K-Pop Demon Hunters Dominates the 53rd Annie Awards
Animators will welcome recognition from any awards organisation or ceremony. But the Annie Awards are a little bit special. Dedicated to animation, and voted on by their peers, they are a celebration of the whole medium. The great and the good of the animation world assembled in Los Angeles this past weekend for the glitziest event in the animation calendar.
K-Pop Demon Hunters was the big winner of the night, taking home all ten awards it was nominated for, including Best Feature and Best Direction (Feature). Pixar's Elio, by contrast, was completely shut out, losing out in all ten categories it was nominated for. Also going home empty handed was Zootopia 2 and Little Amelie or The Character of Rain. The Best Feature- Independent award went to Ugo Bienvenu's time-travelling adventure Arco.
Snoopy Presents A Summer Musical took home the Best Special Production and the Best Short Subject award went to Aaron Blaise's Snow Bear. Best Sponsored was awarded to Olipop Yeti.
In TV Best Preschool was given to Wow Lisa for the episode Rainy Day. Best TV/Media- Children went to the recently revived The Wonderfully Weird World Of Gumball. Adult Swim's debuting series Common Side Effects took home an incredible four awards, including Best TV/Media- Mature, Best Writing and Best Direction. Pixar's Disney+ series Win Or Lose took home three awards, including Best Character Animation. Netflix and Blur Studios' Love Death + Robots also won three awards, including Best Production Design.
The Voice acting awards went to Dan Mintz for Bob's Burgers (in television) and Arden Cho for K-Pop Demon Hunters (in features).
Best Storyboarding (Feature) went to The Bad Guys 2.
Best FX- TV/Media was awarded to Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, with K-Pop Demon Hunters taking Best FX- Feature. Best Character Animation- Live Action went to the remake of How To Train Your Dragon. Best Character Animation- Video Game went to South Of Midnight.
As previously announced juried awards were also presented.The Winsor McCay Award, in recognition of lifetime or career achievement, was given to Michael Dudok de Wit, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord and Chris Sanders. The June Foray Award was given to Sandy Rabins, producer and founder of the AnimAID initiative. The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry was presented to Wacom, manufacturer of the Cintiq graphic tablet. The Special Achievement Award was presented to LightBox Expo.
The full list of winners and nominees is below:
1. Best Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
2. Best Feature - Independent
A Magnificent Life
Mediawan, What the Prod and Bidibul productions
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
I'm Frankelda
Cinema Fantasma, Warner Bros. Discovery, Woo Films, Cine Vendaval
Lost In Starlight
Netflix / Climax Studio
Scarlet
Studio CHIZU
3. Best Special Production
A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice
Nickelodeon Animation Studio & Jam Filled Entertainment
Adult Swim's The Elephant
Titmouse and Williams Street
Not Just a Goof
Venturia Animation Studios ® for CNEK Films LLC
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland
Lupus Films, Universal Pictures Content Group
4. Best Short Subject
Cardboard
Locksmith Animation
Ovary-Acting
Klipp og Lim, Jante Films, Apparat Filmproduktion AB
Pillowzzz
Animoshe
Snow Bear
The Art of Aaron Blaise
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
National Film Board of Canada
5. Best Sponsored
Animated Short: "Trek" | Honkai: Star Rail
FLiiiP Design
Fortnite x The Simpsons: Apocalypse D’Oh!
A Gracie Films Production in Association with 20th Television Animation
LouiMax Dreams of Being An Adult
Imagine Create Media Inc. in conjunction with Maileg APS
Olipop Yeti
Screen Novelties & Passion Pictures
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - The Animation
SEGA of America in association with GXS Productions
6. Best TV/Media - Preschool
Eva The Owlet
Episode: Welcome to Treetopington
Brown Bag Films / Scholastic Entertainment in association with Apple
Kindergarten: The Musical!
Episode: Gotta Go!
Oddbot Entertainment, Disney Branded Television
The Tiny Chef Show
Episode: Tiny Chef's Spooky Stump Spectacular
Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions
Wow Lisa
Episode: Rainy Day
Punkrobot
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Episode: I am Jackie Robinson
9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films
7. Best TV/Media - Children
My Melody & Kuromi
Episode: All For Our Best Friend
Sanrio Company for Netflix
Spice Frontier: Escape From Veltegar
Episode: 1
Steamroller Animation
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Rise of the Night Ninja
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Point Grey Pictures
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
Episode: The Rewrite
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
Wylde Pak
Episode: Sungandeul
Nickelodeon Animation Studios / Jam Filled Entertainment
8. Best TV/Media - Mature
Bob's Burgers
Episode: Grand Pre-Pre-Pre Opening
20th TV
Common Side Effects
Episode: Pilot
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions
Haha, You Clowns
Episode: 107 - Duncan Holds a Baby
Williams Street
Il Baracchino
Episode: Claudia entra in un caffè
Luckyred, Megadrago
South Park
Episode: Sermon on the 'Mount
Comedy Central LLC
9. Best TV/Media – Limited Series
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode III
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Eyes of Wakanda
Episode: Into The Lion's Den
Marvel Studios
Marvel Zombies
Episode: 2
Marvel Studios
Star Wars: Visions - Volume 3
Episode: BLACK
david production
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 8: Home
Pixar Animation Studios
10. Best Student Film
A Sparrow's Song
Student Director: Tobias Eckerlin
Student Producer: Tobias Eckerlin
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
Acrobats
Student Directors: Eloïse Alluyn, Hugo Danet, Anna Despinoy, Antonin Guerci, Alexandre Marzin, Shali Reddy
School: Gobelins
Jour de vent
Student Directors: Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Elise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez, Camille Truding
School: École des Nouvelles Images
The Undying Pain of Existence
Student Director: Oscar Jacobson
Student Producers: Franz Rügamer, Nadiia Yunatska
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
TRASH
Student Directors: Maxime Crançon, Alexis Le Ral
Student Producers: Robin Delaporte, Romain Fleischer, Mattéo Durand
School: ESMA
11. Best FX - TV/Media
Marvel Zombies
Episode: Episode 4
Production Company: Marvel Animation
FX Production Company: Stellar Creative Lab, Inc.
Emma Badia, Tristan Fairclough, Jimmy Dumont, Sheng Hung, Arth Vasavada
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Episode: The Big Freeze
Production Company: BBC Studios Natural History Unit
FX Production Company: Framestore
Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Shuleman, Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian
Spice Frontier
Episode: 1
Production Company: Steamroller Animation
FX Production Company: Steamroller Animation
Steamroller Animation Effects Department
Star Wars: Visions - Volume 3
Episode: The Bird of Paradise
Production Company: Polygon Pictures
FX Production Company: Polygon Pictures
Takashi Okamoto, Kohei Yamamoto, Genyo Sasaki, Chizuru Nakamura, Erika Matsui
WONDLA
Episode: Lost
Production Company: Skydance Animation
FX Production Company: ICON Creative Studio
EP 209 ICON Creative Studio FX Team
12. Best FX - Feature
Elio
Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
FX Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
Ferdi Scheepers, Shaun Galinak, Alyssa Lee, Nate Skeen, Gary Bruins
In Your Dreams
Production Company: Netflix, Kuku Studios
FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks
Dmitriy Kolesnik, Stephen Paschk, David Sellares, Stephanie McNair
KPop Demon Hunters
Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks
Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Lewis, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chapelle
The Bad Guys 2
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
Landon Gray, Michael Losure, Zachary Glynn, Chris Wombold, Olivier Malric
Zootopia 2
Production Company: Walt Disney Animation Studios
FX Production Company: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Le Joyce Tong, Shamintha Kalamba Arachchi, Dimitre Berberov, Chris Carignan, Cristiana Covone
13. Best Character Animation - TV/Media
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode III
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Floriane Caseiro
Forevergreen
Special Production
Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
Brendan Gottlieb
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
Special Production
WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
Chris Derochie
The Simpsons
Various Episodes
A Gracie Films Production in Association with 20th Television Animation
Nik Ranieri
Win Or Lose
Various Episodes
Pixar Animation Studios
Alli Sadegiani
14. Best Character Animation - Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Jonah Sidhom
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix
Ryusuke Furuya
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Juliette Laurent
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Ludovic Bouancheau
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Tony Smeed
15. Best Character Animation - Live Action
A Minecraft Movie
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures / Mojang Studios / Vertigo Entertainment / On the Roam
FX Production Company: Weta FX
Kevin Estey, Anthony McIndoe, Jade Lorier, Caroline Ting, Luisma Lavin Peredo
Captain America: Brave New World
Production Company: Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
FX Production Company: Weta FX
Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, Andrew William Park, Marco Röth, Paul Seyb, Thien Ly
How To Train Your Dragon
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: Framestore
Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Production Company: BBC Studios Natural History Unit
FX Production Company: Framestore
Adrien Annesley, Alvise Avati, Riyad Chalakkara, Daniel Mizuguchi, Liam Russell
Superman
Production Company: DC Studios
FX Production Company: Framestore
Loic Mireault, Michael Elder, Philipp Winterstein, Victor Dinis, Diego De Paula Pereira Batista
16. Best Character Animation - Video Game
Bye Sweet Carole
Little Sewing Machine
Chris Darril
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Kojima Productions
Hideo Kojima, Masaaki Kawata, Kojima Productions, PlayStation Studios XDEV
Ghost of Yōtei
Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions Animation Team
Keeper
Double Fine Productions
Zach Baharov, Alex Turner, Jerry Matsko, Anne-Sophie Savard, Geneviève Desbiens
South of Midnight
Compulsion Games
Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond
17. Best Character Design - TV/Media
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode IV
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Borja Montoro
Bat-Fam
Episode: A Knight at the Movies
Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment
Benjamin Tong
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: 400 Boys
Blur Studio for Netflix
Robert Valley
Wednesdays with Gramps
Short Film
DreamWorks Animation
Seth St. Pierre
Win Or Lose
Episodes: Episode 8, Home
Pixar Animation Studios
Lou Hamou-Lhadj
18. Best Character Design - Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Matt Nolte, Yingzong Xin, James Woods, Kaleb Rice, Bob Pauley
Fixed
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Craig Kellman
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Paramount Animation / Nickelodeon Movies
Adam Paloian, Thaddeus Couldron, Alvi Ramirez
The Twits
Netflix Presents / The Roald Dahl Story Company
Kei Acedera, Tristan Poulain, Jules Rigolle, Fernando Peque, Remi Salmon
19. Best Direction - TV/Media
Common Side Effects
Episode: Cliff's Edge
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions
Vincent Tsui
DAN DA DAN
Episode: Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot!
Science SARU, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Distributed by GKIDS
Fuga Yamashiro, Abel Góngora
Not a Box
Episode: It’s a Boat
Silver Creek Falls Entertainment / Passion Pictures in association with Apple
Siri Melchior
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Rise of the Night Ninja
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Point Grey Pictures
JJ Conway, Kevin Molina-Ortiz
The Quinta's Ghost
Short Film
Martirio Films & Illusorium films
James A. Castillo
20. Best Direction - Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Ugo Bienvenu, Adam Sillard, Anaëlle Saba
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
MAPPA Studios
Tatsuya Yoshihara
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han
Scarlet
Studio CHIZU
Mamoru Hosoda
21. Best Music - TV/Media
Common Side Effects
Episode: Lakeshore Limited
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Nicolas Snyder
Devil May Cry
Episode: The First Circle
A Netflix Series / Studio Mir / Adi Shankar Animation / Capcom
Power Glove, Alex Seaver
Éiru
Short Film
Cartoon Saloon
Leo Pearson, Ceara Conway
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
Special Production
WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
Ben Folds, Jeff Morrow, Alan Zachary, Michael Weiner
Win Or Lose
Episodes: Episode 6, Mixed Signals
Pixar Animation Studios
Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar
22. Best Music - Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Arnaud Toulon
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Rob Simonsen
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Music Team
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Mari Fukuhara
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Blake Slatkin, Michael Giacchino
23. Best Production Design - TV/Media
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode II
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Aurélien Prédal
Forevergreen
Special Production
Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
Jeremy Spears, Gregory Culp
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
Gigi Cavenago
ParaNorman: The Thrifting
Special Production
LAIKA
Thibault Leclercq, Santiago Montiel, Jung Woonyoung, Stephanie Bray-Lee
Wednesdays with Gramps
Short Film
DreamWorks Animation
Frederic Stewart
24. Best Production Design - Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Harley Jessup, Ernesto Nemesio, Maria Lee, Kristian Norelius, Kyle Jones
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Luc Desmarchelier, Floriane Marchix
The Twits
Netflix Presents / The Roald Dahl Story Company
Estefania Pantoja, Alexandre Diboine, Clement Dartigues, Fernando Peque, Remi Salmon
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Cory Loftis, Limei Z. Hshieh
25. Best Storyboarding - TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
Edgar Martins
ParaNorman: The Thrifting
Special Production
LAIKA
Coleton Palmer, Katherine Jay Myong, Heewon Jeong
Snow Bear
Short Film
The Art of Aaron Blaise, LLC.
Aaron Blaise
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Rise of the Night Ninja
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Point Grey Pictures
Richard Chi, Matthew Kim, Sheldon Vella, Lyndsay Simpson
Win Or Lose
Episodes: Episode 8, Home
Pixar Animation Studios
Esteban Bravo
26. Best Storyboarding - Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Ugo Bienvenu
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Tony Rosenast
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Nicolas Pawlowski
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Hikari Toriumi
27. Best Voice Acting - TV/Media
Bob's Burgers
Episode: Don't Worry Be Hoopy
20th TV
Dan Mintz (Character: Tina Belcher)
Hazbin Hotel
Episode: Behind Closed Doors
Amazon MGM Studios, A24, Bento Box Entertainment
Erika Henningsen (Character: Charlie Morningstar)
Long Story Short
Episode: Shira Can’t Cook
Tornante Television and ShadowMachine for Netflix
Abbi Jacobson (Character: Shira Schwooper)
Smiling Friends
Episode: Shmaloogles
Williams Street
Zach Hadel (Character: Evil Wizard)
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
Episode: The Amadain
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
Alkaio Thiele (Character: Gumball Watterson)
28. Best Voice Acting - Feature
Dog Man
DreamWorks Animation
Lil Rey Howery (Character: Chief)
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Remy Edgerly (Character: Glordon)
In Your Dreams
Netflix Presents a Kuku Studios Production / Sony Pictures Imageworks
Craig Robinson (Character: Baloney Tony)
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Arden Cho (Character: Rumi)
The Twits
Netflix Presents / The Roald Dahl Story Company
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Character: Beesha)
29. Best Writing - TV/Media
#1 Happy Family USA
Episode: Episode 101: NINE TEN
Amazon MGM Studios, A24, Cairo Cowboy
Ramy Youssef, Pam Brady
Adult Swim's The Elephant
Special Production
Titmouse and Williams Street
Pendleton Ward, Ian Jones-Quartey, Rebecca Sugar, Patrick McHale
Common Side Effects
Episode: Pilot
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Joe Bennett, Steve Hely
Lulu is a Rhinoceros
Special Production
Bento Box and Propagate in association with Apple
Allison Flom
Win Or Lose
Episodes: Episode 4, Pickle
Pixar Animation Studios
Carrie Hobson, Michael Yates
30. Best Writing - Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, Mike Jones
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Liane-Cho Han, Aude Py, Maïlys Vallade, Eddine Noël
Scarlet
Studio CHIZU
Mamoru Hosoda
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Jared Bush
31. Best Editorial - TV/Media
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode III
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
David Boyadjian
Common Side Effects
Episode: Raid
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim
Haunted Hotel
Episode: The Acolytes of Abaddon
Titmouse for Netflix
Benjamin Morse, Benjamin Martian, Marshall Wetta
Invincible S3
Episode: I Thought You'd Never Shut Up
Amazon MGM Studios, Skybound Animation
Luke Asa Guidici, Matt Michael, Lea Carosella, Liam Johnson
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
Episode: Up From the Grave
Ubisoft Film & Television
Thomas Belair, Nicolas Bourgeois, Julien Perez
32. Best Editorial - Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Nathan Jacquard
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Anna Wolitzky, Steve Bloom, Noah Newman, Greg Snyder, Ben Morris
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Ludovic Versace
Olivia & las Nubes
Cine Chani, Historias de Bibi & Guasábara Cine
Tomás Pichardo Espaillat
