Studio Ghibli-Wild Bunch-Why Not Productions co-production ‘The Red Turtle’ wins Best Independent Animated Feature; Pixar’s ‘Piper’ wins Best Animated Short Subject.
LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia takes the top honor as Best Animated Feature at ASIFA-Hollywood‘s 44th Annual Annie Awards, Saturday evening at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Zootopia also received an Annies trophy for Outstanding Storyboarding – Dean Wellins; Outstanding Character Design – Cory Loftis; Outstanding Voice Acting – Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde; Outstanding Writing – Jared Bush & Phil Johnston; and Best Directing – Byron Howard & Rich Moore. Best Animated Feature – Independent was presented to the film, The Red Turtle (Studio Ghibli/Wild Bunch/Why Not Productions).
LAIKA’s Kubo And The Two Strings garnered three Annies for Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation, Production Design and Editorial; Best Animated Special Production was awarded to Pear Cider and Cigarettes (Massive Swerve Studios and Passion Pictures Animation); Best Animated Short Subject Piper (Pixar Animation Studios); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial Loteria ‘Night Shift’ (Passion Pictures Ltd.); Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Preschool Children Tumble Leaf – Mighty Mud Movers/Having a Ball (Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children Adventure Time – Bad Jubies (Bix Pix Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Frederator Studios); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for a General Audience Bob’s Burgers – Glued, Where’s My Bob? (Bento Box Entertainment); and Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production: The Jungle Book (Walt Disney Pictures).
“It was a big year for animation all around. We saw a huge number of projects, great diversity of subjects and styles and increasing international participation,” remarked Frank Gladstone, Annie Awards executive producer. “Animation’s positive impact on communities worldwide was evident throughout the evening. It was a great night.”
Presenting the coveted Annie trophies this year were Lakers basketball legend, Kobe Bryant; actress Jenna Elfman; animator and film director, Patrick Osborne; Auli’l Cravalho – voice of Moana; animator, author and illustrator, Glen Keane; actor and comedian, Tom Kenny; Paige O’Hara – 25th Anniversary of Beauty and the Beast; actor & director, James Hong; directors Travis Knight – Kubo and the Two Strings and Michael Dudok de Wit – The Red Turtle; comedian Stephen Kramer Glickman and actress Chelsea Kane, along with ASIFA-Hollywood President, Jerry Beck and Executive Director, Frank Gladstone.
ASIFA-Hollywood was thrilled to have all three Winsor McCay recipients in attendance. The Winsor McCay recipients this year are legendary animator Dale Baer; independent animation champion Caroline Leaf; and influential anime director Mamoru Oshii for career contributions to the art form. The Ub Iwerks Award was presented to Google Spotlight’s Virtual Reality Platform for technical advancement; and the Special Achievement Award was presented to Life, Animated, a documentary about animation’s effect on one young autistic man’s journey. The June Foray Award was presented to Bill & Sue Kroyer for their career-long benevolent and public-spirited influence within the animation community. Certificate of Merit awards were presented to ASIFA-Hollywood volunteer coordinator Leslie Ezeh, and ASIFA-Hollywood’s office manager Gary Perkovac.
The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories from best feature, best feature – independent, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting, and have often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The ceremony was live-streamed again this year at www.annieawards.org/watch-it-live where animation enthusiasts and those unable to attend the event, could watch the show.
The complete list of winners at the 44th Annual Annie Awards is shown below:
Best Animated Feature
Zootopia
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Byron Howard, Rich Moore
Zootopia
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Patrick Osborne
Pearl
Google Spotlight Stories/Evil Eye Pictures
Best Animated Feature-Independent
The Red Turtle
Studio Ghibli – Wild Bunch – Why Not Productions
Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Glued, Where’s My Bob?
Bento Box Entertainment
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children
Adventure Time
Episode: Bad Jubies
Bix Pix Entertainment Cartoon Network Frederator Studios
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
Tumble Leaf
Episode: Mighty Mud Movers / Having a Ball
Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Jared Bush, Phil Johnston
Zootopia
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Lizzie Molyneux, Wendy Molyneux
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: The Hormone-iums
Bento Box Entertainment
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
(tie)
Auli’i Cravalho as Moana
Moana
Walt Disney Animation Studios
and
Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde
Zootopia
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Carlos Alazaraqui as Ponce de León
The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show
Episode: Ponce de León
DreamWorks Animation Television
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial
Loteria, “Night Shift”
Passion Pictures Ltd
Best Animated Special Production
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Massive Swerve Studios and Passion Pictures Animation
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall, Ean McNamara
Kubo and the Two Strings
LAIKA
Pearl production design winner Tuna Bora gets a play-off after dropping her Annie trophy, having a nice recovery and, as a first-generation immigrant “from a predominantly Muslim country,” hails inclusion in the animation community. It’s clear that President Trump doesn’t have many if any fans here tonight.
Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Tuna Bora
Pearl
Google Spotlight Stories/Evil Eye Pictures
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Jan Maas
Kubo and the Two Strings
LAIKA
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Mike Chaffe
DreamWorks Trollhunters
Episode: Becoming, Part 1
DreamWorks Animation Television
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Andrew R. Jones, Peta Bayley, Gabriele Zucchelli, Benjamin Jones
The Jungle Book
Walt Disney Pictures
Character Animation in a Video Game
Jeremy Yates, Almudena Soria, Eric Baldwin, Paul Davies, Tom Bland
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Naughty Dog
Word games with presenter Kobe Bryant is getting laughs, but the real score is how good his onstage delivery is.
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Cory Loftis
Zootopia
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Victor Maldonado, Alfredo Torres, Jules Rigolle
DreamWorks Trollhunters
Episode: Win, Lose or Draal
DreamWorks Animation Television
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Hans Zimmer, Richard Harvey, Camille
The Little Prince
Netflix and On Animation Studios
Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Scot Stafford, Alexis Harte, JJ Wiesler
Pearl
Google Spotlight Stories/Evil Eye Pictures
Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Georg Kaltenbrunner, Michael Marcuzzi, Thomas Bevan, Andrew Graham, Jihyun Yoon
Doctor Strange – MIRROR DIMENSION
Marvel Studios
Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production
Marlon West, Erin V. Ramos, Blair Pierpont, Ian J. Coony, John M. Kosnik
Moana
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Animated Short Subject
Piper
Pixar Animation Studios
Best Student Film
Citipati
Director: Andreas Feix
Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Christopher Murrie
Kubo and the Two Strings
Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Illya Owens
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Sock Burglar
Disney Television Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Dean Wellins
Zootopia
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Hyunjoo Song
DreamWorks Trollhunters
Episode: Win, Lose or Draal
DreamWorks Animation Television
Winsor McCay Awards
Dale Baer
Caroline Leaf
Mamoru Oshii.
Ub Iwerks Award
Google Spotlight’s Virtual Reality Platform
June Foray Award
Bill & Sue Kroyer
Special Achievement Award
Life, Animated documentary feature
The complete list of nominees and winners can be viewed at www.annieawards.org, and highlights of the ceremony will be uploaded to the Annies website in the next few weeks.
ASIFA-Hollywood is the world’s first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the art of animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, animated film preservation, special events, classes and screenings. Created in 1972 by June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past four decades.
Source: ASIFA-Hollywood
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
