Streaming live on April 16, the event honors overall excellence and achievement in 36 animation categories; presenters announced also include Eva Whittaker; composer Michael Giacchino; director Sergio Pablos; DreamWorks director Jill Culton; producer Nora Twomey; and the cast of the web series, ‘Critical Role.’
ASIFA-Hollywood announced its slate of presenters for the 48th Virtual Annie Awards to stream live courtesy of Variety on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. PST. Watch the event here.
Presenters include actors Josh Gad; Matthew Rhys; Philippa Soo (Hamilton); Eva Whittaker; Oscar winning composer, Michael Giacchino; last year’s Annie winning director Sergio Pablos (Klaus); DreamWorks director Jill Culton (Abominable), producer Nora Twomey (Wolfwalkers); and the cast of the web series, Critical Role. Additional presenters will be confirmed soon.
The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories including Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Special Production, Commercials, Short Subjects and Outstanding Individual Achievements.
Some of this year’s nominees and honorees are as follows – you can view the complete list here:
This year’s Best Animated Feature nominations include:
- Onward (Pixar Animation Studios),
- Soul (Pixar Animation Studios),
- The Croods: A New Age (DreamWorks Animation),
- The Willoughbys (Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media)
- Trolls World Tour (DreamWorks Animation).
Best Animated Feature-Independent, spotlighting features with a much smaller distribution footprint than major studio releases, include:
- A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment an Aardman Production for Netflix)
- Calamity Jane (Maybe Movies)
- On-Gaku: Our Sound (Rock’n Roll Mountain, Tip Top)
- Ride Your Wave (Science SARU)
- Wolfwalkers (Apple/GKIDS).
The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation are being presented to three recipients:
- Willie Ito
- Sue Nichols (posthumously)
- Bruce Smith.
The June Foray Award – In recognition of significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation – to be awarded to:
- Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi - animator and art director
The Ub Iwerks Award – In recognition for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation - to be awarded to:
- Epic Games for its Unreal Engine
The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation - to be awarded to:
- Howard - Documentary (Stone Circle Pictures).
This year’s sponsors include: Platinum Level – Walt Disney Animation Studios/Pixar; DreamWorks Animation; Netflix; Nickelodeon; Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation; and Variety. Gold Level – Disney TV Animation; Silver Level – Apple and Pixar Animation Studios; Bronze Level – Epic Games, Skydance Animation, and Sony Pictures Animation; and Education/Nonprofit Level – Animation Guild and Sheridan College.
Source: ASIFA-Hollywood
