Annie Award nominations: It's "Soul" vs "Wolfwalkers" again

by Nathaniel R

This just in: Soul and Wolfwalkers are tied for most nominations (10) for the 48th annual Annie Awards, honoring the best in animated entertainment. Onward is in a distant third place with 7 nominations. The Annie  ceremony will be virtual event this year, streamed live on April 16th at 7 PM PST. 

The full list of nominations and some commentary after the jump...

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The Link Purple

• /Film The Color Purple musical is getting a film version. It will be directed by Black is King helmer Blitz Bazawule. No word on casting yet but I think we can all agree that Cynthia Erivo should reprise her Tony-winning role!
• Broadway World meanwhile Erivo has launched her own production company

WHEW we have a lot to get through still. More after the jump including the business of movie theaters, Tenet's opening plans, Polanski's losing request, Netflix cancellations, Tiger King's spinoffs, and LGBTQ icons in comic books and on HBO...

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"Klaus" and "I Lost My Body" surprisingly dominant at the Annies

Will "Klaus" get the ultimate delivery -- an Oscar! -- in February?by Nathaniel R

Netflix had a very good night at the Annie Awards via their international outreach to animators. The TV awards were dominated by their anthology series "Love Death, and Robots" and the feature film prizes were hogged by Spain's Klaus (with 6 awards) and France's I Lost My Body (with 3). That's a surprising outcome for an awards night usually dominated by American blockbusters.

Curiously Frozen II, which is not nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, was the only one of the high profile American films to win a prize. Toy Story 4, HTTYD: Hidden World, and Missing Link all came up entirely empty-handed despite plentiful Annie nominations. Best Animated Feature might just prove to be the only true nail-biter on Oscar night.

The full list of Annie Award winners is after the jump...

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It's a very tight race for this year's Annie Awards

by Nathaniel R

Oops. So much was happening this week we completely neglected the Annie nominations. The ceremony will be held on January 25th. There's no clear frontrunner this year with Missing Link and Frozen 2 tied for the most nominations. Their nearest competitors are not far behind. In other words Klaus, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World , I Lost My Body, and Toy Story 4 were also clearly well liked enough to win big. That's 6 features and when it comes time for the Oscar nominations there can be only 5. We can't discount the possibility that another non-American film besides I Lost My Body might prove a darkhouse spoiler with the Academy's animation branch which has proven open to international films (for nominations if not wins) and isn't always keen on blockbuster sequels.  We should also keep a close eye on Japan's International Feature Oscar submission Weathering With You which got some love here at the Annies, too.

The complete list of nominations and a few comments after the jump...

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Annie Awards swing giddily into the "Spider-Verse" and might predict Oscar's Animated Short winner

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...

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