Search form

Nominations Announced for 45th Annie Awards

Pixar Animation Studios’ ‘Coco’ tops 2018 Annie Awards nominations with 13 nods; Cartoon Saloon’s ‘The Breadwinner’ follows with 10.

BURBANK, CA -- The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 45th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation.

This year’s Best Animated Feature nominations include: Captain Underpants (DreamWorks Animation), Cars 3 (Pixar Animation Studios), Coco (Pixar Animation Studios), Despicable Me 3 (Illumination) and The Boss Baby (DreamWorks Animation).

Best Animated Feature-Independent, spotlighting features with a much smaller distribution footprint than major studio releases, include: In This Corner of the World (Taro Maki, GENCO, Inc. and Masao Maruyama, Mappa Co., Ltd), Loving Vincent (BreakThru Films, Production Company Trademark Films, Co-Production Company), Napping Princess (Nippon TV), The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales (Folivari/Panique!/Studiocanal) and The Breadwinner (Cartoon Saloon/Aircraft Pictures/Melusine Productions).

“The Annies continue to grow in the number of submissions again this year, pointing out animation’s diversity in both style and storytelling, not only from our local community, but from the industry world-wide,” ASIFA executive director Frank Gladstone said. “That the Annies are now an established and important part of the ‘Award Season’ is enormously gratifying for all of us who tell our stories frame by frame.”

The Annie Awards cover 36 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Feature-Independent, Special Productions, Commercials, Short Subjects, Student Films and Outstanding Individual Achievements, as well as the honorary Juried Awards. The winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on Saturday, February 3, 2018 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. A pre-reception and press line begins at 5:00 pm with the awards ceremony following at 7:00 pm. A post-show celebration immediately follows the ceremony. All events will be held at Royce Hall.

“No doubt about it, our nominees represent the best work in the field,” said ASIFA-Hollywood President, Jerry Beck. “I am particularly proud of the diversity of voices, techniques and artistic styles displayed in the feature films, television programming, independent shorts, commercials and gaming we screened this year. The animation community embodies the finest qualities of the creative arts -- and our Annie nominees this year certainly bear that out.”

Juried Awards will also be presented honoring career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation. Three Winsor McCay recipients have been selected by the ASIFA-Hollywood Board of Directors -- British character animator, James Baxter; SpongeBob SquarePants creator, Stephen Hillenburg; and the Canadian animation duo, Wendy Tilby & Amanda Forbis, for their career contributions to the art of animation; The Ub Iwerks Award will be presented to TVPaint for its versatile software for 2D animation; Cuphead, the 1930s inspired wonder-game from StudioMDHR will receive this year’s Special Achievement Award; and the June Foray Award will be presented to animation historian Didier Ghez for his significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation. The Certificate of Merit award will be presented to David Nimitz, devoted friend and caretaker of veteran voice actress and ASIFA-Hollywood & Annie Award pioneer, June Foray, who passed away in July at the age of 99.

The complete list of nominees follows:

Best Animated Feature

  • Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
    DreamWorks Animation
  • Cars 3
    Pixar Animation Studios
  • Coco
    Pixar Animation Studios
  • Despicable Me 3
    Illumination
  • The Boss Baby
    DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Feature-Independent

  • In This Corner of the World
    Taro Maki, GENCO, Inc. and Masao Maruyama, MAPPA Co., Ltd
  • Loving Vincent
    BreakThru Films, Production Company Trademark Films, Co-Production Company
  • Napping Princess
    Nippon TV
  • The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales
    Folivari/Panique!/Studiocanal
  • The Breadwinner
    Cartoon Saloon/Aircraft Pictures/Melusine Productions

Best Animated Special Production

  • Imaginary Friend Society Feeling Sad
    Hornet
  • Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
    Walt Disney Animation Studios
  • Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems
    Tonko House, Inc.
  • Revolting Rhymes
    Magic Light Pictures
  • Tangled Before Ever After
    Walt Disney Television Animation

Best Animated Short Subject

  • Dear Basketball
    Glen Keane Productions, Kobe Studios, Believe Entertainment Group
  • Hedgehog’s Home
    National Film Board of Canada, Bonobostudio
  • Negative Space
    IKKI Films/Manuel Cam Studio
  • Scavengers
    Titmouse, Inc./Adult Swim
  • Son of Jaguar
    Google Spotlight Stories, Reel FX

Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial

  • “Biscotti. Una storia buona”
    Hornet
  • “June”
    Broad Reach Pictures/Chromosphere/Lyft
  • “League of Legends ‘Legends Never Die’”
    Passion Animation Studios
  • “Please the Cheese”
    Psyop
  • “Sainsbury’s ‘The Greatest Gift’”
    Passion Animation Studios

Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children

  • Mickey and the Roadster Racers / Episode: Goofy Gas!
    Walt Disney Television Animation
  • Octonauts / Episode: Operation Deep Freeze
    Vampire Squid Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media company, in association with Brown Bag Films
  • Peg + Cat, “The Mariachi Problem” / Episode: 220B, The Mariachi Problem
    The Fred Rogers Company/100 Chickens Productions
  • The Stinky & Dirty Show / Episode: HaHaHigher / The Waiting Game
    Amazon Studios
  • Through the Woods / Episode: A Snowy Morning
    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Fred Rogers Company, PIP Animation Services

Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children

  • Buddy Thunderstruck / Episode: To Protect and Swerve / Robo Truck of the Future
    Stoopid Buddy and American Greetings for Netflix
  • Lost in Oz / Episode: The Pearl of Pingaree
    Amazon Studios
  • Niko and the Sword of Light / Episode: From the Cliffs of Catastrophe to the Pools of Destiny
    Amazon Studios
  • Tangled: The Series / Episode: Queen for a Day
    Walt Disney Television Animation
  • We Bare Bears / Episode: Panda’s Art
    Cartoon Network Animation Studios

Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production

  • Big Mouth / Episode: Am I Gay?
    Netflix
  • BoJack Horseman / Episode: Stupid Piece of Sh*t
    Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
  • Rick and Morty / Episode: 303 -”Pickle Rick”
    Williams Street Productions
  • Robot Chicken / Episode: Freshly Baked: The Robot Chicken Santa Claus Pot Cookie Freakout Special: Special Edition
    Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
  • Samurai Jack / Episode: XCIII
    Adult Swim

Best Student Film

  • Cradle
    Devon Manney
  • Elsewhere
    Junyi Xiao
  • Good Night, Everybuds!
    Director: Benedikt Hummel, Sound Design & Mix: Lena Beck, Music: Andreas Pfeiffer, Producer: Stefan Michel
  • Once a hero
    Xia Li
  • Poles Apart
    Director: Paloma Baeza; Producer: Ser En Low, All Student Crew

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

  • Avatar Flight of Passage
    VFX Supervisor: Thrain Shadbolt Sr.; Richard Baneham; Compositing Supervisor: Sam Cole; CG Supervisor: Pavani Rao Boddapati; Daniele Tosti
  • Cars 3
    Development & Effects Artist: Amit Baadkar; Effects Lead: Greg Gladstone; Stephen Marshall; Tim Speltz; Effects Supervisor: Jon Reisch
  • Coco
    Effects Artist: Shaun Galinak; Jason Johnston; Carl Kaphan; Effects Lead: Dave Hale; Keith Daniel Klohn
  • Despicable Me 3
    Computer Graphics Supervisor: Bruno Chauffard; Frank Baradat; Lighting & Compositing Supervisor: Nicolas Brack; Effects Supervisor: Milo Riccarand
  • Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
    Head of Effects: Christopher Hendryx; Effects Animator: Dan Lund; Mike Navarro; Hiroaki Narita; Steven Chitwood

Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • DreamWorks Trolls Holiday
    Character Animator: Kevan Shorey (Character: All Characters)
  • DreamWorks Trolls Holiday
    Lead Animator: Ben Willis (Character: All Characters)
  • DreamWorks Trolls Holiday
    Character Animator: Onur Yeldan (Character: All Characters)
  • Trollhunters / Episode: 205 – “Homecoming”
    Character Animator: Bruno Chiou; Yi-Fan Cho (Character: Blinky, Dictatious, Aaarrrgghh!!); Lead Animator: Kevin Jong; Chun-Jung Chu (Character: Blinky, Dictatious, Aaarrrgghh!!)
  • Tumble Leaf / Episode: Rutabagels / Okra-Ball
    Character Animator: Michael Granberry (Character: Maple, Fig, Stick and Okra); Joe Heinen (Character: Fig, Gourd, Coco, Maple, Pine, Zucchini, Okra, Grubs, Chicks and Beetle Bus); Rachel Larsen (Character: Coco, Pine, Maple, Fig, Stick and Okra); Hilary Lile (Character: Maple, Fig and Okra); Dan MacKenzie (Character: Pine, Fig, Gourd, Rutabaga, Beetles, Coco, Okra and Maple)

Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Animator: John Chun Chiu Lee (Character: All characters)
  • Coco
    Animator: Allison Rutland (Character: All characters)
  • The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales
    Animator: Marco Nguyen (Character: all characters in scene); Directing Animator: Benjamin Renner (Character: all characters in scene); Supervising Animator: Patrick Imbert (Character: all characters in scene)
  • The Boss Baby
    Animation Supervisor: Bryce McGovern (Character: various)
  • The Boss Baby
    Animation Supervisor: Rani Naamani (Character: various)

Character Animation in a Live Action Production

  • Game of Thrones / S7 Ep.6 Beyond The Wall
    Animation Supervisor: Paul Story; Animation Lead: Todd Labonte; Creatures Lead: Matthew Muntean; Senior Modeller: Cajun Hylton; Texture Artist: Georgy Arevshatov
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
    Animation Supervisor: Arslan Elver; Lead Animator: Liam Russell; Alvise Avati; Alessandro Cuicci
  • Kong: Skull Island
    Animation Supervisor: Jance Rubinchik; Animation Lead: Adrian Millington; Animator: Alberto Martinez Arce; Kyle Winkelman
  • Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
    Senior Facial Modeller: Andrei Coval; Animation Supervisor: Paul Story; Eric Reynolds; Shader TD: Olivier Lesaint; Shader TD: Artur Vill
  • War for the Planet of the Apes
    Animation Supervisor: Daniel Barrett; Sidney Kombo Kintombo; Emile Ghorayeb; Lead Motion Editor: Luisma Lavin Peredo; Lead Facial Modeller: Alessandro Bonora

Character Animation in a Video Game

  • Cuphead
    Lead Animator: Hanna Abi-Hanna (Characters: The Devil, Grim Matchstick, Beppi The Clown, Werner Werman)
  • Cuphead
    Lead Animator: Tina Nawrocki (Characters: Baroness Von Bon Bon, Hopus Pocus, Pirouletta, Giant, Tipsy Troupe, Lobster, Porkrind, Dragonfly, The Devil – DEATH)
  • Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
    Character Animator: Chris Goodall; Jitaik Lim; Kirill Spiridonov (Character: Senua)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn
    Lead Animator: Richard Oud (Character: All mechanical creatures); Kevin Quaid (Character: All humanoids); Character Animator: Niek Neervens; Jonathan Colin (Character: All humanoids); Character Animator: Peer Lemmers (Character: All mechanical creatures)
  • Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
    Lead Animator: Almundena Soria; Keith Paciello; Paul Augustus Davies (Character: All Characters);

Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Buddy Thunderstruck / Episode: Buddy Double / Beaver Dam Fast Pizza
    Character Designer: Ryan Wiesbrock; Becky van Cleve; Rob Ronning; Nikki Rice Malki; Felicia Bleu Rose (Character: Buddy Thunderstruck, Darnell, Moneybags, Big Tex, Jacko + all other characters)
  • Danger & Eggs / Episode: Tube of Pain / Broccoli
    Character Design: Mike Owens (Character: Phillip)
  • Samurai Jack / Episode: XCVI
    Character Design: Craig Kellman (Character: Various)
  • Tangled: The Series / Episode: Tangled Before Ever After
    Co-Executive Producer: Shane Prigmore (Character: Rapunzel, Eugene, Maximus, Cassandra); Character Designer: Bobby Pontillas (Character: King Frederick, Queen Arianna, Landy Caine, Fidella); Character Designer: Taylor Krahenbuhl (Character: Pub Thugs); Character Designer: Mayumi Nose (Character: Pascal)
  • Trollhunters / Episode: Ep 201 – “Escape from the Darklands”
    Character Designer: Jules Rigolle; Alfredo Torres (Character: Goblins, Dictatious, Enrique, Gum Gums, Gunmar, Queen Usurna, Nyarlagroth); Lead Texture Artist: Linda Chen (Character: Goblins, Dictatious, Enrique, Gum Gums, Gunmar, Queen Usurna, Nyarlagroth); Art Director: Rustam Hasanov (Character: Gunmar, Goblins and Gumm Gumms); Color Key Artist: Alfonso Blaas (Character: Enrique, Goblins, Queen Usurna, Nyarlagroth, Gumm Gumms)

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Character Art Director: Daniel Arriaga (Character: All characters); Additional Character Art Direction: Daniela Strijleva (Character: All characters); Character Design/Sculptor: Greg Dykstra (Character: All characters); Character Modeller: Alonso Martinez (Character: All characters); Character Designer: Zaruhi Galstyan (Character: All characters)
  • Despicable Me 3
    Character Designer: Eric Guillon (Character: All, Balthazar Bratt, Dru, Gru, Minions, Valerie Da Vinci, Gru’s Mom, Vincenzo, Freedonians)
  • Smurfs: The Lost Village
    Character Designer: Patrick Mate (Character: Multiple Characters)
  • The Boss Baby
    Character Designer: Joe Moshier (Character: Various)
  • The Breadwinner
    Character Design: Reza Riahi (Character: Story World Characters/Rough Design); Character Design: Louise Bagnall (Character: Story World Characters/Clean Character Design); Concept Artist/Character Texture Artist: Alice Dieudonné (Character: Story World Characters/Texture Design)

Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Disney Mickey Mouse / Episode: The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!
    Director: Dave Wasson; Director: Eddie Trigueros; Director: Alonso Ramirez-Ramos
  • Dragons: Race to the Edge / Episode: Sandbusted
    Director: T.J. Sullivan
  • Tangled: The Series / Episode: Tangled Before Ever After
    Director: Tom Caulfield; Director: Stephen Sandoval
  • The Simpsons – “Treehouse of Horror XXVIII”
    Director: Timothy Bailey
  • Trollhunters / Episode: Ep 211 – “Unbecoming”
    Director: Andrew Schmidt

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Director: Lee Unkrich Pixar; Co-Director: Adrian Molina
  • The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales
    Co-Director: Benjamin Renner; Co-Director: Patrick Imbert
  • The Boss Baby
    Director: Tom McGrath
  • The Breadwinner
    Director: Nora Twomey
  • The LEGO Batman Movie
    Director: Chris McKay

Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Disney Mickey Mouse / Episode: The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!
    Composer: Christopher Willis
  • Home Adventures With Tip & Oh / Episode: Ep 030A – “Chercophonie”
    Composer: Alex Geringas
  • Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures / Episode: “Trouble on Tibalt”
    Composer: Michael Kramer
  • The Powerpuff Girls / Episode: Home, Sweet Homesick
    Composer: Mike Reagan, Lyricist: Bob Boyle
  • Tumble Leaf / Episode: The Nature Of Friendship / The Ship Shop
    Composer/Lyricist: Lisbeth Scott

Music in an Animated Feature Production

  • Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
    Composer: Theodor Shapiro
  • Coco
    Composer: Michael Giacchino; Composer/Lyricist: Kristin Anderson-Lopez; Composer/Lyricist: Robert Lopez; Composer: Germaine Franco; Lyricist: Adrian Molina
  • Loving Vincent
    Composer: Clint Mansell
  • Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
    Composer/Lyricist: Elyssa Samsel; Kate Anderson; Composer: Christophe Beck
  • The Breadwinner
    Composer: Mychael Danna; Jeff Danna

Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Big Hero 6 The Series / Episode: Baymax Returns
    Production Design: Ben Plouffe; Mark Taihei; Chris Whittier; Sylvia Filcak; Amy Chen
  • Disney Mickey Mouse / Episode: The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!
    Production Design: Jenny Gase-Baker; Justin Martin
  • June
    Production Design: Jasmin Lai; Théo Guignard; Arthur Chaumay; Tiffany Ford; Sylvia Liu
  • Samurai Jack / Episode: XCIII
    Production Design: Scott Wills
  • The Loud House / Episode: “Tricked!”
    Production Design: Amanda Rynda; Larry Murphy; Edgar Duncan; Hallie Wilson; Jared Morgan

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Production Design: Harley Jessup; Danielle Feinberg; Bryn Imagire; Nathaniel McLaughlin; Ernesto Nemesio; Tom Cardone; Arden Chan
  • Ferdinand
    Production Design: Andrew Hickson; Mike Lee; Jason Sadler
  • LEAP!
    Production Design: Florent Masurel; Pierre-Antoine Moelo; Julien Meillard; Jean-Jacques Cournoyer
  • Mary and The Witch’s Flower
    Production Design: Tomotaka Kubo; Tomoya Imai; Satoko Nakamura
  • The Breadwinner
    Production Design: Ciaran Duffy; Julien Regnard; Daby Zainab Faidhi

Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Disney Mickey Mouse / Episode: Bee Inspired
    Storyboard Artist: Eddie Trigueros
  • Home for the Holidays / Episode: Ep 900 – “Tip and Oh: Home for the Holidays”
    Storyboard Artist: Ben Bury
  • Niko and the Sword of Light / Episode: From the Phantom Woods to the Mountains of Misery
    Storyboard Artist: Kim Arndt; Alexandria Kwan
  • Trollhunters / Episode: 205 – “Hero with a Thousand Faces”
    Storyboard Artist: David Woo
  • Trollhunters / Episode: 213 – “In the Hall of the Gumm-Gumm King”
    Storyboard Artist: Hyunjoo Song

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Storyboard Artist: Dean Kelly
  • Coco
    Storyboard Artist: Madeline Sharafian
  • The Boss Baby
    Storyboard Artist: Glenn Harmon
  • The Breadwinner
    Storyboard Artist: Julien Regnard
  • The Star
    Storyboard Artist: Louie del Carmen

Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • BoJack Horseman / Episode: “Time’s Arrow”
    Wendie Malick as Beatrice Horseman
  • Bunsen Is a Beast
    Jeremy Rowley as Bunsen
  • Disney Mickey Mouse / Episode: “The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!”
    Chris Diamantopoulos as Mickey Mouse
  • SpongeBob SquarePants
    Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants
  • The Amazing World of Gumball / Episode: “The Grades”
    Nicolas Cantu as Gumball

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

  • Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
    Nick Kroll as Professor Poopypants
  • Coco
    Anthony Gonzalez as Miguel
  • The Breadwinner
    Saara Chaudry as Parvana
  • The Breadwinner
    Laara Sadiq as Fattema
  • The LEGO Batman Movie
    Zach Galifianakis as Joker

Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Archer / Episode: ‘Archer Dreamland: Jane Doe”
    Writer: Adam Reed
  • Disney Mickey Mouse / Episode: “Locked in Love”
    Writer: Darrick Bachman
  • Milo Murphy’s Law / Episode: “The Island of the Lost Dakotas”
    Writer: Joshua Pruett
  • Rick and Morty / Episode: 307 – “The Ricklantis Mixup”
    Writer: Ryan Ridley; Dan Guterman
  • Trollhunters / Episode: 201 – “Escape from the Darklands”
    Writer: AC Bradley; Kevin Hageman; Dan Hageman; Aaron Waltke; Chad Quandt

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Writer: Adrian Molina; Matthew Aldrich
  • Loving Vincent
    Writer: Dorota Kobiela; Hugh Welchman; Jacek Dehnel
  • Mary and The Witch’s Flower
    Writer: Riko Sakaguchi; Hiromasa Yonebayashi; David Freedman; Lynda Freedman
  • The Breadwinner
    Writer: Anita Doron

Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production

  • Bob’s Burgers / Episode: “Bob, Actually”
    Mark Seymour; Chuck Smith; Eric Davidson
  • BoJack Horseman / Episode: “Stupid Piece of Sh*t”
    Jose Martinez
  • Dinotrux / Episode: Ep 053 – “Superchargers”
    William Rinaldi; Justin Baker
  • Pickle and Peanut / Episode: “Bear-I-cade”
    John Royer
  • Samurai Jack / Episode: “XCIII,” “XCIV,” “XCIX”
    Paul Douglas

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

  • Coco
    Steve Bloom; Lee Unkrich; Greg Snyder; Tim Fox
  • Ferdinand
    Harry Hitner; Tim Nordquist
  • The Breadwinner
    Darragh Byrne
  • The LEGO Batman Movie
    David Burrows; Matt Villa; John Venzon
  • The Star
    Pamela Ziegenhagen

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 veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past four decades. For tickets, visit annieawards.org/tickets. For all other information regarding the Annie Awards, visit annieawards.org/event-info.

Source: ASIFA-Hollywood

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

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.