This morning, ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominations for its 48th Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation across 36 categories.
“What an odd year this has been! While animation has fared better than much of the entertainment industry, the situation around the pandemic has thrown all of us for a loop,” remarked Frank Gladstone, Annies executive producer. “We had no idea what to expect going into award season. To then see a year where we had more submissions than ever before was a huge and most welcome surprise. Though it might have initially seemed a little counter intuitive, now we are approaching the Annies with optimism and the new year with a renewed sense of community.”
Feature films Soul and Wolfwalkers are tied for the most nominations with 10 each, while series Hilda and shorts Shooom’s Odyssey, Lamp Life and To: Gerard tie in the TV/Media competition with three nominations apiece. The winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. PT.
In the Best Feature race, it’s doubled odds for Pixar Animation Studios with Onward (dir. Dan Scanlon) and Soul (Pete Docter & Kemp Powers), as well as DreamWorks Animation with The Croods: A New Age (Joel Crawford) and Trolls World Tour (Walt Dohrn). ASIFA-Hollywood opted to give its fifth nomination slot to Netflix/BRON Animation’s The Willoughbys (Kris Pearn). Onward, Croods and Soul (winner) were also nominated for the Golden Globe; the HPFA opted for Over the Moon and Wolfwalkers as its outlier nominees. Last year, Annie and Oscar agreed on four out of five of their nominees in this category.
The great part of an all-animation awards show, however, is that there’s more room to celebrate the year’s amazing films! In the Best Indie Feature category, voters will decide between Aardman/StudioCanal’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (dir. Will Becher & Richard Phelan), Maybe Movies’ Calamity Jane (Rémi Chayé), Rock’n Roll Mountain/Tip Top/GKIDS’s On-Gaku: Our Sound (Kenji Iwaisawa), Science SARU/GKIDS’s Ride Your Wave (Masaaki Yuasa) and Cartoon Saloon/Melusine’s Wolfwalkers (Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart). Last year, one of Annie’s indies made the Oscar nomination cut (I Lost My Body).
Nominated for Best Direction – Feature are Rémi Chayé (Calamity Jane), Glen Keane (Over the Moon), Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave), Pete Docter & Kemp Powers (Soul) and Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart (Wolfwalkers).
Once again, the Annie nomination voters have eschewed the big studio titles in selecting the Best Short Subject nominees: Cannes selection Filles Bleues, Peur Blanche (Blue Fear) by Lola Halifa-Legrand and Marie Jacotey (Miyu Prod.), OIAF winner Kkum by Kang Min Kim (open the portal), Sundance winner Souvenir Souvenir by Bastien Dubois (Blast Prod.), The Places Where We Live by Bernardo Britto (from FX’s CAKE) and Don Hertzfeldt’s half-hour World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime. Just like last year, there will be zero correlation between the Annie and Oscar short picks — in fact, none of these very worthy nominees are even on the Academy’s shortlist.
As previously announced, this year’s juried awards will be presented to Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously) and Bruce Smith, receiving the Winsor McCay Award; Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, June Foray Award; Epic Games Unreal Engine, Ub Iwerks Award; and documentary Howard, Special Achievement Award.
Nominees in additional categories are:
Best TV/Media – Preschool
Buddi “Snow” Unanico Group
Muppet Babies “Wocka-a-bye-Fozzie” Oddbot / Disney Junior
Stillwater “The Impossible Dream / Stuck in the Rain” Apple / Gaumont / Scholastic
The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru” Blue Zoo / Nickelodeon
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Movie: I Am Madam President 9 Story / Brown Bag
Best TV/Media – Children
Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” Silvergate Media for Netflix
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Finale Part 4: Rise” Nickelodeon Animation Studios
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2” DreamWorks Animation
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Shattered” Lucasfilm Animation
Victor and Valentino “The Lonely Haunts Club 3: La Llorona” Cartoon Network Studios
Best TV/Media – General Audience
Close Enough “Logan’s Run’d / Room Parents” Cartoon Network Studios
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Coven of the Damned” Cartoon Network Studios
Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green” Eshugadee Prod. in assoc. with Warner Bros. Animation
Rick and Morty “The Vat of Acid Episode” Rick and Morty LLC
The Midnight Gospel “Mouse of Silver” Titmouse Inc. for Netflix
Best Special Production
Baba Yaga Baobab Studios
Libresse / Bodyform – #wombstories Chelsea Pictures
Nixie & Nimbo Hornet
Shooom’s Odyssey Picolo Pictures
The Snail and the Whale Magic Light Pictures
Best Sponsored
Erste Group “Edgar’s Christmas” Pasion Animation Studios
Max & Maxine Hornet
The Last Mile Nexus Studio
There’s a Monster in My Kitchen Cartoon Saloon, Mother
Travel the Vote Hornet
Best Student Film
10,000 Acres of Pine Luce Grosjean | The Animation Workshop |Students: Jennifer Alice Wright
Coffin Luce Grosjean | Gobelins, l’école de l’image | Students: Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Théo Tran Ngoc
La Bestia Luce Grosjean | Gobelins, l’école de l’image | Students: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt
Latitude du Printemps Patrick De Carvalho | Rubika | Students: Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Maŷlis Mosny, Zijing Ye
O Black Hole! Nicola Cowee | National Film and Television School, UK | Students: Renee Zhan, Jesse Romain
Best FX for TV/Media
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers “Sirocco Fire Explosion” DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Chris Browne, Brand Webb, Russell Richardson, Ardy Ala, Reggie Fourmyle
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World” DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang
Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Greg Gladstone, Keith Daniel Klohn, Matthew Wong
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Killahead, Part Two” DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Greg Lev, Igor Lodeiro, Brandon Tyra, Cui Wei, Ma Xiao
Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (Siege) “Episode 6” Rooster Teeth Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Masanori Sakakibara
Best FX for Feature
Over the Moon Netflix / Pearl Studio | Nominees: Ian Farnsworth, Brian Casper, Reinhold Rittinger, Zoran Stojanoski , Jennifer Lasrado
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Amaury Aubel, Domin Lee, Alex Timchenko, Andrew Wheeler, Derek Cheung
Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Zachary Glynn, Landon Gray, Youxi Woo, John Kosnik, Doug Rizeakos
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominees: Cartoon Saloon VFX Team
Best Character Animation – TV/Media
Alien Xmas Netflix Presents Fairview Entertainment / Sonar Entertainment / Chiodo Bros. Productions | Nominee: Kim Blanchette
BoJack Horseman “Good Damage” Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix | Nominees: James Bowman
Cosmos: Possible Worlds “Vavilov” Starburns Industries | Nominee: Dan MacKenzie
Hilda Silvergate Media for Netflix | Nominee: David Laliberte
Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Lucas Fraga Pacheco
Best Character Animation – Feature
Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Shaun Chacko
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Michal Makarewicz
The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Rani Naamani
The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc. with Creative Wealth Media | Nominee: Andrés Bedate Martin
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart
Best Character Animation – Live Action
The Christmas Chronicles 2 Weta Digital | Nominees: Nick Stein, Caroline Ting, Sebastian Trujillo, David Yabu, Paul Ramsden
The Mandalorian Image Engine | Nominees: Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
The Umbrella Academy S2 Weta Digital | Nominees: Aidan Martin, Hunter Parks, Craig Young, Viki Yeo, Krystal Sae Eua
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made Framestore | Nominees: Anders Beer, Marianne Morency, Hennadii Prykhodko, Sophie Burie, Cedric Le Poullennec
Best Character Animation – Video Game
League of Legends Riot Games, Inc. | Nominees: Jose “Sho” Hernandez, Lana Bachynski, Christopher Hsing, Matthew Johnson, Jason Hendrich
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Insomniac Games | Nominees: Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit | Nominees: Jim Donovan, Warren Go, Boris Hiestand, Kim Nguyen, Jason Martinsen
The Last of Us Part II Naughty Dog | Nominees: Jeremy Yates, Eric Baldwin, Almudena Soria, Michal Mach, August Davies
Best Character Design – TV/Media
Amphibia “The Shut-In!” Disney TV Animation | Nominee: Joe Sparrow
BNA “Runaway Raccoon”Trigger / Netflix | Nominee: Yusuke Yoshigaki
Craig of the Creek Cartoon Network Studios | Nominee: Danny Hynes
Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Jim Soper
The Owl House “Young Blood, Old Souls”Disney Television Animation | Nominee: Marina Gardner
Best Character Design – Feature
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Daniel López Muñoz
The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Joe Pitt
The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc. with Creative Wealth Media | Nominee: Craig Kellman
Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Timothy Lamb
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Federico Pirovano
Best Direction – TV/Media
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Plague of Madness” Cartoon Network Studios | Nominee: Genndy Tartakovsky
Great Pretender “Case 1_1: Los Angeles Connection” Production I.G. for Fuji Television Network and Netflix | Nominee: Hiro Kaburagi
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart “Mao Mao’s Nakey” Titmouse Inc / Cartoon Network Studios | Nominee: Michael Moloney
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Battle Nexus NYC” Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Nominee: Alan Wan
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse “Hard to Swallow” Disney Television Animation | Nominee: Eddie Trigueros
Best Music – TV/Media
Blood of Zeus “Escape or Die”Powerhouse Animation Studios for Netflix | Nominee: Paul Edward-Francis
Mira, Royal Detective “The Great Diwali Mystery”Wild Canary / Disney Junior | Nominees: Amritha Vaz, Matthew Tishler, Jeannie Lurie
Star Trek: Lower Decks “Crisis Point” CBS’s Eye Animation Productions / Titmouse / Secret Hideout /Roddenberry Entertainment | Nominee: Chris Westlake
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death” Lucasfilm Animation | Nominee: Kevin Kiner
The Tiger Who Came to Tea Lupus Films | Nominees: David Arnold, Don Black
Best Music – Feature
Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna
Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominees: Steven Price, Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Du eld, Helen Park
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc.with Creative Wealth Media | Nominees: Mark Mothersbaugh, Alessia Cara, Jon Levine, Colton Fisher
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominees: Bruno Coulais, Kíla
Best Production Design – TV/Media
Baba Yaga Baobab Studios | Nominees: Glenn Hernandez, Matthieu Saghezchi
Shooom’s Odyssey Picolo Pictures | Nominee: Julien Bisaro
The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington and Halloween”Blue-Zoo Animation Studio / Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Nominee: Negar Bagheri
To: Gerard DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Raymond Zibach
Trash Truck Glen Keane Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Eastwood Wong, Sylvia Liu, Elaine Lee, Tor Aunet, Lauren Zurcher
Best Production Design – Feature
Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Noah Klocek, Sharon Calahan, Huy Nguyen, Bert Berry, Paul Conrad
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Steve Pilcher, Albert Lozano, Paul Abadilla, Bryn Imagire
The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc.with Creative Wealth Media | Nominee: Kyle McQueen
Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, Timothy Lamb
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominees: María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore
Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Archibald’s Next Big Thing “Baritone Tea Part 1”DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Ben McLaughlin
Big City Greens “Cheap Show”Walt Disney Television Animation | Nominee: Kiana Khansmith
Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Andrew Dickman
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Milo Neuman
Shooom’s Odyssey Picolo Pictures | Nominee: Julien Bisaro
Best Storyboarding – Feature
Earwig and the Witch Studio Ghibli | Nominee: Goro Miyazaki
Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominee: Glen Keane
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Trevor Jimenez
The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Evon Freeman
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Guillaume Lorin
Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Dragons Rescue Riders: Hunt for the Golden Dragon DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Jeff Bennett (Erik the Wretched)
It’s Pony “Episode 107” Blue-Zoo Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Nominee: Jessica DiCicco (Annie)
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe Walt Disney Television Animation & Disney+ | Nominee: Ashley Tisdale (Candace)
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act”DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: David Bradley (Merlin)
ThunderCats Roar! “ThunderSlobs: Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Patrick Seitz (Mumm-Ra, Tyga)
Best Voice Acting – Feature
Earwig and the Witch Studio Ghibli | Nominee: Vanessa Marshall (Bella Yaga)
Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Tom Holland (Ian Lightfoot)
Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominee: Robert G. Chiu (Chin)
The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Nicolas Cage (Grug)
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)
Best Writing – TV/Media
Big Mouth “The New Me”Netflix | Nominees: Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison, Andrew Goldberg
Craig of the Creek Cartoon Network Studios | Nominees: Jeff Trammell, Ti any Ford, Dashawn Mahone, Najja Porter
Fancy Nancy “Nancy’s New Friend”Disney Television Animation | Nominees: Krista Tucker, Andy Guerdat, Matt Hoverman, Laurie Israel, Marisa Evans-Sanden
Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green”Eshugadee Productions in assoc. with Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Sarah Peters
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2″ DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Noelle Stevenson
Best Writing – Feature
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in assoc. with Anton Capital Entertainment an Aardman Production for Netflix | Nominees: Mark Burton, Jon Brown
Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley, Keith Bunin
Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominee: Audrey Wells
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Will Collins
Best Editorial – TV/Media
Cops and Robbers Lawrence Bender Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Brandon Terry, Ezra Dweck, Del Spiva
Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox”Silvergate Media for Netflix | Nominee: John McKinnon
If Anything Happens I Love You Gilbert Films / Oh Good Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Peter Ettinger, Michael Babcock
Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Serena Warner
To: Gerard DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: James Ryan
Best Editorial – Feature
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment An Aardman Production for Netflix | Nominees: Sim Evan-Jones, ACE, Adrian Rhodes
Calamity Jane Maybe Movies | Nominee: Benjamin Massoubre
Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Catherine Apple, Anna Wolitzky, Dave Suther
Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk
The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc. with Creative Wealth Media | Nominees: Fiona Toth, Ken Schretzmann, ACE
