Studio Chizu’s ‘Mirai’ takes Best Independent Animated Feature; Past Lives Productions’ ‘Weekends’ wins Best Animated Short.
LOS ANGELES -- Sony’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature at the 46th Annual Annie Awards Saturday evening, and garnered top honors across seven categories including Character Animation, Character Design, Directing, Production Design, Writing, and Editorial. Best Animated Feature-Independent was awarded to Mirai.
This year, a new category was added -- Best Virtual Reality Production -- and awarded to Crow: The Legend. Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns won Best Animated Special Production and Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production, while Best Animated Short Subject went to Weekends. Greenpeace spot “There's a Rang-Tan In My Bedroom,” from Passion Animation Studios, took home the award in the Animated Commercial category.
Netflix kids series Hilda won the award for Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Children for the episode “Chapter 1: The Hidden People,” and picked up two other awards for Character Animation and Writing. Voice actor Will Arnett received this year's Annie Award for Voice Acting for his role in the BoJack Horseman episode “The Dog Days are Over,” and the hit Netflix series also won an award for Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production.
“What a terrific night,” remarked ASIFA-Hollywood Executive Director, Frank Gladstone. “While the weather was a challenge this year, everyone rose to the occasion and we had a brilliant time. This year's awards garnered the largest amount of submissions yet, leading to a great list of nominees, so it was no surprise that the Annie recipients continued to showcase animation's rising influence and diversity.”
VIP Guests and Presenters included Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter and Disney Creative Officer Jennifer Lee, Brad Bird, Holly Hunter, Diane Warren, Frances Fisher, Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells, Steve Hickner, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Rob Paulsen, Maurice LaMarche, Jim Cummings, John Ratzenberger, and Patrick Warburton.
This year’s Winsor McCay recipients were Frank Braxton (posthumously), Ralph Eggleston and Andrea Romano. The Winsor McCay Award stands as one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation.
The June Foray award was given posthumously to Adam Burke. Burke was widely acknowledged to be a talented artist and even better person. His absence is deeply mourned. The June Foray award honors an individual(s) who has given significant and benevolent contributions to the art and industry of animation.
Blender Open Source Animation Software was given the Ub Iwerks Award. Ton Roosendaal, Dutch software developer and film producer, accepted the award. And, the Certificate of Merit recipient was presented to dedicated ASIFA-Hollywood volunteer, Jason Jones.
The full list of winners is shown below:
Best Animated Feature
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures Animation
Best Animated Feature-Independent
Mirai – Studio Chizu
Best Animated Special Production
Mary Poppins Returns – Walt Disney Studios
Best Animated Short Subject
Weekends – Past Lives Productions
Best Virtual Reality Production
Crow: The Legend – Baobab Studios
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial
Greenpeace “There's a Rang-Tan In My Bedroom” – Passion Animation Studios
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
Ask the StoryBots “How Do Computers Work?” – JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children
Hilda “Chapter 1: The Hidden People” – Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production
BoJack Horseman, “The Dog Days are Over,” Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Best Student Film
Best Friend – Nicholas Oliveri, Yi Shen, Juliana De Luca, Varun Nair, David Feliu, Gobelins, l'école de l'image
Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters “The Eternal Knight Part 2” – David M.V. Jones, Vincent Chou, Clare Yang, DreamWorks Animation Television
Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production
Ralph Breaks the Internet – Cesar Velazquez, Marie Tollec, Alexander Moaveni, Peter DeMund, Ian J. Coony, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Hilda – Scott Lewis, Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Character Animation In An Animated Feature Production
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – David Han, Sony Pictures Animation Animator:
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Mary Poppins Returns – Chris Sauve, James Baxter, Sandro Cleuzo, Walt Disney Pictures
Character Animation in a Video Game
GRIS – Adrian Miguel, Adrian Garcia, Nomada Studio
Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure “Freebird” – Amanda Jolly, Walt Disney Television Animation
Character Design In An Animated Feature Production
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Shiyoon Kim, Sony Pictures Animation
Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Disney Mickey Mouse “Feed the Birds” – Eddie Trigueros, Disney Television Animation
Directing In An Animated Feature Production
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Sony Pictures Animation
Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Disney Mickey Mouse “Springtime” – Christopher Willis, Disney Television Animation
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Incredibles 2 – Michael Giacchino, Pixar Animation Studios
Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Age of Sail – Céline Desrumaux, Jasmin Lai, Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
Production Design In An Animated Feature Production
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Justin K. Thompson, Sony Pictures Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production – TIE
- Disney Mickey Mouse “Carnaval” – Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Disney Television Animation
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Mystic Mayhem” – Kevin Molina-Ortiz, Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Incredibles 2, Dean Kelly, Pixar Animation Studios
Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
BoJack Horseman, “Free Churro,” Will Arnett (as Bojack), Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Isle of Dogs – Bryan Cranston (as Chief), Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures
Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Hilda “Chapter 8: The Tide Mice” – Stephanie Simpson, Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Writing In An Animated Feature Production
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman, Sony Pictures Animation
Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Big Hero 6: The Series – Charles Jones, Joe Molinari, Dao Le, Vartan Nazarian, Walt Disney Television Animation
Editorial In An Animated Feature Production
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton, Vivek Sharma, Sony Pictures Animation
Created in 1972 by June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for over four decades. The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories from best feature, best feature -- independent, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting, and have often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
ASIFA-Hollywood is the world’s first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the art of animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, animated film preservation, special events, classes and screenings.
Source: ASIFA-Hollywood
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
