Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company) won the Best Feature honor at the 50th Annie Awards™ celebration Saturday night (2/25) on the campus of UCLA. Pinocchio also won for Best Character Animation, Feature (Tucker Barrie); Best Direction, Feature (Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson); Best Music, Feature (Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale); and Best Production Design, Feature (Curt Enderle, Guy Davis).
Best Independent Feature was presented to Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Marcel the Movie LLC) which also won for Best Voice Acting, Feature (Jenny Slate as the voice of Marcel); and Best Writing, Feature (Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm).
Best Special Production was presented to The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production for Apple TV+ and BBC) which also received an Annie for Best Character Animation, TV/Media (Tim Watts); Best Direction, TV/Media (Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy); and Best Editorial, TV/Media (Daniel Budin)
Best Short Subject was presented to Ice Merchants (COLA Animation Production & Wild Stream); Best Student Film–The Soloists (Student directors Mehrnaz Abdollahinia, Feben Elias Woldehawariat, Razahk Issaka, Celeste Jamneck & Yi Liu, from the school Gobelins, l’ecole de l’image); Best Sponsored Production–Save Ralph (Arch Model Studio); Best TV/Media-Mature–Bob’s Burgers, Eps. Some Like It Bot Part 1: Eight Grade Runner (20th Television/Bento Box Entertainment); Best TV/Media-Children–Abominable and the Invisible City, Eps. Everest Returns (DreamWorks Animation); and Best Animated TV/Media-Preschool–The Tiny Chef Show, Eps. Pancakes (Tiny Chef Productions LLC/Imagine Entertainment).
Avatar: The Way of Water won for Character Animation in a Live Action Production – (Daniel Barrett, Stuart Adcock, Todd Labonte, Douglas McHale, Stephen Cullingford) (20th Century Studios, Disney Studios, Weta FX.)
“This is a very special year, not only because it is the Annie Awards 50th anniversary, but also because, after nearly three years, this is the first time our community is able to be back together again, in person,” remarked Frank Gladstone, executive producer of the Annie Awards. “For a community as close knit as ours, being with each other is of major importance, so we are pulling out all the stops to make this a memorable and historic evening for folks locally, and worldwide.”
Juried awards were presented for the following: The Winsor McCay Award in recognition of lifetime or career contributions were presented to three recipients–Pete Docter, animated feature writer/director and Pixar CEO; Evelyn Lambart (posthumously), early National Film Board of Canada collaborator, including her significant series of short films; and Craig McCracken, prolific, influential television series creator. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact was awarded to Mindy Johnson, author, historian and educator.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry was presented 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 was presented to John Omohundro.
The Annie Awards have often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The ceremony was streamed this year courtesy of ASIFA-Hollywood –
Here’s a rundown of the evening’s winners:
Best Feature
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company
Best Indie Feature
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Marcel the Movie LLC
Best Special Production
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production for Apple TV+ and BBC
Best Short Subject
Ice Merchants
COLA Animation production & Wild Stream
Best Sponsored
Save Ralph
Arch Model Studio
Best TV/Media – Preschool
The Tiny Chef Show
Episode: Pancakes
Tiny Chef Productions LLC / Imagine Entertainment
Best TV/Media – Children
Abominable and the Invisible City
Episode: Everest Returns
DreamWorks Animation
Best TV/Media – Mature
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Some Like it Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner
20th Television/Bento Box Entertainment
Best TV/Media – Limited Series
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale
Episode: The Demon Moon Rises
A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production
Best Student Film
The Soloists
Student Director: Mehrnaz Abdollahinia, Feben Elias Woldehawariat, Razahk Issaka, Celeste Jamneck & Yi Liu
School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image
Best FX – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: Bad Travelling
Production Company: Blur Studio for Netflix
FX Production Company: Blur Studio
Kirby Miller, Igor Zanic, Joseph H. Coleman, Steven Dupuy, Josh Schwartz
Best FX – Feature
Avatar: The Way of Water
Production Company: 20th Century Studios / Disney Studios
FX Production Company: Wētā FX
Johnathan M. Nixon, David Moraton, Nicholas Illingworth, David Caeiro Cebrian, Alex Nowotny
Best Character Animation – TV/Media
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Episode: special production
A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production for Apple TV+ and BBC
Tim Watts
Best Character Animation – Feature
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company
Tucker Barrie
Best Character Animation – Live Action
Avatar: The Way of Water
Wētā FX
Daniel Barrett, Stuart Adcock, Todd Labonte, Douglas McHale, Stephen Cullingford
Best Character Animation – Video Game
Cuphead – The Delicious Last Course
Studio MDHR
Chad Moldenhauer, Hanna Abi-Hanna, Cuphead Animation Team
Best Character Design – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: Jibaro
Blur Studio for Netflix
Alberto Mielgo
Best Character Design – Feature
The Bad Guys
DreamWorks Animation
Taylor Krahenbuhl
Best Direction – TV/Media
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Episode: special production
A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production for Apple TV+ and BBC
Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy
Best Direction – Feature
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
Best Music – TV/Media
The Cuphead Show!
Episode: Carn-Evil
Netflix Animation
Ego Plum, Cosmo Segurson, Dave Wasson
Best Music – Feature
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
Best Production Design – TV/Media
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
Best 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
Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: The Very Pulse of the Machine
Blur Studio for Netflix
Emily Dean
Best Storyboarding – Feature
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
DreamWorks Animation
Anthony Holden
Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Zootopia+
Episode: The Godfather of the Bride
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Maurice LaMarche (Mr. Big)
Best Voice Acting – Feature
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Marcel the Movie LLC
Jenny Slate
Best Writing – TV/Media
Love Death + Robots
Episode: Bad Travelling
Blur Studio for Netflix
Andrew Kevin Walker
Best Writing – Feature
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Marcel the Movie LLC
Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm
Best Editorial – TV/Media
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Episode: special production
A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production for Apple TV+ and BBC
Daniel Budin
Best Editorial – Feature
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Dreamworks Animation
James Ryan, ACE, Jacquelyn Karambelas, Natalia Cronembold, Joseph Butler, Katie Parody
Juried Awards
Juried Awards were presented honoring unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation. Winsor McCay Award recipients were selected by the ASIFA-Hollywood Board of Directors for their exemplary industry careers.
This year’s McCays went to Pete Docter, Evelyn Lambart and Craig McCracken.
The June Foray Award will be presented to Mindy Johnson.
The Visual Effects Reference Platform, initially developed by Nick Cannon and Francois Chardavoine, received The Ub lwerks Award.
The Certificate of Merit Award for service to the art and industry will be presented to John Omohundro.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More