‘Soul,’ ‘Wolfwalkers’ Big Winners at 48th Annie Awards

Pixar’s Soul was the big winner at last night’s 48^th Annual Annie Awards, taking home honors in seven categories including Best Feature, with Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS) taking honors in five, including Best Independent Feature. The Friday night ceremony was streamed this year in association with Variety.

Other winners included The Snail and the Whale (Magic Light Pictures) for Best Animated Special Production; Best Animated Short Subject – Souvenir Souvenir (Blast Production); Best Sponsored Production – There’s a Monster in my Kitchen (Cartoon Saloon); Best General Audience Animated TV/Media Production - Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal: Coven of the Damned (Cartoon Network Studios); and Best Animated TV/Media Production for Children - Hilda: Chapter 9 – The Deerfox  (Hilda Productions Limited); Best Animated TV/Media Production for Preschool Children - Adventures of Paddington: Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru (Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio); and Character Animation in a Live Action Production - The Mandalorian (Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk) (Image Engine).

According to Frank Gladstone, ASIFA’s executive director, “This year was a challenge, in many ways, for all of us. Especially after deciding to go to a virtual award ceremony, we did not know what to expect. To our surprise, we had more submissions this year than we have ever had and, now that we are streaming the Annies worldwide, we are also hoping for the biggest audience ever.”

The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation were presented to three recipients: animator Willie Ito (The Flintstones, The Atom Ant Show), designer Sue Nichols (Moana, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast) (posthumously) and animator/director Bruce Smith (Hair Love, The Proud Family). The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry   of animation was awarded to animator and art director, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi.

The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to Epic Games for its Unreal Engine; and The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to the documentary, Howard (Stone Circle Pictures).

The full list of winners is shown below, highlighted in bold alongside the other category nominees:

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 - Apple Original Films / GKIDS / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine

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' - Pasion 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, Episode: Snow - Unanico Group
• Muppet Babies, Episode: Wock-a-bye-Fozzie - Oddbot / Disney Junior
• Stillwater, Episode: The Impossible Dream / Stuck in the Rain - Apple / Gaumont / Scholastic
• The Adventures of Paddington, Episode: Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru - Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
• Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum: I am Madam President, Episode: I am Madam President - 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films

Best TV/Media - Children

• Hilda, Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox - Silvergate Media for Netflix
• Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Episode: Finale Part 4: Rise - Nickelodeon Animation Studio
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Episode: Heart Part 2 - DreamWorks Animation
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Episode: Shattered - Lucasfilm Animation
• Victor And Valentino, Episode: The Lonely Haunts Club 3: La Llorona - Cartoon Network Studios

Best TV/Media - General Audience

• Close Enough, Episode: Logan's Run'd/Room Parents - Cartoon Network Studios
• Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Episode: Coven Of The Damned - Cartoon Network Studios
• Harley Quinn, Episode: Something Borrowed, Something Green - Eshugadee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation
• Rick and Morty, Episode: The Vat of Acid Episode - Rick and Morty LLC
• The Midnight Gospel, Episode: Mouse of Silver - Titmouse Animation for Netflix

Best Student Film

• 100,000 Acres of Pine - Student director: Jennifer Alice Wright - School: The Animation Workshop
• Coffin - Student director: Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Théo Tran Ngoc - School: Gobelins, l'école de l'image
• La Bestia - Student director: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt - School: Gobelins, l'école de l'image
• Latitude du printemps - Student director: Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Ma?lis Mosny, Zijing Ye - School: Rubika
• O Black Hole! - Student director: Renee Zhan, Student producer: Jesse Romain - School: National Film and Television School, UK

Best FX for TV/Media

• Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, Episode: Sirocco Fire Explosion - DreamWorks Animation - Chris Browne, Brand Webb, Russell Richardson, Ardy Ala, Reggie Fourmyle
• Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Episode: Welcome to Jurassic World - DreamWorks Animation - Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang
• Lamp Life, Episode: Lamp Life - Pixar Animation Studios - Greg Gladstone, Keith Daniel Klohn, Matthew Wong
• Tales of Arcadia: Wizards, Episode: Killahead, Part Two - DreamWorks Animation - Greg Lev, Igor Lodeiro, Brandon Tyra, Cui Wei,   Ma Xiao
• Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy (Siege), Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - 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, Episode: Good Damage - Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix - James Bowman
• Cosmos: Possible Worlds, Episode: Vavilov - Starburns Industries - Dan MacKenzie
• Hilda - Silvergate Media for Netflix - David Laliberté
• Lamp Life, Episode: Lamp Life - Pixar Animation Studios - Lucas Fraga Pacheco

Best Character Animation - 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - 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 Studios 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, Episode: The Shut-In! - Disney TV Animation - Joe Sparrow
• BNA, Episode: 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, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - Federico Pirovano

Best Direction - TV/Media

• Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Episode: Plague Of Madness - Cartoon Network Studios - Genndy Tartakovsky
• Great Pretender, Episode: Case 1_1: Los Angeles Connection - Production I.G. for Fuji Television Network and Netflix - Hiro Kaburagi
• Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, Episode: Mao Mao's Nakey - Titmouse Inc / Cartoon Network Studios - Michael Moloney
• Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Episode: Battle Nexus NYC - Nickelodeon Animation Studio - Alan Wan
• The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart

Best Music - TV/Media

• Blood of Zeus, Episode: Escape or Die - Powerhouse Animation Studios for Netflix - Paul Edward-Francis
• Mira Royal Detective, Episode: The Great Diwali Mystery - Wild Canary / Disney Junior - Amritha Vaz, Matthew Tishler, Jeannie Lurie
• Star Trek: Lower Decks, Episode: Crisis Point - CBS’s Eye Animation Productions, Titmouse; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment - Chris Westlake
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - 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, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore

Best Storyboarding - TV/Media

• Archibald's Next Big Thing, Episode: Baritone Tea Part 1 - DreamWorks Animation - Ben McLaughlin
• Big City Greens, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - Guillaume Lorin

Best Voice Acting - TV/Media

• Dragons Rescue Riders, Episode: Hunt for the Golden Dragon - DreamWorks Animation - Jeff Bennett (Erik the Wretched)
• It's Pony, Episode: Episode 107 - Blue-Zoo Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio - Jessica DiCicco (Annie)
• Phineas and Ferb the Movie, Episode: Candace Against the Universe - Walt Disney Television Animation & Disney+ - Ashley Tisdale (Candace)
• Tales of Arcadia: Wizards, Episode: Our Final Act - DreamWorks Animation - David Bradley (Merlin)
• ThunderCats ROAR!, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)

Best Writing - TV/Media

• Big Mouth, Episode: The New Me – Netflix - Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison
• Craig of the Creek - Cartoon Network Studios - Jeff Trammell, Tiffany Ford, Dashawn Mahone, Najja Porter
• Fancy Nancy, Episode: Nancy's New Friend - Disney Television Animation - Krista Tucker, Andy Guerdat, Matt Hoverman, Laurie Israel, Marisa Evans-Sanden
• Harley Quinn, Episode: Something Borrowed, Something Green - Eshugadee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation - Sarah Peters
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Episode: 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 / Cartoon Saloon / Melusine - Will Collins

Best Editorial - TV/Media

• Cops and Robbers - Lawrence Bender Productions for Netflix - Brandon Terry, Ezra Dweck, Del Spiva
• Hilda. Episode: 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, Episode: 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

Source: ASIFA Hollywood

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.