Nominations Announced for 45th Annie Awards

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

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.