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Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Wild Robot' Dominates Annie Awards for Animation
'The Wild Robot' was the big winner at the Annie Awards on Saturday evening, winning nine trophies at the annual ceremony that honors the best in animation as chosen by the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood. The DreamWorks Animation and Universal release dominated a ceremony that was at one point interrupted by a fire alarm that caused Royce Hall to be evacuated. It won Best Feature and also took awards for direction, FX, character animation, character design, music, production design, voice acting and editorial. It went into the show with 10 nominations and won in every category in which it was nominated, with its only loss coming in the voice-acting category, where one 'The Wild Robot' actor, Kit Connor, lost to another, Lupita Nyong'o. While the Annies have a long history of sweeps, which critics have at times attributed to block voting, the nine wins for 'The Wild Robot' are the most since Pixar's 'Coco' won a record 11 in 2018. 'Flow' won two awards, one for Best Feature – Independent and one for writing, a category in which 'The Wild Robot' was not nominated. 'Despicable Me 4' won the only other film award, for storyboarding. 'Inside Out 2' and 'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,' both sequels to films that had won 10 Annies, went into the show with seven nominations each and went home with no wins. In the 23 years since the Academy established the Best Animated Feature category, the Annie winner has gone on to win the Oscar 15 times, but only twice in the last five years. In the TV/Media categories, Netflix's 'Arcane' extended its reign as the most successful television production in Annies history. It won seven awards, including for direction, music, character animation and storyboarding. Multiple awards were also won by 'Orion and the Dark,' 'Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' and 'Dream Productions.' The Dutch short film 'Wander to Wonder' won in the Best Short Subject category, where the other nominees included two shorts that are nominated alongside it for the animated-short Oscar, 'Beautiful Men' and 'In the Shadow of the Cypress.' The ceremony took place on the UCLA campus in West Los Angeles. About halfway through the show, Royce Hall was evacuated after a fire alarm went off, but restarted after a brief break. The winners: Best Feature: 'The Wild Robot'(DreamWorks Animation) Best Feature – Independent: 'Flow'(Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio) Best Special Production: 'Orion and the Dark'(DreamWorks Animation) Best Short Subject: 'Wander to Wonder'(Circe Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo) Best Sponsored: 'Fuzzy Feelings'(Passion Pictures Hungry Man) Best TV/Media – Preschool: 'The Tiny Chef Show' Episode: 'Tiny Chef's Spooky Stump Spectacular'(Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions) Best TV/Media – Children: 'Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' – 'The Molecular Level' (Flying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television, Cinema Gypsy) Best TV/Media – Mature: 'Bob's Burgers' – 'They Slug Horses, Don't They?'(20th Television Animation / FOX Entertainment) Best TV/Media – Limited Series: 'Dream Productions' – 'A Night to Remember'(Pixar Animation Studios) Best Student Film: 'Adiós'(National Film and Television School)José Prats, Bernardo Angeletti Best FX – TV/Media: 'Arcane' – 'The Dirt Under Your Nails'Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Adam Bachiri, Guillaume Zaouche, Jérôme Dupré(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best FX – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli(DreamWorks Animation) Best Character Animation – TV/Media: 'Arcane'Tom Gouill(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best Character Animation – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Fabio Lignini(DreamWorks Animation) Best Character Animation – Live Action: 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'Christian Kickenweitz, Aidan Martin, Allison Orr, Radiya Alam, Howard Sly(Weta FX) Best Character Animation – Video Game: 'Neva'Nomada Studio Animation Team(Nomada Studio) Best Character Design – TV/Media: 'Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur – 'The Molecular Level'Jose Lopez(Disney Television Animation, Cinema Gypsy Productions) Best Character Design – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Genevieve Tsai(DreamWorks Animation) Best Direction – TV/Media: 'Arcane – The Dirt Under Your Nails'Arnaud Delord, Pascal Charrue, Bart Maunoury(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best Direction – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Chris Sanders(DreamWorks Animation) Best Music – TV/Media: 'Arcane' – 'The Dirt Under Your Nails'Ryan Jillian Santiago, Alexander Seaver, Simon Wilcox(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best Music – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Kris Bowers(DreamWorks Animation) Best Production Design – TV/Media: 'Arcane' – 'The Dirt Under Your Nails'Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Julien Georgel, Faustine Dumontier, Charlotte O'Neill(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best Production Design – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Raymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc(DreamWorks Animation) Best Storyboarding – TV/Media: 'Arcane' – 'Killing is a Cycle'Joséphine Meis(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best Storyboarding – Feature: 'Despicable Me 4'Habib Louati(Illumination) Best Voice Acting – TV/Media: 'Dream Productions' – 'Out of Body'Paula Pell as Paula(Pixar Animation Studios) Best Voice Acting – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Lupita Nyong'o as Roz(DreamWorks Animation) Best Writing – TV/Media: 'Orion and the Dark' – 'Orion and the Dark'Charlie Kaufman(DreamWorks Animation) Best Writing – Feature: 'Flow'Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža(Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio) Best Editorial – TV/Media: 'Arcane' – 'Pretend Like It's the First Time'Nazim Meslem, Gilad Carmel, Roberto Fernandez(A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) Best Editorial – Feature: 'The Wild Robot'Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker(DreamWorks Animation) Ub Iwerks Award: Alberto MenacheJune Foray Award: Women in AnimationSpecial Achievement Award: 'Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt's Animated Films' by Pete Docter and Don PeriWindsor McCay Award: Eunice Macaulay, Normand Roger, Aaron Blaise The post 'The Wild Robot' Dominates Annie Awards for Animation appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Annie Awards Set to Honor 2024's Animation Achievements, Aid Community Hit by Fires
The board of ASIFA-Hollywood, the organization behind the 52nd annual Annie Awards, pondered, like many other organizers behind events on the awards season calendar, whether the show should be postponed or scaled back because of the devastating fires that ravaged Los Angeles in early January. Many members of the animation community are among those who've been severely impacted. 'We represent the animation community and it's really important to us, especially at this time, that we support them a thousand percent,' says ASIFA-Hollywood executive director Aubry Mintz. And after much discussion, the board decided that the show will go on, albeit with a somewhat more somber tone and featuring the announcement of efforts to consolidate resources and support for those in the community dealing with various (and in many cases multiple) losses. More from Variety 'The Wild Robot' Leads 2025 Annie Awards Nominations With 10 Nods 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Wraps Up Top Feature Prize at 51st Annie Awards Dina Sherman, the Voice of the Annies, Reflects on 20 Years of Animated Awards 'We discussed this with the board: 'What are the implications if we go forward with the Annies versus pause it or extend it?' And the majority felt that more than anything people want to feel like they have the community,' he says. 'That's why it's crucial that we keep it going. The tone will change, but it will feel more supportive.' One major way it will be supportive is via a fundraising venture that will be announced during the Annies. 'We are still learning about our colleagues who have been evacuated, and those who have lost their homes,' Mintz says. 'We're pleased to report that we have just approved a fundraising initiative that will have substantial reach into our community. Together we will work to achieve our goal of helping provide much-needed financial support for those who have lost so much. Animation is a strong, tight-knit community, and we will unite to support each other through these difficult times.' ASIFA-Hollywood is collaborating with AnimAID, a group of industry executives, producers and artists, to raise and distribute funds. This group was created specifically as a response to the animation community being affected and devastated by the fires, Mintz explains. 'Both groups are working together on the details and parameters. ASIFA will be the nonprofit that people can donate to and the other group will be facilitating the distribution of the funds.' One of the things the ASIFA team had to think about in regard to the show was a possible venue change. At one point, Royce Hall, on the campus of UCLA, was under an evacuation warning due to one of the fires. 'Are we going to have a venue? How does the community feel having been through this? I mean, there was a while when many of us as individuals were worried we were going to have to evacuate,' notes show producer and ASIFA vice president Frank Gladstone. Fortunately, the venue is good to go and the process of putting on the show is moving forward. This year, 'Inside Out 2,' 'Kung Fu Panda 4,' 'That Christmas,' 'The Wild Robot,' 'Ultraman Rising' and 'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl' will be vying for the best feature trophy, while 'Chicken for Linda!,' 'Flow,' 'Kensuke's Kingdom,' 'Look Back,' 'Mars Express' and 'Memoir of a Snail' are competing in the best independent feature category. The Annies nominations recognize all aspects of animation, including voice acting. This is Mintz's first year as ASIFA-Hollywood's executive director, taking over the role from Gladstone, who retired from the post last year but is continuing to produce the annual awards gala. Mintz says he's thankful to have Gladstone's guidance as he takes on the role. His main focus has been introducing himself to the various studios and companies that help fund ASIFA's initiatives outside of the organization's flagship Annies. His meetings have been promising. 'It shows me and reminds me how important animation is to the community.' The Annies will honor achievement across 32 categories, including best animated feature and best feature – independent. Nominees for best feature are 'Inside Out 2,' 'Kung Fu Panda 4,' 'That Christmas,' 'The Wild Robot,' 'Ultraman: Rising' and 'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.' Contending for best feature – independent are 'Chicken for Linda!,' 'Flow,' 'Kensuke's Kingdom,' 'Look Back,' 'Mars Express' and Memoir of a Snail.' The Annies will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8, at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA. The pre-event reception begins at 4:30 p.m. and the awards ceremony starts at 7 p.m. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
