"Soul," "Wolfwalkers" Lead The Feature Parade At Annie Awards
A scene from "Soul" (photo courtesy of Disney-Pixar)
  • LOS ANGELES
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Soul (Disney-Pixar) came up the big winner at the 48th Annie Awards honoring the best in animation, followed closely in the feature tally by Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS) .

Soul scored seven Annie Awards during Friday evening’s (4/16) virtual ceremony, taking Best Feature, Character Animation (Michal Makarewicz), Music (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste), Storyboarding (Trevor Jimenez), Writing (Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers), Best FX (Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller) and Editorial (Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk). 

Wolfwalkers garnered five Annies for Best Independent Feature, Character Design (Federico Pirovano), Direction (Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart), Production Design (Maria Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore) and Voice Acting (Eva Whittaker as the voice of Mebh Óg MacTíre).

On the television side, among the leading winners was Hilda (Hilda Productions Limited, Netflix) which earned distinction with three Annies--for Best TV/Media Children, Best Character Animation in TV/Media, and Best Editorial in TV/Media. Next with a pair of honors was Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal: Coven of the Damned (Cartoon Network Studios) which topped the Best General Audience Animated TV/Media Production and Best TV/Media Direction categories. 

“This year was a challenge, in many ways, for all of us,” remarked Frank Gladstone, ASIFA’s executive director. “Especially after deciding to go to a virtual award ceremony, we did not know what to expect. To our surprise, we had more submissions this year than we have ever had and, now that we are streaming the Annies worldwide, we are also hoping for= the biggest audience ever.”

Juried awards were presented for the following: The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation were presented to three recipients--animator Willie Ito, designer Sue Nichols (posthumously) and animator/director Bruce Smith. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation was awarded to animator and art director, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi.

The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to Epic Games for its Unreal Engine; and The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to the documentary Howard (Stone Circle Pictures).

The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories, and have often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 

Here’s a category-by-category rundown of the evening’s winners:

48th Annie Awards Recipients  

BEST FEATURE 
Soul 
Pixar Animation Studios 

BEST INDIE FEATURE 
Wolfwalkers 
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS 

BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION 
The Snail and the Whale 
Magic Light Pictures 

BEST SHORT SUBJECT 
Souvenir Souvenir 
Blast Production 

BEST SPONSORED 
There’s a Monster in my Kitchen 
Cartoon Saloon, Mother 

BEST TV/MEDIA - PRESCHOOL 
The Adventures of Paddington 
Episode: Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru 
Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio

BEST TV/MEDIA - CHILDREN 
Hilda 
Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox 
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks 

BEST TV/MEDIA - GENERAL AUDIENCE 
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal 
Episode: Coven Of The Damned 
Cartoon Network Studios 

BEST STUDENT FILM 
La Bestia 
School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image 
Student directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt 

BEST FX FOR TV/MEDIA 
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous 
Episode: Welcome to Jurassic World 
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation 
FX Production Company: Dreamworks Animation and CGCG Inc. 
Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang, Chris Wombold, Kyle Goertz, Kathy D. Tran 

BEST FX FOR FEATURE 
Soul 
Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios 
FX Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios 
Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller 

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - TV/MEDIA 
Hilda 
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks David Laliberté 

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - FEATURE 
Soul 
Pixar Animation Studios 
Michal Makarewicz

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - LIVE ACTION
The Mandalorian 
Production Company: Lucasfilm 
FX Production Company: Image Engine 
Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk 

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - VIDEO GAME
Marvels Spider-Man Miles Morales 
Insomniac Games 
Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock 

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN - TV/MEDIA 
Amphibia 
Episode: The Shut-In! 
Disney TV Animation 
Joe Sparrow 

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN - FEATURE 
Wolfwalkers 
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS Federico Pirovano 

BEST DIRECTION - TV/MEDIA 
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal 
Episode: Plague Of Madness 
Cartoon Network Studios 
Genndy Tartakovsky 

BEST DIRECTION - FEATURE 
Wolfwalkers 
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart 

BEST MUSIC - TV/MEDIA 
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Episode: Victory and Death 
Lucasfilm Animation 
Kevin Kiner 

BEST MUSIC - FEATURE 
Soul 
Pixar Animation Studios 
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - TV/MEDIA
Shooom’s Odyssey 
Picolo Pictures 
Julien Bisaro 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - FEATURE
Wolfwalkers 
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore 

BEST STORYBOARDING - TV/MEDIA
Looney Tunes Cartoons 
Episode: Big League Beast / Firehouse Frenzy Warner Bros. Animation 
Andrew Dickman 

BEST STORYBOARDING - FEATURE
Soul 
Pixar Animation Studios 
Trevor Jimenez 

BEST VOICE ACTING - TV/MEDIA 
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards 
Episode: Our Final Act 
DreamWorks Animation 
David Bradley (Merlin) 

BEST VOICE ACTING - FEATURE 
Wolfwalkers
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS 
Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre) 

BEST WRITING - TV/MEDIA 
Big Mouth 
Episode: The New Me 
Netflix 
Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison 

BEST WRITING - FEATURE 
Soul 
Pixar Animation Studios 
Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers 

BEST EDITORIAL - TV/MEDIA 
Hilda 
Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox 
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks John McKinnon 

BEST EDITORIAL - FEATURE 
Soul 
Pixar Animation Studios 
Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk

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