"Mirai" garners Best Indie Animated Feature honor
Sony’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature at ASIFA-Holywood’s 46th Annual Annie Awards™ Saturday evening (2/2), and garnered top honors across seven categories–Best Character Animation for David Han; Character Design for Shiyoon Kim; Directing for Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman; Production Design for Justin K. Thompson; Writing for Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman; and Editorial for Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton and Vivek Sharma.
Best Animated Feature-Independent was awarded to MIrai (Studio Chizu).
This year, a new category was added–Best Virtual Reality Production–and awarded to Crow: The Legend (Baobab Studios). Mary Poppins Returns (Walt Disney Studios) won Best Animated Special Production; Best Animated Short Subject–Weekends (Past Lives Productions); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial–Greenpeace’s “There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom” (Passion Animation Studios); Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production–BoJack Horseman, Eps.‘The Dog Days are Over’ (Torante Productions, LLC for Netflix); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children–Hilda (Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Preschool Children–Ask the StoryBots (JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix); and Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production–Mary Poppins Returns (Walt Disney Pictures).
“What a terrific night,” remarked ASIFA-Hollywood executive director Frank Gladstone. “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.”
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 who 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 honor. And the Certificate of Merit recipient was presented to dedicated ASIFA-Hollywood volunteer Jason Jones.
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 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.
Created in 1972 by June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for over four decades.
Here’s a rundown of the evening’s winners:
46th Annie Award Recipients
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
Episode: How Do Computers Work?
JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children
Hilda
Episode: 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
Episode: The Dog Days are Over
Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Best Student Film
Best Friend
Nicholas OLIVIERI, Yi SHEN, Juliana DE LUCCA, Varun NAIR, David FELIU
Gobelins, l’école de l’image
Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
David M.V. Jones, Vincent Chou, Clare Yang
Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters
Episode: The Eternal Knight Part 2
DreamWorks Animation Television
Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production
Cesar Velazquez, Marie Tollec, Alexander Moaveni, Peter DeMund, Ian J. Coony
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Scott Lewis
Hilda
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Character Animation In An Animated Feature Production
David Han
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation Animator:
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Chris Sauve, James Baxter, Sandro Cleuzo
Mary Poppins Returns
Walt Disney Pictures
Character Animation in a Video Game
Adrian Miguel, Adrian Garcia
GRIS
Nomada Studio
Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Amanda Jolly
Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure
Episode: Freebird
Walt Disney Television Animation
Character Design In An Animated Feature Production
Shiyoon Kim
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Eddie Trigueros
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Feed the Birds
Disney Television Animation
Directing In An Animated Feature Production
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Christopher Willis
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Springtime
Disney Television Animation
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Michael Giacchino
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Céline Desrumaux, Jasmin Lai
Age of Sail
Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
Production Design In An Animated Feature Production
Justin K. Thompson
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Alonso Ramirez Ramos
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Carnaval
Disney Television Animation
(tie)
Kevin Molina-Ortiz
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Mystic Mayhem
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Dean Kelly
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Will Arnett (as Bojack)
BoJack Horseman
Episode: Free Churro
Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Bryan Cranston (as Chief)
Isle of Dogs
Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures
Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Stephanie Simpson
Hilda
Episode: Chapter 8: The Tide Mice
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Writing In An Animated Feature Production
Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Charles Jones, Joe Molinari, Dao Le, Vartan Nazarian
Big Hero 6: The Series
Walt Disney Television Animation
Editorial In An Animated Feature Production
Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton, Vivek Sharma
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
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