Netflix has scored 50 Annie Award nominations across series and features, including bids for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” which leads in individual nominations with nine.
“Pinocchio,” which has picked up 38 awards so far this season, including the Golden Globe for animated feature, is one of three Netflix projects up for best feature, along with “The Sea Beast” and “Wendell & Wild.” Netflix has one contender in the indie feature field: “My Father’s Dragon,” with Cartoon Saloon.
Other films nominated for best feature are Disney-Pixar’s “Turning Red” and DreamWorks Animation’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” Rounding out the indie feature category are “Charlotte,” from January Films, Balthlazar Productions and Walking the Dog; “Inu-Oh,” from Science SARU; “Little Nicholas, Happy as Can Be,” from On Classics (Mediawan) and Bidibul Productions; and “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” from Marcel the Movie, LLC.
Del Toro, with co-director Mark Gustafson, is up for feature direction for his passion project, along with Domee Shi for “Turning Red,” Nora Twomey for “My Father’s Dragon,” Henry Selick for “Wendell & Wild” and Dean Fleischer Camp, Kirsten Lepore and Stephen Chiodo for “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” airing on Apple TV+, is the top TV/Media project, picking up seven bids, followed closely by Netflix series “Love Death + Robots” and “Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” which each scored six.
Competing for best TV/Media – Preschool are “Elinor Wonders Why,” from SHOE Ink; DreamWorks Animation’s “Gabby’s Dollhouse,” which airs on Netflix; “Rise Up, Sing Out,” from Disney TV Animation; “Spirit Rangers,” from Laughing Wild and Netflix; and Nickelodeon’s “The Tiny Chef Show,” from Tiny Chef Productions and Imagine Entertainment.
Up for best TV/Media – Children are DWA’s “Abominable and the Invisible City”; Nickelodeon’s “Big Nate”; “Moominvalley,” from Gutsy Animations; “The Owl House,” from Disney TV Animation; and Cartoon Network Studios’ “We Baby Bears.”
“Bob’s Burgers,” from 20th TV and Bento Box; “Harley Quinn,” from Warner Bros. Animation; “Rick and Morty,” from Rick and Morty, LLC; “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXIII,” from Gracie Film in association with 20th Television Animation; and The Tornante Company’s “Tuca & Bertie” are up for best TV/Media – Mature.
Vying for the prize in the new category of TV/Media – Limited Series are Disney’s “Baymax!”; “El Deafo,” from Lighthouse Studios in association with Apple; “Kapital Entertainment and Fox Entertainment’s “HouseBroken”; Netflix’s “Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” from Tonko House; and “Undone,” from the Tornante Company and Amazon Studios.
In addition to the competitive awards, a number of animation industry figures will receive juried awards for their contributions to the business.
Writer-director and Pixar CEO Pete Docter, prolific TV series creator Craig McCracken and the late Evelyn Lambart, known for her short films, will each receive the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime or career achievement. Author, historian and educator Mindy Johnson will be given the June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the animation industry. The Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement will go to Visual Effects Reference Platform, initially developed by Nick Cannon and Francois Chardavoine to eliminate incompatibilities between digital content creation software. The Certificate of Merit Award for service to the art and industry will be presented to voice actor John Omohundro.
The Annies, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, are celebrating their 50th year honoring achievements in the animation industry. The brainchild of iconic voice actor June Forey, who died in 2017 at the age of 99, began as a dinner at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in the San Fernando Valley, honoring animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer. The organization’s leaders are looking forward to celebrating the milestone this year with the first in-person event since the COVID-19 lockdown. The Annies were forced to pivot to a virtual event last year due to COVID.
The 50th Annie Awards will be held Saturday, Feb. 25, at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA.
The complete list of nominees follows:
FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix
“Wendell & Wild,” Netflix Presents A Monkeypaw Production/A Gotham Group Production
INDIE FEATURE
“Charlotte,” January Films, Ltd., Balthazar Productions, and Walking the Dog
“Inu-Oh,” Science SARU
“Little Nicholas, Happy As Can Be,” On Classics (Mediawan)/Bidibul Productions/Buffalo 8
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC
“My Father’s Dragon,” Cartoon Saloon for Netflix
SPECIAL PRODUCTION
“Prehistoric Planet,” BBC Studios in association with Apple
“Superworm,” Magic Light Pictures
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions
“The House,” Nexus Studios for Netflix
“The Sandman,” A Netflix Original Series / A Warner Bros. Television Production
SHORT SUBJECT
“Amok,” Boddah
“Black Slide,” The Hive Studio, in co-production with FlipBook Studio
“Ice Merchants,” COLA Animation production & Wild Stream
“Love, Dad,” 13ka, in co-production with FAMU & nutprodukcia
“The Flying Sailor,” National Film Board of Canada
SPONSORED
“Can’t Negotiate the Melting Point of Ice,” NOMINT
“Minions: The Rise of Gru / The Office,” Illumination
“Save Ralph,” Arch Model Studio
“Ted Lasso: The Missing Christmas Mustache,” Apple presents a Doozer Production in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television
“Today’s Holiday Moments are Tomorrow’s Memories,” Hornet
TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
“Elinor Wonders Why,” Episode: [Rest is Best], SHOE Ink. LLC
“Gabby’s Dollhouse,” Episode: [Cakey’s Cupcake Cousins], DreamWorks Animation
“Rise Up, Sing Out,” Episode: [Name Tag], Disney TV Animation
“Spirit Rangers,” Episode: [Thunder Mountain], Laughing Wild / Netflix
“The Tiny Chef Show,” Episode: [Pancakes], Tiny Chef Productions LLC/Imagine Entertainment
TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
“Abominable and the Invisible City,” Episode: [Everest Returns], DreamWorks Animation
“Big Nate,” Episode: [The Legend of the Gunting], Nickelodeon Animation
“Moominvalley,” Episode: [Lonely Mountain], Gutsy Animations
“The Owl House,” Episode: [King’s Tide], Disney TV Animation
“We Baby Bears,” Episode: [The Real Crayon], Cartoon Network Studios
TV/MEDIA – MATURE
“Bob’s Burgers,” Episode: [Some Like it Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner], 20th Television/Bento Box Entertainment
“Harley Quinn,” Episode: [Batman Begins Forever], Warner Bros. Animation
“Rick and Morty,” Episode: [Night Family], Rick and Morty LLC
“The Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror XXXIII,” Episode: [Treehouse of Horror XXXIII], A Gracie Films Production in Association with 20th Television Animation
“Tuca & Bertie,” Episode: [The Pain Garden], The Tornante Company
TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES
“BAYMAX! ,” Episode: [Sofia], Walt Disney Animation Studios
“El Deafo,” Episode: [Everybody Sounds So Weird], Lighthouse Studios in association with Apple
“HouseBroken,” Episode: [Who’s Having A Merry Trashmas?], Kapital Entertainment and Fox Entertainment
“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” Episode: [The Demon Moon Rises], A Netflix Series/A Tonko House Production
“Undone,” Episode: [Rectify], Tornante Company and Amazon Studios
STUDENT FILM
“Au revoir Jérôme!,” Student directors: Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet & Chloé Farr, School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image
“Birdsong,” Student director: Michelle Cheng, Student producer: Michelle Cheng, School: California Institute of the Arts
“Synchronie Passagère,” Student director: Julia Le Bras-Juarez, School: Supinfocom Rubika
“The Most Boring Granny in the Whole World,” Student director: Damaris Zielke, Student producer: Jiayan Chen, School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
“The Soloists,” Student director: Mehrnaz Abdollahinia, Feben Elias Woldehawariat, Razahk
Issaka, Celeste Jamneck & Yi Liu, School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image
FX – TV/MEDIA
“Cars on the Road,” Episode: [Road Rumblers], Pixar Animation Studios; Christopher Foreman, Elana Lederman, John Lockwood, Jae Jun Yi, Justin Ritter
“Love Death + Robots,” Episode: [Bad Traveling], Blur Studio for Netflix, FX Production Company: Blur Studio; Kirby Miller, Igor Zanic, Joseph H. Coleman, Steven Dupuy, Josh Schwartz
“Prehistoric Planet,” Episode: [Coasts], BBC Studios in association with Apple, FX Production Company: MPC
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Episode: [special production], NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions, FX Production Company: NoneMore Productions; Peter Baynton, Raymond Pang, Martial Coulon
“The House,” Episode: [special production], Nexus Studios for Netflix, FX Production Company: Nexus Studios; Germán Díez, Álvaro Alonso Lomba, Hugo Vieites Caamaño
FX – FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” 20th Century Studios/Disney Studios, FX Production Company: Weta FX; Johnathan M. Nixon, David Moraton, Nicholas Illingworth, David Caeiro Cebrian, Alex Nowotny
“Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear,” Pixar Animation Studios, FX Production Company: Pixar; Carl Kaphan, Cody Harrington, Hope Schroers, Jon Barry, Nate Skeen
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company, FX Production Company: MPC, Aaron Weintraub, Warren Lawtey, Alireza Malmiri, Baptiste Malbranque, Mikhail Donchenko
“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” Illumination; Frank Baradat, Simon Pate, Milan Voukassovitch, Milo Riccarand
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix, FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks; Spencer Lueders, Dmitriy Kolesnik, Kiel Gnebba, Oleksandr (Alex) Loboda, Jeremy Hoey
CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
“Entergalactic,” Episode: [special production], Netflix/Mad Solar/Khalabo Ink Society/Edelgang; Aziz Kocanagullari
“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” Episode: [The Mighty Storm Gods], A Netflix Series/A Tonko House Production; Toshihiro Nakamura
“StoryBots: Answer Time,” Episode: [Taste], JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix; Henrique Baron
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Episode: [special production], NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions; Tim Watts
“The House,” Episode: [special production], Nexus Studios for Netflix; Kecy Salangad
CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Teresa Falcone
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Eric Anderson
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Tucker Barrie
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Jorge Capote
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Min Hong
CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Company: 20th Century Studios/Disney Studios, FX Production Company: Weta FX; Daniel Barrett, Stuart Adcock, Todd Labonte, Douglas McHale, Stephen Cullingford
“Beast,” Production Company: Universal Pictures, RVK Studios, Will Packer Productions, FX Production Company: framestore; Alvise Avati, Chris McGaw, Bora Şahin, Krzysztof Boyoko, Laurent Benhamo
“Finch,” Production Company: Amblin Partners Apple Original Films, FX Production Company: MPC; Simon Allen, Harinarayan Rajeev, Paul Nelson, Matthias Schoenegger
“Jurassic World Dominion,” Production Company: Amblin Entertainment & Universal Pictures, FX Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic; Jance Rubinchik, Alexander Lee, Rich Bentley, Antoine Verney Carron, Sally Wilson
“Peacemaker,” Production Company: HBO Max, FX Production Company: Weta FX; Michael Cozens, Mark Smith, Kai-Hua Lan, Selene McLean, Richard John Moore
CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
“Cuphead – The Delicious Last Course,” Weta Studio MDHR; Chad Moldenhauer, Hanna Abi-Hanna
“God of War Ragnarök,” Santa Monica Studio
“Horizon Forbidden West,” Guerrilla; Richard Oud, Jan-Erik Sjovall, Guerrilla Animation Team
“Moss: Book II,” Polyarc; Richard Lico
“Potionomics,” Voracious Games; Emily Lattanavong , Anguel Bogoev
CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
“Amphibia,” Episode: [The Hardest Thing], Disney TV Animation; Joe Sparrow
“Entergalactic,” Episode: [special production], Netflix / Mad Solar / Khalabo Ink Society / Edelgang; Meybis Ruiz Cruz
“Love Death + Robots,” Episode: [Jibaro], Blur Studio for Netflix; Alberto Mielgo
“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” Episode: [The Demon Moon Rises], A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production; Rebecca Chan
“Spirit Rangers,” Episode: [Belly of the Beast], Laughing Wild/Netflix; Marie Delmas
CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
“Luck,” Skydance LLC; Massimiliano Narciso
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Jesús Alonso Iglesias
“Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie,” Nickelodeon Animation Studio; Ida Hem
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Taylor Krahenbuhl
“Wendell & Wild,” Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production/A Gotham Group Production; Pablo Lobato
DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
“BAYMAX! ,” Episode: [Sofia], Walt Disney Animation Studios; Lissa Treiman
“exception,” Episode: [Misprint], Studio 5 / Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. for Netflix; Yûzô Satô
“More Than I Want To Remember,” Episode: [short subject], Mugeni Film LLC, MTV Entertainment Studios; Amy Bench , Maya Edelman
“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” Episode: [The Demon Moon Rises], A Netflix Series/A Tonko House Production; Daisuke ” Dice” Tsutsumi
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Episode: [special production], NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions; Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy
DIRECTION – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Domee Shi
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC; Dean Fleischer Camp, Kirsten Lepore, Stephen Chiodo
“My Father’s Dragon,” Cartoon Saloon for Netflix; Nora Twomey
“Wendell & Wild,” Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production/A Gotham Group Production; Henry Selick
MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
“Love Death + Robots,” Episode: [The Very Pulse of the Machine], Blur Studio for Netflix; Rob Cairns
“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” Episode: [Onari’s Kushi Power], A Netflix Series/A Tonko House Production; Zach Johnston, Matteo Roberts
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Episode: [special production], NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions; Isobel Waller-Bridge, Charlie Mackesy
“The Cuphead Show!,” Episode: [Carn-Evil], Netflix Animation; Ego Plum
“The House,” Episode: [special production], Nexus Studios for Netflix; Gustavo Santaolalla
MUSIC – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Ludwig Göransson, Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale
“Mad God,” Tippett Studio; Dan Wool
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Daniel Pemberton
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Mark Mancia, Nell Benjamin, Laurence O’Keefe
PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal,” Episode: [Echoes of Eternity], Adult Swim; Scott Wills
“Mall Stories – Atilla the Grilla,” Episode: [short subject], Chromosphere/Kikutowne; Jasmin Lai, Lauren Zurcher, Junyi Wu
“Oni: Thunder God’s Tale,” Episode: [The Demon Moon Rises], A Netflix Series/A Tonko House Production; Robert Kondo, Rachel Tiep-Daniels, Lia Tin, Yohei Hashizume, Masa Inada
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Episode: [special production], NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions; Mike McCain
“The House,” Episode: [special production], Nexus Studios for Netflix; Niklas Nilsson, Alexandra Walker
PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Curt Enderle, Guy Davis
“Mad God,” Tippett Studio; Phil Tippett
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Nate Wragg, Joseph Feinsilver, Claire Keane, Wayne Tsay, Naveen Selvanathan
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Luc Desmarchelier, Floriane Marchix
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Matthias Lechner, Jung Woonyoung
STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
“Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” Episode: [Let You Down], CD Projekt Red in association with Netflix; Kaneko Yoshiyuk
“Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight,” Episode: [The Knight’s Code], DreamWorks Animation; Grace Liu
“Looney Tunes Cartoons,” Episode: [Hex Appeal], Warner Bros. Animation; Mike Ruocco
“Love Death + Robots,” Episode: [The Very Pulse of the Machine], Blur Studio for Netflix; Emily Dean
“The Cuphead Show!,” Episode: [A Very Devil Christmas], Netflix Animation; Karl Hadrika
STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” Illumination; Nima Azarba
“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” Illumination; Dave Feiss
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Anthony Holden
“Strange World,” Walt Disney Animation Studios; Jeff Snow
“Strange World,” Walt Disney Animation Studios; Javier Ledesma Barboll
VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
“Looney Tunes Cartoons,” Episode: [Hex Appeal], Warner Bros. Animation; Candi Milo (character: Witch Hazel)
“StoryBots: Answer Time,” Episode: [Glue], JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix; Fred Tatsciore (character: Bang)
“Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls Mayhem in the Multiverse,” Episode: [special production], Warner Bros Animation; Tara Strong (character: Harley Quinn)
“The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” Episode: [New Kids On The Block], Disney TV Animation; Karen Malina White (character: Dijonay Jones)
“Zootopia+,” Episode: [The Godfather of the Bride], Walt Disney Animation Studios; Maurice LaMarche (Character: Mr.Big)
VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; David Bradley (character: Geppetto)
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Gregory Mann (character: Pinocchio)
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC; Jenny Slate (character: Marcel)
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Wagner Moura (character: Wolf)
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Zaris-Angel Hator (character: Maisie Brumble)
WRITING – TV/MEDIA
“BAYMAX!,” Episode: [Sofia], Walt Disney Animation Studios; Cirocco Dunlap
“Big Nate,” Episode: [The Legend of the Gunting], Nickelodeon Animation Studio; Mitch Watson, Emily Brundige, Ben Lapides, Sarah Allan
“Love Death + Robots,” Episode: [Bad Traveling], Blur Studio for Netflix; Andrew Kevin Walker
“The House,” Episode: [special production], Nexus Studios for Netflix; Enda Walsh
“Tuca & Bertie,” Episode: [The Pain Garden], The Tornante Company; Lisa Hanawalt
WRITING – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Domee Shi, Julia Cho “Eternal Spring,” Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc.; Jason Loftus
“Inu-Oh,” Science SARU; Akiko Nogi
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC; Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm
EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
“Amphibia,” Episode: [All In], Disney TV Animation; Andrew Sorcini, Yoonah Yim, Jennifer Calbi, Julie Anne Lau, Louis Russell
“Green Eggs and Ham,” Episode: [The Sam Who Came In From The Cold], Gulfstream Pictures/ A Stern Talking To/ A Very Good Production in association with Warner Bros. Animation for Netflix; Margaret Hou
“Karma’s World,” Episode: [Keys, The Inventor]; 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films and Karma’s World Entertainment for Netflix; Damien Dunne, Ultan Murphy, Emma O’Brien, Fred O’Connor, Aiden McKenna
“Star Trek: Lower Decks,” Episode: [The Stars At Night], CBS’s Eye Animation Productions, Titmouse; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment; Andy Maxwell, Zach Lamplugh, Brandon Brocker, Paul Mazzotta
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Episode: [special production], NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions; Daniel Budin
EDITORIAL – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear,” Pixar; Tony Greenberg, Katie Bishop, Chloe Kloezeman, Axel Geddes, Tim Fox
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Nicholas Smith, Steve Bloom, David Suther, Anna Wolitzky, Christopher Zuber
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Ken Schretzmann, Holly Klein, Emily Chiu, Hamilton Barrett
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Dreamworks Animation; James Ryan, ACE, Jacquelyn Karambelas, Natalla Cronembold, Joe Butler, Katie Parody
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Joyce Arrastica, ACE, Will Erokan, Vivek Sharma, Michael Hugh O’Donnell, Daniel Ortiz
