Annie Awards: ‘The Wild Robot' Wins Best Feature & 7 Others; ‘Arcane' Goes 7-For-7; ‘Flow' Wins Indie Film Prize: Full List
We have an official front-runner for the Animated Feature Oscar.
The Wild Robot flat-out dominated the 52nd annual Annie Awards on Saturday night, won eight trophies: Best Direction for Chris Sanders — his fifth career Annie — FX, Character Animation, Character Design, Production Design, Editorial, Music and Voice Acting for Lupita Nyong'o as lead character Roz. She was not present at UCLA's Royce Hall to accept.
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See the full winners list spanning film, TV, video games and more below.
Since the Best Animated Feature Oscar category was launched in 2002, 14 of the 22 winners of the Annies' top feature prize – and seven of the past 12 – went on to claim the golden statuette. But last year bucked the trend as the Academy Award went to Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron over Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which dominated the 2024 Annies with seven nods.
Wild Robot's stunning run was interrupted when Sideshow/Janus Films' Flow won for Best Writing – Feature. The indie pic's win in the category is even more interesting in that it contain zero dialogue. Latvia's International Feature Oscar Entry later added Best Feature – Independent to its tally.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the 10th film in the 57-year-old franchise and the first of a planned trilogy, won for Best Character Animation – Live Action. Despicable Me 4 later become the only other feature to win an Annie on Saturday, taking Best Storyboarding.
Wander to Wonder took the Short Subject prize. The announcer noted that this was the pic's 41st awards win already, and it also is in the running for the Oscar and BAFTA.
Meanwhile, Netflix and Riot Games' now-wrapped series Arcane came in with a small-screen-leading seven noms — and it dominated by winning all of its categories: Best Direction for TV/Media, Storyboarding, FX, Production Design, Editing, Music and Character Animation. The videogame-based series, which recently ended its second and final season, won nine Annies and an Animated Series Emmy for its 2021 first season, so it ends with an eye-popping 16 for its two seasons.
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The TV Voice Acting award went to Paula Pell for voicing Paula Dream Productions. The Inside Out series set in the time between the two feature films later added Best TV/Media – Limited Series.
Bob's Burgers took the Annie Best TV/Media – Mature, and The Tiny Chef Show won for Preschool Series.
For much of the night, Arcane and The Wild Robot were the only titles with multiple Annie Awards, but Flow got two as did Dream Productions and Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, for Best Children's Series and Character Design. The latter was the second consecutive win in the category for Jose Lopez. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur won three Annies last year.
Later, Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman won Best Writing TV/Media for DreamWorks Animation's Orion and the Dark. It is his first career Annie, and the award was accepted by series director Sean Charmatz.
At about 8:45 p.m., an alarm sounded, the ceremony and livestream were halted and Royce Hall was cleared. After a 15-minute delay that including two fire alarms, the audience returned to their seats, and the show continued. The Annies tweeted that the interruption was due to 'a fire alarm emergency,' but no other explanation was given. The announcer later called it 'the Annies' first-ever intermission,'
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The show opened with a performance the Los Angeles County Firefighters' Fife & Drum Band. The first presenter, Steve Buscemi, thanked, congratulated and honored the first responders who risked it all to help save lives, property and pets during last month's devastating wildfires. Turns out Buscemi was an FDNY firefighter himself years ago, and a picture of him in uniform was shown. The now-actor, who is active in the voice-over community, said the photo might have been from when he 'was auditioning for the Village People.'
The Annies doubled as a fundraiser for AnimAID, which was launched to raise and distribute funds for wildfire relief. After the ceremony, it was announced that more than $107,000 had been raised. You can scan the QCode here to donate:
The evening's first Juried Award, The June Foray Award, went to Women in Animation. Named for the Annie Awards founder, the award is presented to people who have made a positive impact on the animation industry. Alberto Menache later received the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement, and ASIFA-Hollywood's Special Achievement Award went to the book Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt's Animated Films.
The Winsor McCay Awards for lifetime achievement were presented to Aaron Blaise, Normand Rogerand the daughter and granddaughter of Eunice Macaulay, who died in 2013 at 90.
Late last month, ASIFA-Hollywood revealed the Animation Educators' Forum Hall of Fame Class of 2025. They are Leonard Maltin, John Canemaker and Ivan Sutherland along with the late Howard Beckerman, Nelbertina 'Nellie' Chouinar, Thornton 'T' Hee, Edwin G. Lutz, Don Perro and Frank Terry.
Here are the winners at the 2025 Annie Awards:
BEST FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks Animation
BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENTFlowSacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio
BEST DIRECTION – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationChris Sanders
BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisode: The Dirt Under Your NailsA Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixArnaud Delord, Pascal Charrue, Bart Maunoury
BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATUREDespicable Me 4IlluminationHabib Louati
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisode: Killing is a CycleA Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixJoséphine Meis
BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIESDream ProductionsEpisode: A Night to RememberPixar Animation Studios
BEST TV/MEDIA – MATUREBob's BurgersEpisode: They Slug Horses, Don't They?20th Television Animation
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDRENMarvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode: The Molecular LevelFlying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOLThe Tiny Chef ShowEpisode: Tiny Chef's Spooky Stump SpectacularImagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions
BEST WRITING – FEATUREFlowTake Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well StudioGints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža
BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIAOrion and the DarkSpecial ProductionDreamWorks AnimationCharlie Kaufman
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationLupita Nyong'o (Character: Roz)
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIADream Productions Episode: Out of BodyPixar Animation StudiosPaula Pell (Character: Paula)
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationMary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisode: Pretend Like It's the First TimeA Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixNazim Meslem, Gilad Carmel, Roberto Fernandez
BEST FX – FEATUREThe Wild RobotProduction Company: DreamWorks AnimationFX Production Company: DreamWorks AnimationDerek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli
BEST FX – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisode: The Dirt Under Your NailsProduction Company: A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixFX Production Company: Fortiche StudioGuillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Adam Bachiri, Guillaume Zaouche, Jérôme Dupré
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationFabio Lignini
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisodes: Killing Is A Cycle, Heavy Is the Crown, Finally Got the Name Right, The Message Hidden Within the Pattern, The Dirt Under Your Nails, Pretend Like It's the First Time, Blisters and BedrockA Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixTom Gouill
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTIONKingdom of the Planet of the ApesProduction Company: 20th Century StudiosFX Production Company: Wētā FXChristian Kickenweitz, Aidan Martin, Allison Orr, Radiya Alam, Howard Sly
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAMENevaNomada StudioNomada Studio Animation Team
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationGenevieve Tsai
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIAMarvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode: The Molecular LevelDisney Television Animation, Cinema Gypsy ProductionsJose Lopez
BEST MUSIC – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationKris Bowers
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisode: The Dirt Under Your NailsA Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixRyan Jillian Santiago, Alexander Seaver, Simon Wilcox
BEST SPONSOREDFuzzy FeelingsPassion Pictures Hungry Man
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTIONOrion and the DarkDreamWorks Animation
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATUREThe Wild RobotDreamWorks AnimationRaymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIAArcaneEpisode: The Dirt Under Your NailsA Riot Games and Fortiche Production for NetflixArnaud-Loris Baudry, Julien Georgel, Faustine Dumontier, Charlotte O'Neil
BEST SHORT SUBJECTWander to WonderCirce Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo
BEST STUDENT FILMAdiósStudent Director: José PratsStudent Producer: Bernardo AngelettiSchool: National Film and Television School
JURIED AWARDS
The Winsor McCay AwardsAaron BlaiseEunice MacaulayNormand Roger
June Foray AwardWomen in Animation
Ub Iwerks AwardAlberto Menache
Special Achievement AwardDirecting at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt's Animated Films
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