Spider-Verse & Netflix Dominate Annie Awards

2019 ANNIE AWARDS

[Source: AnimeSuperhero] The 2019 Annie Award winners were announced in a gala ceremony last night in Los Angeles, CA, with Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dominating its competition by winning all seven categories it was nominated in. Netflix took home the same number of awards across multiple categories, making it the other major winner for the evening.

The full list of winners this year are:

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation)
BEST ANIMATED INDEPENDENT FEATURE: Mirai (Studio Chizu)
BEST ANIMATED SPECIAL PRODUCTION: Mary Poppins Returns (Walt Disney Studios)
BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT: “Weekends” (past lives productions)
BEST VIRTUAL REALITY PRODUCTION: Crow: The Legend (Baobab Studios)
BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST COMMERCIAL: Greenpeace “There’s a Rang-Tan In My Bedroom” (Passion Animation Studios)
BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: Ask the StoryBots (JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix)
BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN: Hilda (Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks)
BEST GENERAL AUDIENCE ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Bojack Horseman (Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix)
BEST STUDENT FILM: “Best Friend” (GOBELINS, l’école de l’image; Nicholas OLIVIERI, Yi SHEN, Juliana DE LUCCA, Varun NAIR, David FELIU)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR ANIMATED EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters (DreamWorks Animation Television; Nominees: David M.V. Jones, Vincent Chou, Clare Yang)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR ANIMATED EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Ralph Breaks The Internet (Walt Disney Animation Studios; Nominees: Cesar Velazquez, Marie Tollec, Alexander Moaveni, Peter DeMund, Ian J. Coony)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CHARACTER ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Hilda (Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks; Nominee: Scott Lewis)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CHARACTER ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; Nominees: David Han)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CHARACTER ANIMATION IN A LIVE-ACTION PRODUCTION: Mary Poppins Returns (Walt Disney Pictures; Nominees: Chris Sauve, James Baxter, Sandro Cleuzo)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CHARACTER ANIMATION IN A VIDEO GAME: GRIS (Nomada Studio; Nominees: Adrian Miguel, Adrian Garcia, Adrian Miguel)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CHARACTER DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (Walt Disney Television Animation; Nominees: Amanda Jolly)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR CHARACTER DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; Nominees: Shiyoon Kim)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR DIRECTING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Disney Mickey Mouse (Disney Television Animation; Nominees: Eddie Trigueros)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR DIRECTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; Nominees: Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR MUSIC IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Disney Mickey Mouse (Disney Television Animation; Nominees: Christopher Willis)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR MUSIC IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Incredibles 2 (Pixar Animation Studios; Nominees: Michael Giacchino)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: “Age of Sail” (Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures; Nominees: Céline Desrumaux, Jasmin Lai)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; Nominees: Justin K. Thompson)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR STORYBOARDING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Disney Mickey Mouse (Disney Television Animation; Nominees: Alonso Ramirez Ramos)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR STORYBOARDING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Incredibles 2 (Pixar Animation Studios; Nominees: Dean Kelly)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR VOICE ACTING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: BoJack Horseman (Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix; Nominees: Will Arnett)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR VOICE ACTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Isle of Dogs (Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures; Nominees: Bryan Cranston)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR WRITING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Hilda (Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks; Nominees: Stephanie Simpson)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR WRITING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; Nominees: Phil Lord , Rodney Rothman)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR EDITORIAL IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION: Big Hero 6: The Series (Walt Disney Television Animation; Nominees: Charles Jones, Joe Molinari, Dao Le, Vartan Nazarian, David Vazquez)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT FOR EDITORIAL IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation; Nominees: Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton, Vivek Sharma)

JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award – For Career Contributions to the Art of Animation
Ralph Eggleston
Frank Braxton (posthumously)
Andrea Romano

Ub Iwerks Award – For Technical Advancement in the Art of Animation
Ton Roosendaal for Blender Open Source Animation Software

June Foray Award – For Significant and Benevolent or Charitable Impact on the Art and Industry of Animation
Adam Burke (posthumously)

Certificate of Merit
Jason Jones

Announcing the Nominees for the Annie Awards

THE ANNIE AWARDS

[Source: blastr] There’s never been a better time to be a fan of animation. The medium is constantly developing new techniques and technologies to make its productions look better than ever, as the line between animation and special-effect-laden live action like The Jungle Book continues to blur. Animation has never been more welcome by audiences either, with six animated movies having already cleared $100 million in the domestic box office, and two — Zootopia and Finding Dory — having made over a billion worldwide.

Now it’s that time of year again when the men and women behind the cartoons we love come together to honor the best work of the year with their nominations for the International Animated Film Association’s Annie Awards. The Annie Awards have been given out annually since 1972, and encompass a number of categories, from the obvious “Best Animated Feature” to “Best Student Film” to “Character Animation in a Video Game” and much more. Animation has worked its way into every aspect of both animated and live-action television and movies, commercials, video games, and everything in between, and the Annie’s awards have grown to reflect that.

This year’s standouts include Disney’s Zootopia and Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings with eleven and ten nominations respectively, with the year’s second Walt Disney Animation feature, Moana in third with six. Notable inclusions for the geek-o-sphere include nominations for Netflix’s Voltron, for Doctor Strange’s Mirror Dimension effects, Game of Thrones’ Battle of the Bastards, and for the music of Star Wars Rebels’ second season finale.

Read on for all the nominations for this year’s Annie Awards, and be sure to let us know your picks in the comments below!

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

Moana

Zootopia

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE - INDEPENDENT

Long Way North

Miss Hokusai

My Life As A Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Your Name.

BEST ANIMATED SPECIAL PRODUCTION

Audrie & Daisy

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll

Little Big Awesome

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Pear Cider and Cigarettes

BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT

Blind Vaysha

Deer Flower

Path Title Sequence

Pearl

Piper

BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST COMMERCIAL

Duelyst

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer

Lily & the Snowman

Loteria 'Night Shift'

The Importance of Paying Attention: Teeth

BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Ask the StoryBots

-Episode: Why Do I Have to Brush My Teeth?

Peg + Cat

-Episode: Peg + Cat, "The Disappearing Art Problem"

Puffin Rock- The First Snow

-Episode: 59

The Stinky & Dirty Show

-Episode: Squeak

Tumble Leaf

-Episode: Mighty Mud Movers/Having a Ball

BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN

Adventure Time

-Episode: Bad Jubies

DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender

-Epiode: Return of the Gladiator

Elena of Avalor

-Episode: A Day to Remember

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

-Episode: Trans-Dimensional Turtles

Wander Over Yonder

-Episode: My Fair Hatey

BEST GENERAL AUDIENCE ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Bob's Burgers

-Episode: Glued, Where's My Bob?

BoJack Horseman

-Episode: Fish Out of Water

Long Live The Royals

-Episode: Punk Show

The Simpsons

-Episode: Barthood

The Venture Bros

-Episode: Hostile Makeover

BEST STUDENT FILM

Citipati

FISHWITCH

The Abyss

The Wrong End of the Stick

Twiddly Things

ANIMATED EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED PRODUCTION

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

Moana

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

ANIMATED EFFECTS IN A LIVE ACTION PRODUCTION

Deepwater Horizon- The Rig

Doctor Strange- Mirror Dimesion

Ghostbusters

The BFG

Warcraft- Magic

CHARACTER ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Atomic Puppet

DreamWorks Trollhunters

-Episode: Becoming, Part 1

The Snowy Day

Tumble Leaf

-Episode: Thinking Outside The Hoop/Fig's Hay-Maze-ing Wander

Tumble Leaf

-Episode: Might Mud Movers/Having A Ball

CHARACTER ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

Zootopia (1)

Zootopia (2)

CHARACTER ANIMATION IN A LIVE ACTION PRODUCTION

Captain America: Civil War- Spider-Man

Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards Series 6 Episode 9

The Jungle Book (1)

The Jungle Book (2)

Warcraft- Orcs

CHARACTER ANIMATION IN A VIDEO GAME

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Legends

Titanfall 2

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Witcher 3 Expansion Packs- Character Animation Reel

CHARACTER DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Counterfeit Cat

-Episode: 28 Seconds Later

DreamWorks Trollhunters

-Episode: Win, Lose or Draal

Pig Goat Banana Cricket

-Episode: It's Time to Slumber Party

Rain or Shine

-Episode: N/A

Wander Over Yonder

-Episode: The Night Out

CHARACTER DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

The Secret Life of Pets

Trolls

Zootopia

DIRECTING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

A Love Story

-Episode: N/A

Adventure Time

-Episode: Bad Jubies

Open Season: Scared Silly

-Episode: Open Season: Scared Silly

Pearl

-Episode: N/A

Wander Over Yonder

-Episode: My Fair Hatey

DIRECTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Kubo and the Two Strings- Travis Knight

My Life As A Zucchini- Claude Barras

The Red Turtle- Michael Dudok de Wit

Your Name- Makoto Shinkai

Zootopia- Byron Howard and Rich Moore

MUSIC IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Bob's Burgers

-Episode: Glued, Where's My Bob

Disney Mickey Mouse

-Episode: Dancevidaniya

DreamWorks Trollhunters

-Episode: Becoming, Part 1

Pearl

Episode: N/A

Star Wars Rebels

Episode: #2-24: "Twilight of the Apprentice"

MUSIC IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

Sing

The Little Prince

The Red Turtle

The Secret Lif of Pets

PRODUCTION IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Adventure Time

-Episode: Bad Jubies

Pearl

-Episode: N/A

Puffin Rock

-Episode: The First Snow

Rain or Shine

-Episdode: N/A

The Mr. Peabody & SHerman Show

-Episode: The Wrath of Hughes

PRODUCTION DESIGN IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

The Little Prince

Trolls

 Zootopia

STORYBOARDING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Atomic Puppet

-Episode: Sick Day

Disney Miskey Mouse

-Episode: Road Hogs

DreamWorks Trollhunters

-Episode: Win, Lose or Draal

Milo Murphy's Law

-Episode: Going the Extra Milo"

The Adventures of Puss in Boots

-Episode: Prey Time

STORYBOARDING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

Trolls

Zootopia

VOICE ACTING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

BoJack Horseman

-Episode: Multiple Episodes

Open Season: Scared Silly

-Episode: Open Season: Scared Silly

Splash and Bubbles

-Episode: #102 "I Only Have Eyespots/Double Bubbles"

Star Wars Rebels

-Episode: #3-05: "Hera's Heroes"

The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show

-Episode: Ponce de León

VOICE ACTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

Storks

Trolls

Zootopia

WRITING IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

Bob's Burgers

-Episode: The Hormone-iums

Gravity Falls

-Episode: Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls

Puffin Rock-The First Snow

-Episode: 59

The Simpsons

-Episode: Barthood

The Simpsons

-Episode: The Burns Cage

WRITING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

Kubo and the Two Strings

My Life As A Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

EDITORIAL IN AN ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION

All Hail Kin Julien

-Episode: King Julien Superstar!

Bob's Burgers

-Episode Sea Me Now

Disney Mickey Mouse

-Episode: Sock Burglar

Gravity Falls

-Episode: Weirdmageddon 3: take Back the Falls

Star Wars Rebels

-Episode: #2-24: "Twilight of the Apprentice"

EDITORIAL IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION

April and the Exrtraordinary World

Kubo and the Two Strings

 Moana

 Sausage Party

Zootopia

Ghibli's Isao Takahata to Receive Annie Award

Ghibli's Isao Takahata to Receive
Annie Awards' Lifetime
Achievement Award

[Source: Variety] Though you’d be hard-pressed to get him to admit it, Japanese animator Isao Takahata is one of the most influential artists in the medium, alongside his longtime collaborator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. His career reached a pinnacle last year when his film “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” was nominated for an animated feature Oscar. Takahata, 80, will be honored at the Annie Awards on Saturday, Feb. 6, with the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement alongside Phil Roman and the late Joe Ranft.

SEE MORE: Awards: The Contenders
This story first appeared in the February 03, 2016 issue of Variety. Subscribe today.

In your long career, what have been your biggest joys and biggest challenges?

Both my biggest joys and biggest challenges relate to the first feature-length theatrical film I directed: “Little Norse Prince Valiant” (1968). This project was extremely challenging in terms of the content to be expressed and the imagery in order to represent the story. And, for me as a novice director as well as for the young staff that included Hayao Miyazaki, this work was a major challenge. Toei Animation, a company that had been making entertainment animation for children, should have aimed this film toward high school and university students and young adults, those who had not been interested in animation films. But the company made no efforts to do so. They treated it in their normal fashion as a film for children. Due to this, the film, which was difficult to understand for young children, did not do well at the box office. And I was demoted to assistant director for a while.

However, as the years passed, appreciation for this film steadily rose. It was regarded to be a pioneer in animation films aimed at adults, gaining the status of a radical departure for Toei Animation Co. The innovative expression of imagery in the work was highly regarded, and became a major influence on Japan’s animation films. This was the greatest joy for me and for the entire staff who had unstintingly poured their talents into the project. Thirty-eight years after its release, the nearly hundred staff members who worked on the film all gathered at Hayao Miyazaki’s atelier for a celebration. We rejoiced together, as we recalled those trying but happy days.

What changes in animation have you seen that most delight you? What has distressed you?

What has both delighted and distressed me has been the advance in computers. With advances in computers it has become possible to do things that we couldn’t do before. And this will no doubt continue in the future. Without computers, we could not have depicted the kind of expressions we were able to in “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.” This is a wonderful advance and, for me, something to delight in. And yet, due to the advance in computers, there is a tendency to overly rely on them. This has led to diminishment in various modes of expression. This is most distressing for me.

What would you like to see in the future for animation?

I see infinite potential for animation. I don’t know if that is a wonderful thing or not. All of the arts, whether they be music, drama, or painting, have infinite potential. But no one knows whether this unlimited potential can be a force for creating many works that can offer delight to people.

Studio Ghibli has released some of the world’s best animated films. What do you think was the key to the studio’s great success?

Studio Ghibli was formed relying on the genius of Hayao Miyazaki to allow him to freely create his films. The first key to its success is that Hayao Miyazaki was indeed a genius. His creativity was realized in an exceedingly concrete form, and as his expression goes beyond abstraction. The imagery of his works appeal to a mass audience and is able to be enjoyed by all. He is careful not to ignore the commercial and entertainment aspects of his works. Moreover, at his side is the astonishingly talented producer Toshio Suzuki, who is so adept at indicating how to enjoy each of Miyazaki’s works by pulling in audiences through his brilliant promotion efforts. Unfortunately, I’m not a genius like Miyazaki, but Studio Ghibli has valued my directorial works and has treated them in the same way.

Talk about your long association the Hayao Miyazaki. How do you think your friendship has informed each other’s work?

We became “comrades” connected through our demanding work when we were young as we cooperated with each other in the creation of a new form of animation film.

We shared our conviction in the need to create a world of reality and realistic depictions in all our works. This is natural for works with few fantastic features, but absolutely necessary for people to believe in fantastic stories as well. The big leap into what cannot occur in reality succeeds only when made from the firm springboard of reality.

The fantastic features gradually disappeared from my works, while Miyazaki’s works became more infused with the fantastical. Despite this, we continued to share the idea concerning the realistic depictions in our construction of the imagery of the world, its natural phenomena, and the characters who move about in that world.

Because Hayao Miyazaki’s various films were so alluring, I thought I would realize in my animation films a different appeal and a different expression from what was in his works. In that regard, I suppose you could say I have been greatly influenced by his work.

We also share our attitudes toward our love for the nature immediately around us and our political beliefs of anti-nuclear weaponry and anti-nuclear power and opposition to changing Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution. [Article 9 renounces war and capacity for war by Japan]

Your acclaimed film, “Omohide Poro Poro,” was released in Japan in 1991, but it’s only just now coming to English-speaking audiences in the U.S. as “Only Yesterday.” How do you think your style changed since the film first came out?

If I understand correctly what you mean by style, the pictorial style in my works has gone through many changes. I consider myself to have taken advantage of the fact that I cannot draw. For many years I have wanted to improve on the simplistic flat-plane image of cel animation. But I didn’t want to solve this by going into the 3D-CG method of three-dimensionality and substantiality. I wanted to solve this by a method of “reduction” of not drawing everything on the screen, in order to stimulate people’s imagination and raise the level of artistry. My assertion was that this method is what can and should be applied in Japan, following on our long painting tradition from the 12th century Scrolls of Frolicking Animals, ink paintings, and ukiyo-e woodblock prints all the way to manga. This was realized later in “My Neighbors the Yamadas” (1999) and “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (2013), but actually, I had taken to putting this into practice somewhat by leaving areas of the frames blank in the recollection scenes in Only Yesterday.

“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari) was said to be your last film. Is that the case? Do you think you might be inspired with another story?

I have several projects that I still have in mind that I am currently working on to get closer to realizing. Whether those will be finalized as films is something that no one, myself included, can know.