Sony Pictures Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” swung its way to victory at the 51st Annie Awards, snatching up seven prizes, including best feature. It was also a good night for Netflix, whose projects earned a total of nine awards, with period revenge series “Blue Eye Samurai” snagging six of those, including best TV/Media – Mature.
In addition to best feature, the “Spider-Verse” sequel’s Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson were honored for their direction while Daniel Pemberton and Metro Boomin won for music. The film also picked up awards for FX, character design, production design and editorial.
Arcadia Motion Pictures’ bittersweet Spanish-French film “Robot Dreams,” about a lonely dog who builds a robot companion, won for best feature – independent.
Netflix’s feature “Nimona,” which had the most nominations with nine, picked up two Annies, one for Chloe Grace Moretz’s voice work as the title character and one for writers Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor, who adapted the graphic novel by ND Stevenson.
“The Boy and the Heron,” by animation auteur Hayao Miyazaki, also went home with two awards. Miyazaki was honored for his storyboarding and Takeshi Honda for his character animation.
“Spider-Verse,” “Robot Dreams,” “Nimona” and “The Boy and the Heron” are nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards on March 10 along with “Elemental.”
Best short went to “WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko.” The 11-minute film was written and directed by Pixar alum Dave Mullins and produced by Brad Booker. Sean Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono are executive producers. It will be vying for the animated short Oscar come March.
The TV/Media categories were led by “Blue Eye Samurai,” Netflix’s bloody saga of a warrior bent on revenge in Edo-period Japan. In addition to being named best TV/Media – Mature, the series picked up awards for FX, character animation, production design, writing and editorial.
Disney TV Animation’s “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” won three Annies: character design, storyboarding and voice acting (Diamond White as Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl). Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Visions” was the only other multi-award winner, picking up two, one for music and the other for Paul Young’s direction.
Other TV/Media winners include “Ghee Happy” (for preschool), “Hilda” (for children) and “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” (limited series).
“Guardians of the “Galaxy Vol. 3” won for best character animation in a live-action project, while “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” took home the award for character animation in a video game.
The best student film award went to “The Little Poet” by California Institute of the Arts’ Justine King. Best sponsored winner was “‘Video Games’ by Tenacious D” and best special production was given to “Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie.”
In addition to the competitive awards, ASIFA-Hollywood, the organization behind the Annies, gave out juried awards honoring exemplary contributions to the animation industry. The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime or career achievement was presented to the late animator and director Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger; longtime Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi, who was nominated for his score for “The Boy and the Heron”; and National Film Board animator and producer Marcy Page. The BRIC Foundation, co-founded by Alison Mann and Nicole Hendrix, received the June Foray Award for charitable impact for its work to boost representation across the entertainment, gaming, media and tech industries. The late animation pioneer John Oxberry was honored with the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement and a Special Achievement Award was given to the artists of Walt Disney Animation, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on Oct. 16. The Special Achievement Award is given to honor unique and outstanding work not recognized within the existing award category structure.
The Annie Awards were held Saturday, Feb. 17, at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA.
See the full list of winners below:
BEST FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation
BEST FEATURE-INDEPENDENT
Robot Dreams, Arcadia Motion Pictures
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, ElectroLeague
BEST SPONSORED
Video Games by Tenacious D, Pinreel Inc.
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
Ghee Happy, Episode: Navagraha, Ghee Happy Studio
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
Hilda, Episode: Chapter 8: The Fairy Isle, Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE
Blue Eye Samurai, Episode: Pilot: Hammerscale, A Netflix Series/3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions
BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, Episode: Enkai, Triggerfish Animation Studio & Blinkink
BEST STUDENT FILM
The Little Poet; Student Director: Justine King, Student Producer: Justine King, School: California Institute of the Arts
BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
Blue Eye Samurai, Episode: All Evil Dreams and Angry Words; Production Company: A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions; FX Production Company: Blue Spirit; Thomas Decaens, Karl Burtin, Laurent Bretonniere
BEST FX – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation; FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks; Pav Grochola, Filippo Maccari, Naoki Kato, Nicola Finizio, Edmond Boulet-Gilly
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
Blue Eye Samurai, Episode: Episodes 101, 104 and 106; A Netflix Series/3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions; Alex Bard
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
The Boy and the Heron, Studio Ghibli/Distributed by GKIDS, Takeshi Honda
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; Production Company: Marvel Studios; FX Production Company: Framestore; Fernando Herrera, Chris Hurtt, Nathan McConnel, Daniel Cabral, Chris McGaw
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2; Insomniac Games; Insomniac Games Animation Team
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Episode: 515M-106 (The Beyonder); Disney Television Animation/Cinema Gypsy Productions; Jose Lopez
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Sony Pictures Animation; Jesús Alonso Iglesias
BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
Star Wars: Visions, Episode: Screecher’s Reach; Lucasfilm Ltd.; Paul Young
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Sony Pictures Animation; Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
Star Wars: Visions, Episode: Aau’s Song; Lucasfilm Ltd.; Markus Wormstorm, Nadia Darries, Dineo du Toit
BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Sony Pictures Animation; Daniel Pemberton, Metro Boomin
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Blue Eye Samurai, Episode: The Great Fire of 1657; A Netflix Series/3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions; Toby Wilson, James Wilson, Emil Mitev
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Sony Pictures Animation; Patrick O’Keefe, Dean Gordon
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Episode: 515M-107 “Run the Rink”; Disney Television Animation/Cinema Gypsy Productions; Ben Juwono
BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
The Boy and the Heron; Studio Ghibli/Distributed by GKIDS; Hayao Miyazaki
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Episode: Moon Girl Landing; Flying Bark Productions/Disney Television Animation; Diamond White (Character: Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl)
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
Nimona; Annapurna Animation for Netflix; Chloë Grace Moretz (Character: Nimona)
BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA
Blue Eye Samurai, Episode: Episode 105: The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride; A Netflix Series/3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions; Amber Noizumi
BEST WRITING – FEATURE
Nimona; Annapurna Animation for Netflix; Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
Blue Eye Samurai, Episode: Episode 105: The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride; A Netflix Series/3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions; Yuka Shirasuna
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Sony Pictures Animation; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Editorial Team
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