ANALYSIS: Netflix Dominates Annie Award Nominations With 40; Two-Way Race Between ‘Wolfwalkers’ And ‘Soul’
The nominations for the 48th annual ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards were announced today.
By our count, Netflix leads all companies with 40 nominations, followed by Disney with 32 recognitions. Dreamworks Animation pulled in 20 nominations (nine of which are also included in the Netflix total), while Warnermedia (which includes Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network) earned 15 nominations.
Disney-Pixar’s Soul and Apple TV+ and GKIDS’s Wolfwalkers, produced by Cartoon Saloon, topped the feature film nominations with ten apiece. Curiously, they aren’t competing in the same category for the top feature film award. Soul is in the best feature category, alongside Onward, The Croods: A New Age, The Willoughbys, and Trolls World Tour, while Wolfwalkers is in the best indie feature category alongside A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Calamity Jane, On-Gaku: Our Sound, and Ride Your Wave.
There will likely be a lot of questions about why films like Wolfwalkers and Shaun the Sheep, which are respectively distributed by Apple TV+ and Netflix, are allowed to compete in the independent category. Apple is literally the most valuable company in the United States, worth over $2 trillion dollars. Netflix is the largest streaming service in the world. While they are technically eligible to compete in the category based on the Annie Awards’s own poorly written rules, it will be obvious to most that it’s unfair to let these films run against actual independent films made on modest budgets and without conglomerate marketing power.
Other key features that earned at least a half-dozen nominations: Disney-Pixar’s Onward (7), Dreamworks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age (6), and both Netflix’s The Willoughbys (6) and Over the Moon (6). In what could be viewed as an upset, The Willoughbys picked up a nomination for best feature, leaving the company’s more high profile Over the Moon out of the category.
On the television side, it’s a remarkably diverse year, with only one series, Hilda, picking up three nominations. No other television series earned more than two nods. This speaks to the incredible breadth of television production, and perhaps highlights that with the boom in animated series content over the past few years, shows are having a tougher time than ever standing out from the pack.
Also notable, the European tv special Shooom’s Odyssey, directed by Julien Bisaro, picked up three nominations:
The shorts category at the Annies won’t serve as any kind of an indicator for the Oscars because the Annies didn’t nominate any of the ten Oscar-shortlisted shorts. However, the Dreamwork Oscar-shortlisted short To: Gerard picked up three nominations in individual achievement categories, while the television special The Snail and the Whale, which has also bizarrely been shortlisted for an Oscar, was also nominated for an Annie in the best special production category. The disparity between the Annie and Oscar short film categories is another indicator of the remarkable wealth of quality short-form filmmaking nowadays. The Annies did indeed nominate some fine shorts such as Kangmin Kim’s KKUM, Bastien Dubois’s Souvenir Souvenir, and Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime.
In addition to the competitive categories, juried awards will be presented to honor “unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.”
The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement will be presented to Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously), and Bruce Smith. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation will be awarded to Tonko House co-founder Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, while the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement will be given to Epic Games. An additional Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Howard, the feature documentary about the late lyricist Howard Ashman.
Voting for this year’s Annie Awards will begin on March 29. The Annie Awards will not take place in-person this year; rather a virtual ceremony will be held on Friday, April 16.
The complete list of nominees is below:
Best Feature
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation
The Willoughbys
Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media
Trolls World Tour
DreamWorks Animation
Best Indie Feature
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment An Aardman Production for Netflix
Calamity Jane
Maybe Movies
On-Gaku: Our Sound
Rock’n Roll Mountain, Tip Top
Ride Your Wave
Science SARU
Wolfwalkers
Cartoon Saloon / AppleTv / Gkids
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 Short Subject
Filles Bleues, Peur Blanche
Miyu Productions
KKUM
Open the Portal
Souvenir Souvenir
Blast Production
The Places Where We Live (Cake)
FX Productions and FX
World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
Don Hertzfeldt
Best Sponsored
Erste Group ‘Edgar’s Christmas’
Passion Animation Studios
Max & Maxine
Hornet
The Last Mile
Nexus Studios
There’s a Monster in my Kitchen
Cartoon Saloon, Mother
Travel the Vote
Hornet
Best TV/Media – Preschool
Buddi “Snow”
Unanico Group
Muppet Babies “Wock-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 Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum “I am Madam President”
9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films
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 Studio
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 Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation
Rick and Morty “The Vat of Acid Episode”
Rick and Morty LLC
The Midnight Gospel “Mouse of Silver”
Titmouse Animation for Netflix
Best Student Film
100,000 Acres of Pine
Student director: Jennifer Alice Wright
The Animation Workshop
Coffin
Student directors: Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Théo Tran Ngoc
Gobelins, l’école de l’image
La Bestia
Student directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt
Gobelins, l’école de l’image
Latitude du printemps
Student directors: Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Maylis Mosny, Zijing Ye
Rubika
O Black Hole!
Student director: Renee Zhan
Student producer: Jesse Romain
National Film and Television School, UK
Best FX for TV/Media
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers “Sirocco Fire Explosion”
DreamWorks Animation
Chris Browne, Brand Webb, Russell Richardson, Ardy Ala, Reggie Fourmyle
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World”
DreamWorks Animation
Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang
Lamp Life
Pixar Animation Studios
Greg Gladstone, Keith Daniel Klohn, Matthew Wong
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Killahead, Part Two”
DreamWorks Animation
Greg Lev, Igor Lodeiro, Brandon Tyra, Cui Wei, Ma Xiao
Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy “Siege: Episode 6”
Rooster Teeth Productions for Netflix
Masanori Sakakibara
Best FX for Feature
Over the Moon
Netflix Pearl Studio
Ian Farnsworth, Brian Casper, Reinhold Rittinger, Zoran Stojanoski, Jennifer Lasrado
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation
Amaury Aubel, Domin Lee, Alex Timchenko, Andrew Wheeler, Derek Cheung
Trolls World Tour
DreamWorks Animation
Zachary Glynn, Landon Gray, Youxi Woo, John Kosnik, Doug Rizeakos
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films / GKIDS
Kim Kelly, Leena Lecklin, Frédéric Plumey, Almu Redondo, Nicole Storck
Best Character Animation – TV/Media
Alien Xmas
Netflix Presents Fairview Entertainment/Sonar Entertainment/Chiodo Bros. Productions
Kim Blanchette
BoJack Horseman “Good Damage”
Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
James Bowman
Cosmos: Possible Worlds “Vavilov”
Starburns Industries
Dan MacKenzie
Hilda
Silvergate Media for Netflix
David Laliberté
Lamp Life
Pixar Animation Studios
Lucas Fraga Pacheco
Best Character Animation – Animated Feature
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Shaun Chacko
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Michal Makarewicz
The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation
Rani Naamani
The Willoughbys
Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media
Andrés Bedate Martin
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart
Best Character Animation – Live Action
The Christmas Chronicles 2
Production Company: Netflix Presents A 26th Street Pictures/Wonder Worldwide Production
FX Production Company: Weta Digital
Nick Stein, Caroline Ting, Sebastian Trujillo, David Yabu, Paul Ramsden
The Mandalorian
Production Company: Lucasfilm
FX Production Company: Image Engine
Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
The Umbrella Academy 2
Production Company: UCP for Netflix
FX Production Company: Weta Digital
Aidan Martin, Hunter Parks, Craig Young, Viki Yeo, Krystal Sae Eua
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures
FX Production Company: Framestore
Anders Beer, Marianne Morency, Hennadii Prykhodko, Sophie Burie, Cedric Le Poullennec
Best Character Animation – Video Game
League of Legends
Riot Games Inc.
Jose “Sho” Hernandez, Lana Bachynski , Christopher Hsing, Matthew Johnson, Jason Hendrich
Marvels Spider-Man Miles Morales
Insomniac Games
Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Moon Studios Xbox Game
Iam8bit
Jim Donovan, Warren Goff, Boris Hiestand, Kim Nguyen, Jason Martinsen
The Last of Us Part II
Naughty Dog
Jeremy Yates, Eric Baldwin, Almudena Soria, Michal Mach, August Davies
Best Character Design – TV/Media
Amphibia “The Shut-In!”
Disney TV Animation
Joe Sparrow
BNA “Runaway Raccoon”
Trigger/Netflix
Yusuke Yoshigaki
Craig of the Creek
Cartoon Network Studios
Danny Hynes
Looney Tunes Cartoons
Warner Bros. Animation
Jim Soper
The Owl House “Young Blood, Old Souls”
Disney Television Animation
Marina Gardner
Best Character Design – Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Daniel López Muñoz
The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation
Joe Pitt
The Willoughbys
Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media
Craig Kellman
Trolls World Tour
DreamWorks Animation
Timothy Lamb
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Federico Pirovano
Best Direction – TV/Media
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Plague Of Madness”
Cartoon Network Studios
Genndy Tartakovsky
Great Pretender “Case 1_1: Los Angeles Connection”
Production I.G. for Fuji Television Network and Netflix
Hiro Kaburagi
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart “Mao Mao’s Nakey”
Titmouse Inc/Cartoon Network Studios
Michael Moloney
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Battle Nexus NYC”
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Alan Wan
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse “Hard to Swallow”
Disney Television Animation
Eddie Trigueros
Best Direction – Feature
Calamity Jane
Maybe Movies
Rémi Chayé
Over the Moon
Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production /A Glen Keane Productions Presentation
Glen Keane
Ride Your Wave
Science SARU
Masaaki Yuasa
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Pete Docter, Kemp Powers
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films / GKIDS
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Best Music – TV/Media
Blood of Zeus “Escape or Die”
Powerhouse Animation Studios for Netflix
Paul Edward-Francis
Mira Royal Detective “The Great Diwali Mystery”
Wild Canary/Disney Junior
Amritha Vaz, Matthew Tishler, Jeannie Lurie
Star Trek: Lower Decks “Crisis Point”
CBS’s Eye Animation Productions, Titmouse; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment
Chris Westlake
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death”
Lucasfilm Animation
Kevin Kiner
The Tiger That Came to Tea
Lupus Films
David Arnold, Don Black
Best Music – Feature
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna
Over the Moon
Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation
Steven Price, Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield, Helen Park
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
The Willoughbys
Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media
Mark Mothersbaugh, Alessia Cara, Jon Levine, Colton Fisher
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Bruno Coulais, Kíla
Best Production Design – TV/Media
Baba Yaga
Baobab Studios
Glenn Hernandez, Matthieu Saghezchi
Shooom’s Odyssey
Picolo Pictures
Julien Bisaro
The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington And Halloween”
Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Negar Bagheri
To: Gerard
DreamWorks Animation
Raymond Zibach
Trash Truck
Glen Keane Productions for Netflix
Eastwood Wong, Sylvia Liu, Elaine Lee, Tor Aunet, Lauren Zurcher
Best Production Design – Feature
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Noah Klocek, Sharon Calahan, Huy Nguyen, Bert Berry, Paul Conrad
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Steve Pilcher, Albert Lozano, Paul Abadilla, Bryn Imagire
The Willoughbys
Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media
Kyle McQueen
Trolls World Tour
DreamWorks Animation
Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, Timothy Lamb
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore
Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Archibald’s Next Big Thing “Baritone Tea Part 1”
DreamWorks Animation
Ben McLaughlin
Big City Greens “Cheap Show”
Walt Disney Television Animation
Kiana Khansmith
Looney Tunes Cartoons
Warner Bros. Animation
Andrew Dickman
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge
Warner Bros. Animation
Milo Neuman
Shooom’s Odyssey
Picolo Pictures
Julien Bisaro
Best Storyboarding – Feature
Earwig and the Witch
Studio Ghibli
Goro Miyazaki
Over the Moon
Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation
Glen Keane
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Trevor Jimenez
The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation
Evon Freeman
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Guillaume Lorin
Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Dragons Rescue Riders “Hunt for the Golden Dragon”
DreamWorks Animation
Jeff Bennett (Erik the Wretched)
It’s Pony “Episode 107”
Blue-Zoo Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Jessica DiCicco (Annie)
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe
Walt Disney Television Animation & Disney+
Ashley Tisdale (Candace)
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act”
DreamWorks Animation
David Bradley (Merlin)
ThunderCats Roar! “ThunderSlobs”
Warner Bros. Animation
Patrick Seitz (Mumm-Ra, Tygra)
Best Voice Acting – Feature
Earwig and the Witch
Studio Ghibli
Vanessa Marshall (Bella Yaga)
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Tom Holland (Ian Lightfoot)
Over the Moon
Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation
Robert G. Chiu (Chin)
The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation
Nicolas Cage (Grug)
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)
Best Writing – TV/Media
Big Mouth “The New Me”
Netflix
Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison, Andrew Goldberg
Craig of the Creek
Cartoon Network Studios
Jeff Trammell, Tiffany Ford, Dashawn Mahone, Najja Porter
Fancy Nancy “Nancy’s New Friend”
Disney Television Animation
Krista Tucker, Andy Guerdat, Matt Hoverman, Laurie Israel, Marisa Evans-Sanden
Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green”
Eshugadee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation
Sarah Peters
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2”
DreamWorks Animation
Noelle Stevenson
Best Writing – Feature
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment an Aardman Production for Netflix
Mark Burton, Jon Brown
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley, Keith Bunin
Over the Moon
Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation
Audrey Wells
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Will Collins
Best Editorial – TV/Media
Cops and Robbers
Lawrence Bender Productions for Netflix
Brandon Terry, Ezra Dweck, Del Spiva
Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox”
Silvergate Media for Netflix
John McKinnon
If Anything Happens I Love You
Gilbert Films/Oh Good Productions for Netflix
Peter Ettinger, Michael Babcock
Lamp Life
Pixar Animation Studios
Serena Warner
To: Gerard
DreamWorks Animation
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
Sim Evan-Jones, ACE, Adrian Rhodes
Calamity Jane
Maybe Movies
Benjamin Massoubre
Onward
Pixar Animation Studios
Catherine Apple, Anna Wolitzky, Dave Suther
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk
The Willoughbys
Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media
Fiona Toth, Ken Schretzmann, ACE
