‘Soul’ And ‘Wolfwalkers’ Dominate 48th Annie Awards; ‘Hilda’ Led On Series Side – Winners List
Disney-Pixar’s Soul and Apple TV+/GKids/Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers traded awards back and forth in a largely uneventful 48th annual ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards, which took place tonight during a virtual ceremony.
Here’s a look at what happened:
Soul and Wolfwalkers took all the feature honors
It had been expected that both films would perform strongly. Pete Docter’s Soul came out on top, winning seven honors, including the top prize for best animated feature. Tomm Moore’s Wolfwalkers won the honor for independent animated feature, among a total of five wins, including best direction.
No other animated feature won an award besides these two films.
On the television side, Silvergate Media’s Hilda, produced for Netflix, was the top honoree with three wins, including best tv/media for children. The only other multi-winning tv series was Cartoon Network Studios’ Primal, which earned two awards, including best tv/media for a general audience.
Disney back on top
The Walt Disney Company took home the most awards, with ten total, but it was a weak night for the other majors: Warnermedia walked away with three wins, Dreamworks Animation notched two Annies, and Nickelodeon Animation was recognized just once for The Adventure of Paddington (best preschool tv/media).
Also, give credit to Apple TV+, which scored five wins in its first major year at the Annies. As we reported earlier this week, competition is heating up in the streaming space, and that competition extends to industry awards like the Annies.
Upsets and disappointments
The big upset of the event was Netflix’s performance, which had led with 40 nominations, but came out with just six awards (including the three for Hilda). Its two main features – Over the Moon and The Willoughbys – were locked out of the feature awards. A year earlier, the streamer had dominated the Annies with 19 wins.
Also disappointing but not unusual for the Annies: 40 out of 46 of the winners in the individual achievement categories – 87% – were men. Also, in five of the main categories (feature/indie feature/special production/short subject/sponsored), 21 out of 25 nominated projects (84%) were directed by men, including all ten nominated features.
The industry is changing – the percentage of women working in the unionized portion of L.A.’s animation industry is currently at an all-time high – and as more women gain a foothold in the industry, the number of supervising roles they occupy will continue to grow, hopefully leading to more recognition at the Annies. But right now, the Annie Awards feels like a clunky relic that is out of step with the modern world – and sadly, it has felt this way for years.
Compare the Annies to the world’s largest animation festival, Annecy, which has made a real effort to address the gender disparity in its competition selections. This year, 43% of the projects in its short competition are directed by women. (In Annecy’s tv and commissioned competitions, 27% and 38% of projects have women directors respectively.) There’s already plenty of great work being produced by women; ASIFA-Hollywood must do a better in acknowledging the evolution that is happening throughout the animation industry.
Juried awards
In addition to the competitive categories at the Annies, juried awards were presented to honor “unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.” The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement was 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 was awarded to Tonko House co-founder Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, while the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement went to Epic Games. An additional Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to Howard, the feature documentary about the late lyricist Howard Ashman.
COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS
Best Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Best Indie Feature
Wolfwalkers
Cartoon Saloon / AppleTv / Gkids
Best Special Production
The Snail and the Whale
Magic Light Pictures
Best Short Subject
Souvenir Souvenir
Blast Production
Best Sponsored
There’s a Monster in my Kitchen
Cartoon Saloon, Mother
Best TV/Media – Preschool
The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru”
Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Best TV/Media – Children
Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox”
Silvergate Media for Netflix
Best TV/Media – General Audience
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Coven Of The Damned”
Cartoon Network Studios
Best Student Film
La Bestia
Student directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt
Gobelins, l’école de l’image
Best FX for TV/Media
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World”
DreamWorks Animation
Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang
Best FX for Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
Best Character Animation – TV/Media
Hilda
Silvergate Media for Netflix
David Laliberté
Best Character Animation – Animated Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Michal Makarewicz
Best Character Animation – Live Action
The Mandalorian
Production Company: Lucasfilm
FX Production Company: Image Engine
Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
Best Character Animation – Video Game
Marvels Spider-Man Miles Morales
Insomniac Games
Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock
Best Character Design – TV/Media
Amphibia “The Shut-In!”
Disney TV Animation
Joe Sparrow
Best Character Design – Feature
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
Federico Pirovano
Best Direction – TV/Media
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Plague Of Madness”
Cartoon Network Studios
Genndy Tartakovsky
Best Direction – Feature
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films / GKIDS
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Best Music – TV/Media
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death”
Lucasfilm Animation
Kevin Kiner
Best Music – Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Best Production Design – TV/Media
Shooom’s Odyssey
Picolo Pictures
Julien Bisaro
Best Production Design – Feature
Wolfwalkers
Apple Original Films/GKIDS
María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore
Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Looney Tunes Cartoons
Warner Bros. Animation
Andrew Dickman
Best Storyboarding – Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Trevor Jimenez
Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act”
DreamWorks Animation
David Bradley (Merlin)
Best Voice Acting – Feature
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
Best Writing – Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Best Editorial – TV/Media
Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox”
Silvergate Media for Netflix
John McKinnon
Best Editorial – Feature
Soul
Pixar Animation Studios
Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk
