sound designer: Will Cohen
• The Smeds and The Smoos – Dir: Daniel Snaddon, Samantha Cutler, Sound designer: Adrian Rhodes
• The Sound Collector “Harp Strings” – Dir: Chris Tichborne, Sound: Tom Angell

Best Factual Award

• Jeremy, my Father – Dir: Miranda Peyton Jones
• Something More – Dir: Mary Martins
• Another Presence – Dir: Simon Ball
• A Taste For Music – Dir: Jordan Antonowicz-Behnan

Best Voice Performance

• Mog’s Christmas – Dir: Robin Shaw, Key Cast: Adjoa Andoh, Zawe Ashton, Amelie Law, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Charlie Higson, Miriam Margolyes, Teddy Skelton, Maggie Steed
• The Amazing Maurice – Dir: Toby Genkel, Florian Westermann, Key Cast: Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Ariyon Bakare, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, Hugh Bonneville, Rob Brydon, Julie Atherton
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Dir: Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy, Key Cast: Jude Coward Nicoll, Tom Hollander, Idris Elba, Gabriel Byrne

Best Undergraduate Film

• The Moonseeker – Dir: Diana Blázquez Martín, Katherine Galley
• hyposoMIAOW – Dir: Yunxin Zou
• Cortex – Dir: Sena Miyazaki

Best Postgraduate Film

• Death of the Gods – Dir: Leto Stojanovic Meade
• Spring Roll Dream – Dir: Mai Vu
• The Wolf of Custer – Dir: Tanya J Scott
• Crab Day – Dir: Ross Stringer

Writers Award

• Lloyd of the Flies “Gummy Goes Off” – Writers: Andrew Barnett Jones and Ciaran Murtagh, Dirs: Matthew Walker, Jane Davies
• Kensuke’s Kingdom – Writer: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Dirs: Neil Boyle, Kirk Hendry
• The Rubbish World of Dave Spud “Olden Days” – Writer and Dir:  Edward Foster
• Dead End: Paranormal Park “210 The Watcher’s Test” – Writer: Hamish Steele, Dir: Liz Whittaker

Lamb Award

• Beatriz Diosdado Masa – Blue Zoo
• Aiesha Penwarden – Skylark Films/Big Squid Ink Ltd.
• Malachi James – Blue Zoo

Children’s Choice

• Dead End: Paranormal Park – Dir: Liz Whitaker
• Supertato – Dir: Dominic Minns
• The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe “The Prince and the Valiant Quest” – Dir: Eva Lee Wallberg, Christian Boving-Andersen
• LEGO City No Limits “Episode 6” – Dir: Ben Steer

Cutting Edge

• Beware of Trains – Dir: Emma Calder
• Silly Duck – Dir: Alec Smith
• Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway – Dirs: Bram Ttwheam, Finbar Hawkins
• The Line Experiments – Dir: Antoine Perez

Best Music Video

• “Carry You” by Ruelle– Dir: Flora Caulton
• “Tell Me Where to Go” by JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown– Dirs: Peter Beatty, Joseph Boyle
• “Late Nights” by Death By Romy– Golden Wolf & Adult Swim

Wildcard
(Awarded to animations of any durations deemed as ‘extraordinary’)

• The Beatles Vs The Stones – Dir: Andrew Kelleher
• Two Gracious Uncles Smooched to the Beat – Dir: Jon Dunleavy
• Hairy Houdini – Dir: Trevor Hardy

Best Original Music

• Mog’s Christmas – Composer David Arnold, Dir: Robin Shaw
• Tweedy & Fluff – Composers Beth Porter and Ben Plea, Dir: Chris Randall
• Kensuke’s Kingdom – Composer Stuart Hancock, Dirs: Neil Boyle, Kirk Hendry

Best Animation in a Commercial

• Blown Away – Dir: Sarah McDonald
• Channel 4: The Great British Bake Off 2023 Official Trailer – Dir: JuanPe Arroyo
• The Lords of Water – Dir: Golden Wolf

Social Good Award

• Alzheimer’s Research UK “Change The Ending” – againstallodds
• Ask me how I am – Dirs: Zan Barberton, Joseph Clark Inner
• Polar Bear – Dir: Gerald Conn