Awards

Disney Fails To Score Annie Awards Feature Nomination For The First Time Ever; Netflix Has Most-Nominated Film And Series

By Jamie Lang | 01/11/2024 1:28 pm | Be the First to Comment!

Nominations for the 51st ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards were unveiled today, honoring the best in animation and vfx from the past year. For the first time since the feature award was launched in 1992, Disney was shut out of the main feature category as neither Wish nor Elemental were included.

The fact that Wish wasn’t nominated for the main feature prize is understandable considering the film’s poor critical reception, but it is quite remarkable that it was also overlooked in all of the individual craft categories as well. “The Artists of Walt Disney Animation” are being honored with the Annies’ Special Achievement Award this year, “recognizing unique and outstanding achievement not recognized within the existing award category structure.” Perhaps that was done as a small consolation for Wish and Once Upon a Studio earning zero nominations from any category between them.

It should be noted that in the past, Disney has withdrawn its films from Annie Awards consideration. But when it had done that, ASIFA-Hollywood’s policy was to still consider the work during its nomination process. As far as we know, there’s no indication at the moment that Walt Disney Animation Studios withdrew its films from the Annies, and Disney-Pixar’s Elemental received nominations in several categories outside of the main feature award.

The most nominated feature from this year’s selection was Netflix’s Nimona, which scored nine nods, including best feature. Suzume, The Boy and the Heron, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse each got seven nominations; Elemental and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem had six nods apiece; and Robot Dreams was the most nominated film not from the U.S. or Japan, with five nominations.

Two Hungarian features were nominated in this year’s independent feature category, Four Souls of Coyote and White Plastic Sky. The latter is the only title in the Annies’ main film categories to feature a woman director.

Among series, no production received more nominations than Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai, which got seven including for mature tv/media. Disney series did well this year, with Star Wars: Visions scoring six nominations, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire earning five, and Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur with four. Warner Bros.’s top nominee was Scavengers Reign, which picked up four nominations.

Another interesting trend sees former Pixar artists earning nominations for independently distributed productions, including The Inventor director Jim Capobianco (writer, Ratatouille), Ghee Happy director Sanjay Patel (Sanjay’s Super Team), and War is Over! director Dave Mullins (Lou).

This year’s Annie Awards will be held on February 17 at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles.

The show will feature 32 categories, and four juried awards, listed below:

Best Feature

Nimona
Annapurna Animation for Netflix

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 Indie Feature

Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia
Folivari, Mélusine Productions, Studio Canal / Distributed by GKIDS

Four Souls of Coyote
Cinemon Entertainment

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

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
Punch Line Cinema / Next Day Films

War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Electroleague

Best Sponsored

“Video Games” by Tenacious D
Pinreel Inc.

Alzheimer’s Research UK “Change The Ending”
Passion Pictures

“Laugh Track” – The National (featuring Phoebe Bridgers)
Bernard Derriman

Up in smoke
Nomint

Best TV/Media – Preschool

Batwheels “To the Batmobile!”
Warner Bros. Animation

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

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 ” 105B Square’s Special Place”
Bix Pix Entertainment in association with Apple

Best TV/Media – Mature

Big Mouth “The International Show”
Netflix

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
Bilibili / Studio Reflection

Best TV/Media – Limited Series

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
Director: Rich Farris
School: National Film and Television School

Kolaj
Director: Besen Dilek
School: Filamakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH

La quête de l’humain
Directors: Mélina Ienco, Lucie Juric, Caroline Leibel, Faustine Merle, Claire Pellet
School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image

Quem Salva
Directors: Laure Devin, Maxime Bourstin, Nathan Medam, Charles Hechinger, Titouan Jaouen
School: Supinfocom Rubika

The Little Poet
Director: Justine King
School: California Institute of the Arts

Best FX – TV/Media

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

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

Blue Eye Samurai “101,” “104,” “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

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

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

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac Games – Insomniac Games Animation Team

Teslagrad
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

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

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

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

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
Warner Bros. Animation – Michael McCuistion, Kristopher Carter, Lolita Ritmanis

Pacemaker
A Running Commentary – Christopher Lennertz

Star Wars: Visions “Aau’s Song”
Lucasfilm Ltd. – Markus Wormstorm, Nadia Darries, Dineo du Toit

The Smeds and The Smoos
Magic Light Pictures – René Aubry

Best Music – Feature

Elemental
Pixar Animation Studios – Thomas Newman, Ari “LAUV” Leff

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

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

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 Fong, Tiffany Lam

The Boy and the Heron
Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS – Yoji Takeshige

Best Storyboarding – TV/Media

Craig Before The Creek “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

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

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 “Craig Before the Creek”
Cartoon Network Studios – Vico Ortiz (Character: Serena)

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)

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

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

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

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