Annie Awards swing giddily into the "Spider-Verse" and might predict Oscar's Animated Short winner
Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 10:45AM by Nathaniel R
The directors of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse had a great great night at the Annie Awards
Though Disney dominated the Annie nominations with huge tallies for both Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet it was Sony Animation's all time biggest hit that proved the ultimate champ with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hogging the big prizes at the event. Other big winners were Disney's Mickey Mouse, and two series from Netflix: Hilda and Bojack Horseman. The winners list and commentary including a few full winning short films and notes on Oscar's animated short race after the jump...
Best Animated Feature
- Early Man, Aardman Animations
- Incredibles 2, Pixar Animation Studios
- Isle of Dogs, Fox Searchlight Pictures/Indian Paintbrush/American Empirical Pictures
- Ralph Breaks the Internet, Walt Disney Animation Studios
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation
Looking increasingly good for the Animated Feature win at the Oscar, but there is still a spoiler possibility for Incredibles 2 since almost no one loves Pixar more than AMPAS.
Best Animated Independent Feature
- Ce Magnifique Gâteau!, Beast Animation, Vivement Lundi!, Pedri Animation
- MFKZ, Ankama/Studio 4ºC
- ★ Mirai, Studio Chizu
- Ruben Brandt, Collector, Hungarian National Film Fund
- Tito and the Birds, Bits Productions, Split Studio
Unsurprising win, given that Oscar nomination. Congratulations to Mamoru Hosoda who we had the pleasure of interviewing.
Best Animated Special Production
- Back to the Moon, Google Spotlight Stories, Google Doodles, Nexus Studios
- ★ Mary Poppins Returns, Walt Disney Studios
- The Emperor’s Newest Clothes, HBO / Starburns Industries
- The Highway Rat, Magic Light Pictures
Strange umbrella category since a section of a feature film makes it in (and wins) along with animated specials.
Best Animated Short Subject
Weekends- "A Personal Story" from Trevor Jimenez on Vimeo.
- Grandpa Walrus, Caïmans Productions
- Lost & Found, Wabi Sabi Studios
- SOLAR WALK, Nørlum
- Untravel, Production: Film House Baš Čelik, Serbia Coproduction: BFilm, Bratislava / Your Dreams Factory, Bratislava
- ★ Weekends, past lives productions
Weekends is a nominee at the Oscars. The director Trevor Jimenez puts a lot of his sketches on his tumblr so check that out. (Among the competitors here Lost & Found was on the Oscar finalist list but didn't make it to the nominations.) For what it's worth the Annie short winner often takes the Oscar but not always consider the last 10 years
2017 BOTH PRIZES: Dear Basketball
2016 BOTH PRIZES: Piper
2015 Annie: World of Tomorrow / Oscar: Bear Story
2014 BOTH PRIZES: Feast
2013 Annie: Get a Horse! / Oscar: Mr Hublot
2012 BOTH PRIZES Paperman
2011: Annie: Adam & Dog / Oscar: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore
2010: Annie: Day & Night / Oscar: The Lost Thing
2009: Annie: Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode 2/ Oscar: Logorama
2008: Annie: A Matter of Loaf and Death / Oscar: La Maison en Petits Cubes
An interesting note about this history is, that in every single case from the past 10 years if the winners were different at the Oscar, the Oscar winner was NOT actually nominated for the Annie. That's good news for all four of Weekends competitors for Best Animated Short Film this year since none of them were Annie nominated. The last time the eventual Oscar winner was nominated but lost at the Annies was in 2005 for The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation.
And a trivia note: This year is the very first time in Oscar history that 3 separate films nominated for Best Animated Short at the Oscar's are from Asian filmmakers (Weekends, One Small Step, and Pixar's Bao). Jimenez is a Filipino-Canadian and has been a story artist on several major Hollywood features (including Coco and Finding Dory) but Weekends is an independent short.
Best Virtual Reality Production
- Age of Sail, Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
- BattleScar, AtlasV
- ★ Crow: The Legend, Baobab Studios
- Mind Palace, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
- Moss, Polyarc
Age of Sail was on the Oscar finalist list for short but didn't make it to the nominations. And then lost here though it didn't quite go home empty-handed from the Annies.
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial
- Goldfish at the Fair, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
- ★ Greenpeace ‘There’s a Rang-Tan In My, Bedroom’, Passion Animation Studios
- Grinch / 40 / Olympics Spot, Illumination
- JD.com, ‘Joy and Heron’, Passion Pictures
- The Fearless Are Here, Nexus Studios
Loved this commercial first time I saw it.
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
- ★ Ask the StoryBots, JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
- Dinotrux: Supercharged, DreamWorks Animation Television
- Hey Duggee, Studio AKA
- PJ Masks, Frog Box Entertainment One
- Tumble Leaf, Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children
- ★ Hilda, Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
- Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, DreamWorks Animation Television
- Little Big Awesome, Amazon Studios
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nickelodeon Animation Studio
- Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters, DreamWorks Animation Television
As a devotee of Trollhunters I was a bit sad it lost but will check out Hilda.
Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production
- Big Mouth, Netflix
- Bob’s Burgers, 20th Century Fox Television/Bento Box Entertainment
- ★ BoJack Horseman, Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
- Human Kind Of, Cartuna, Facebook Watch
- The Venture Bros., Adult Swim / Titmouse, Inc.
Have to admit I've never quite understood the appeal of BoJack Horseman. I get the satirical merit but find the animation itself and character designs offputting to look at for full episode lengths. Bob's Burgers remains a delight but I would have given this to the truly brilliant Big Mouth which improved considerably in season 2 (and season 1 was already great)
Best Student Film
- A Blink of An Eye, Kiana Naghshineh
- ★ Best Friend, Nicholas Olivieri, Yi Shen, Juliana De Lucca, Varun Nair, David Feliu
- Facing It, Sam Gainsborough
- Hors Piste, Léo Brunel, Loris Cavalier , Camille Jalabert, Oscar Mallet
- Sister, Siqi Song
Pretty terrific short, right?
Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
- DreamWorks Theatre Presents Kung Fu Panda
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- ★ Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters
- Watership Down
Well deserved. The effects on that show were always so strong. So sad it's over *sniffle*
Animated Effects in an an Animated Feature Production
- Early Man
- Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
- Incredibles 2
- Next Gen
- ★ Ralph Breaks The Internet
Weirdly they skipped over their favourite animated feature here, even for a nomination but one must consider this a very deserving win for Ralph Breaks the Internet. Not a fan of the picture overall (too glib and capitalist) but the effects throughout were quite something.
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- Age of Sail
- Back to the Moon
- ★ Hilda
- Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure
- Tumble Leaf
Another prize for Hilda
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
- Early Man
- Incredibles 2
- Isle of Dogs
- Ralph Breaks the Internet
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Christopher Robin
- ★ Mary Poppins Returns
- Paddington 2
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Hmmm, the animated sequence in Mary Poppins Return is arguably the highlight of the whole picture but is this really a deserving win in this category with Christopher Robin's stuffed animals, and Thanos (!!!) and the world's purest bear hero all right there for the taking?!
Character Animation in a Video Game
- God of War, Santa Monica Studio
- ★ GRIS, Nomada Studio
- Marvel’s Spider-Man, Insomniac Games
- Moss, Polyarc
- Shadow of The Tomb Raider, Square Enix
Do any of you play any of these?
Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- Age of Sail, Bruno Mangyoku for various characters
- Niko and the Sword of Light, Jim Bryson for Niko, Lyra, Nar Est, Breadtroll, Cutie Pootie, and more
- ★ Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, Amanda Jolly for Rapunzel Bird, Cassandra Bird, Father Parrot, and Special Birds
- The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Chris Mitchell for Rocky, Bullwinkle, Fearless Leader, Boris, and Natasha
- The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Keiko Murayama for Baby Natasha, Baby Boris, Grandwinkle, Mayor Grundstrom, and Boris’ Gang
The winner won for the season 2 episode of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure when the characters were turned into birds.
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
- Incredibles 2, Matt Nolte
- Mary Poppins Returns, James Woods
- Next Gen, Marceline Tanguay
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Ami Thompson
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Shylook Kim
Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- Ask the StoryBots Evan Spiridellis
- ★ Disney Mickey Mouse Eddie Trigueros
- Niko and the Sword of Light Sung Jin Ahn
- SuperMansion Nick Simotas
- Tales of Arcadia: 3Below, Guillermo del Toro & Rodrigo Blaas
Eddie Trigueros has directed 15 episodes of this new Mickey Mouse series. I think this prize is for Season 4?
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
- Early Man, Nick Park
- Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Genndy Tartakovsky
- Incredibles 2, Brad Bird
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Rich Moore and Phil Johnston
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman, and Peter Ramsey
Still so annoying that they skipped a Wes Anderson nomination in this category.
Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- Back to the Moon, Mathieu Alvado
- ★ Disney Mickey Mouse, Christopher Willis
- Elena of Avalor, Composer: Tony Morales, Composer/Lyricist: John Kavanaugh, Lyricist: Craig Gerber, Lyricist: Silvia Olivas, Lyricist: Rachel Ruderman
- Tangled: The Series, Alan Menken, Lyricist: Glenn Slater, Composer: Kevin Kliesch
- The Tom and Jerry Show, Vivek Maddala
Music in an Animated Feature Production
- Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Composer: Danny Elfman, Lyricist: Tyler, The Creator
- Early Man, Composer/Lyricist: Harry Gregson-Williams, Composer/Lyricist: Tom Howe, Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams, Composer: Tom Howe
- ★ Incredibles 2, Michael Giacchino
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Composer: Henry Jackman, Composer: Alan Menken, Lyricist: Phil Johnston, Lyricist: Tom MacDougall, Composer/Lyricist: Dan Reynolds
- Smallfoot, Composer: Heitor Pereira, Composer/Lyricist: Karey Kirkpatrick, Composer/Lyricist: Wayne Kirkpatrick
Finally a win for Incredibles 2
Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- ★ Age of Sail, Production Design: Céline Desrumaux; Production Design: Jasmin Lai
- Disney Mickey Mouse, Production Design: Justin Martin
- Little Big Awesome, Production Design: Antonio Canobbio, Art Director, Production Design: Howard Chen, Background Layout Production Design: Ivan Louey, Background Layout Supervisor, Production Design: Crystal Yoori Son, Background Paint
- Niko and the Sword of Light, Production Design: Antonio Canobbio, Art Director, Production Design: Bobby Walker, Background Paint, Production Design: Michelle Rhee, Background Layout, Production Design: Richard Chang, Background Paint, Production Design: Joseph Martinez, Background Layout
- The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Production Design: Chris Mitchell, Production Design: Chris Turnham, Production Design: Tor Anut, Production Design: DanBob Thompson, Production Design: Aaron Spurgeon
Age of Sale didn't quite make it to an Oscar nomination, but it sure is memorable looking, isn't it?
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
- Early Man, Matt Perry & Richard Edmunds
- Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Scott Wills
- Isle of Dogs, Adam Stockhausen & Paul Harrod
- Mary Poppins Returns, Jeff Turley
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Justin K. Thompson
I love Into the Spider-Verse just like most sentient mortals but was hoping for an Isle of Dogs win in this case because that design work is just awesome. Adam Stockhausen continues to be one of the greatest artists in any cinematic profession. As for the winner, this is Justin Thompson's first Annie nomination but he previously won the Emmy for Star Wars Clone Wars on TV
Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- Ben 10, Will Patrick
- Big Hero 6: The Series, Trey Buongiorno
- ★ Disney Mickey Mouse, Ramirez Ramos Alonso
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Molina-Ortiz
- Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Sabrina Cotugno
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
One of Dean Kelly's storyboards from Incredibles 2
- Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Habib Louati
- ★ Incredibles 2, Dean Kelly
- Incredibles 2, Bobby Alcid Rubio
- Mary Poppins Returns, Ovi Nedelcu
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Michael Herrera
One of only two prizes for Incredibles 2. Unfortunately we don't know what differentiates Dean Kelly's work from Bobby Alcid Rubio's work or why they have separate nominations (since many of the nominations in other categories are shared even though the people involved have different jobs)
Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- ★ BoJack Horseman, Will Arnett for BoJack
- F Is for Family, Debi Derryberry for the characters Maureen, Bridget, Phillip, Nurse Beatrice, Scott, Ken
- Pete the Cat, Juliette Donenfeld for Sally Squirrel
- Skylanders Academy, Patrick Warburton for Captain Flynn
- Unikitty, Tara Strong Character for Princess Unikitty
This is Arnett's first Annie nomination for playing BoJack Horseman. I really don't understand how Maya Rudolph can exist in this world and do the kind of next level voice work she does on Big Mouth and not be up for prizes but she was not nominated at the Emmys or the Annies in either of her seasons.
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
- Early Man, Eddie Redmayne for Dug
- Incredibles 2, Holly Hunter for Helen Parr / Elastigirl
- ★ Isle of Dogs, Bryan Cranston for Chief
- Next Gen, Charlyne Yi for Mai
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Sarah Silverman for Vanellope Von Schweetz
On the whole I find Bryan Cranston one of the most overrated actors working but this particular prize is a sound choice. I love that Eric singled him out in our "best line readings" post .
Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- Big Mouth, Netflix; Writer: Emily Altman
- Craig of the Creek, Cartoon Network Studios; Story By: Matt Burnett, Story By: Ben Levin, Story By: Shauna McGarry, Story By: Jeff Trammell, Story By: Tiffany Ford
- ★ Hilda, Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks; Writer: Stephanie Simpson
- Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Walt Disney Television Animation; Writer: Dominic Bisignano, Writer: Aaron Hammersley, Writer: Amy Higgins, Writer: John Infantino, Writer: Daron Nefcy
- We Bare Bears, Cartoon Network Animation Studios; Writer: Mikey Heller, Story By: Sang Yup Lee, Story By: Louie Zong
Yet another prize for Hilda. Perhaps we should all watch this?
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
- Incredibles 2, Pixar Animation Studios; Writer: Brad Bird
- Mirai, Studio Chizu; Writer: Mamoru Hosoda, Story By: Mamoru Hosoda, Writer: Stephanie Sheh
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Walt Disney Animation Studios; Writer: Phil Johnston, Writer: Pamela Ribon
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation; Writer: Phil Lord, Writer: Rodney Rothman
- Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, Warner Bros. Animation; Writer: Michael Jelenic; Writer: Aaron Horvath
Great choice.
Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
- ★ Big Hero 6: The Series, Walt Disney Television Animation; Nominee: Charles Jones, Nominee: Joe Molinari, Nominee: Dao Le, Nominee: Vartan Nazarian, Nominee: David Vazquez
- Puppy Dog Pals, Wild Canary Animation / Disney Junior; Nominee: Adam Rickabus
- SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon Animation Studio; Nominee: Estrella Miyakawa Capin, Nominee: Christopher Hink, Nominee: Bob Tomlin, Nominee: Rick Dominicus
- Tales of Arcadia: 3Below, DreamWorks Animation Television; Nominee: John Laus, Nominee: Graham Fisher
- The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, DreamWorks Animation Television; Nominee: Steve Downs, Nominee: John Wall, Nominee: Adam Smith, Nominee: Collin Erker
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
- Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Illumination; Nominee: Chris Cartagena
- Incredibles 2, Pixar Animation Studios; Nominee: Stephen Schaffer, ACE, Nominee: Anthony J. Greenberg, Nominee: Katie Schaefer Bishop
- Ralph Breaks The Internet, Walt Disney Animation Studios; Nominee: Jeremy Milton, Nominee: Fabienne Rawley, Nominee: Jesse Averna, Nominee: John Wheeler, Nominee: Pace Paulsen
- Ruben Brandt, Collector, Hungarian National Film Fund; Nominee: Milorad Krstic, Nominee: Marcell Laszlo, Nominee: Laszlo Wimmer, Nominee: Danijel Daka Milosevic
- ★ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation; Nominee: Bob Fisher, Nominee: Andrew Leviton, Nominee: Vivek Sharma
JURIED SPECIAL AWARDS
- Windsor McKay Award for Exemplary Careers: Ralph Eggleston (director), Frank Braxton (animator, former guild president, *posthumous), Andrea Romano (casting director, voice director, voice actress)
- June Foray Award to Adam Burke (*posthumous)
- Ub Iwerks Award to Blender Open Source Animation Software
- Certificate of Merit to ASIFA volunteer Jason Jones
I once downloaded Blender Open Source but it was way too non-intuitive for me. For many years I really wanted to be an animator and I thought I'd doodle and see what it was like but so technically complex!
Reader Comments (7)
About BoJack: you're missing on one of the best television shows. Top 5, even could be top 3 of the moment (many critics would tell you it's THE best TV show right now). Season 3 is among one of the best seasons of any TV show ever.
Me34 -- But i have tried. I guess it's just not for me.
Considering INCREDIBLES 2 is the first non-"Toy Story" Pixar sequel to even be nominated for an Oscar, a win would be very surprising indeed.
Lesson for Pixar: STOP WITH THE SEQUELS!
Regarding that voice acting in a TV Show category, Maya Rudolph, Jenny Slate and David Thewlis would all have been fine nominees for last season of Big Mouth. Arnett is a hugely deserving win though - there’s an episode from last season which is essentially a 21 minute monologue; no other speaking characters or actors. Just Will Arnett delivering a funeral eulogy, for the entire episode, and it works.
It’s a show worth checking out (esp after first season) but I won’t harp on that since it sounds like you already have.
"On the whole I find Bryan Cranston one of the most overrated actors working"
Ditto that.
^ I echo the praise of BOJACK being the best show on television, (and I’m not big into animation at all).
Not sure how far you made it, Nathaniel, but the consensus among critics is that the first few episodes of S1 don’t prepare for how incredible the rest of the series is. It seems like something you’d like? The entire third season is literally about the road to Oscar. Lol
If it's been a while since you tried blender, you should wait for their next release. The advancements in rigging and on canvas editing have made me quite jealous. I say that as an open source developer. Something really special.