“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” topped Saturday’s Annie Awards, taking home seven zoetropes — one for each of its webslinger incarnations — including best animated feature. The Sony Pictures Animation film, which won in every category in which it was nominated, swung past Aardman Animations’ “Early Man,” Pixar’s “Incredibles 2,” Fox Searchlight Pictures’ “Isle of Dogs” and Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” for that honor.
In addition to animated feature, “Spider-Verse” picked up trophies for direction (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman); writing (Phil Lord and Rothman); character animation in an animated feature (David Han); character design (Shiyoon Kim); production design (Justin K. Thompson) and editorial (Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton and Vivek Sharma).
Mamoru Hosoda’s “Mirai” was named best animated independent feature.
How the “Spider-Verse” Annie wins will affect its chances on Oscar night is unclear. The Academy changed its nominating procedures this year for the animated feature category, opening it up to any Academy member willing to join the nominating committee. The winner will be chosen via a preferential ballot just like the best picture category. “Spider-Verse” will face the same competition on Feb. 24 as it did for the Annies, with the exception of “Early Man,” whose slot went to “Mirai.”
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Disney may not have gone home with the big prize, but it did win the most Annie Awards for the night — eight. “Mary Poppins Returns” picked up two (best animated special production and character animation in a live-action production), TV series “Disney Mickey Mouse” scored three (directing in an animated TV/broadcast production, music and storyboarding), and one each for series “Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure” (character design in an animated TV/broadcast production), “Big Hero 6: The Series” (editorial); and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” (animated effects in an animated feature production).
Streaming service Netflix did pretty well for itself as well, with its animated series picking up seven prizes, tying the number of awards received by Sony Pictures Animation. In fact, series that air on Netflix nabbed all of the top TV awards. “Ask the StoryBots,” from JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix was named best animated TV/broadcast production for preschool children; “Hilda,” from Hilda Prods. – a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix and Mercury Filmworks, won best animated TV/broadcast production for children; and “BoJack Horseman,” Tornante Prods. for Netflix won for best general audience animated TV/broadcast production.
“Crow: The Legend” from Baobab Studios won the Annie Awards’ first trophy for virtual reality production. The VR short stars John Legend and Oprah Winfrey in an adaptation of a Native American tale about a crow who sacrifices everything he believes is important to him to save his fellow creatures.
Best animated short went to “Weekends,” which is also nominated for an Oscar. The independent film, by Trevor Jimenez, follows a young boy as he shuttles between the homes of his recently divorced parents.
Voice acting awards went to Will Arnett for his turn as BoJack Horseman in the Netflix series and Bryan Cranston, who voiced Chief in “Isle of Dogs.”
Michael Giacchino took home the Annie for music in an animated feature production while Christopher Willis won the award in the TV category for his work for “Disney Mickey Mouse.”
ASIFA-Hollywood, which presents the Annies, also handed out juried awards at the Feb. 2 event. Receiving the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime or career achievement are Pixar animator and art director Ralph Eggleston; casting and voice director and voice actress Andrea Romano; and the late pioneering African-American animator Frank Braxton. Pixar animator Adam Burke, who died in October, was honored with the June Foray Award for benevolent contributions to the animation community. Dutch software developer and film producer received the Ub Iwerks Award for the creation of Blender Open Source Animation Software. ASIFA-Hollywood volunteer Jason Jones received a Certificate of Merit.
The 46th Annie Awards were held at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA.
A complete list of winners follows:
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,“ Nicholas Olivieri, Yi Shen, Juliana De Lucca, Varun Nair, David Feliu
Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
“Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters,“ DreamWorks Animation Television; Visual Effects Supervisor: David M.V. Jones, Overseas FX Supervisor: Vincent Chou, Overseas Lead FX Artist: Clare Yang
Animated Effects in an an Animated Feature Production
“Ralph Breaks The Internet,“ Walt Disney Animation Studios; Head of Effects Animation: Cesar Velazquez, Effects Lead: Marie Tollec, Effects Lead: Alexander Moaveni, Effects Lead: Peter DeMund, Foundation Effects Lead: Ian J. Coony
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Hilda,“ Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks; Character Animator: Scott Lewis, Character: The King, Hilda, Arfur
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,“ Sony Pictures Animation; Animator: David Han Character: Multiple
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
“Mary Poppins Returns,“ Walt Disney Pictures; Chris Sauve, James Baxter, Sandro Cleuzo
Character Animation in a Video Game
“GRIS,“ Nomada Studio; Lead Animator: Adrian Miguel Character: Gris (Cinematics and In-Game), Lead Animator: Adrian Garcia Character:
Gris (Cinematics), Lead Animator: Adrian Miguel Character: Sombra
Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure,“ Walt Disney Television Animation; Character Designer: Amanda Jolly Character: Rapunzel Bird, Cassandra Bird, Father Parrot, Special Birds
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,“ Sony Pictures Animation; Shiyoon Kim, Characters: Uncle Aaron, Rio, Peter, Miles, King Pin, Gwen, Aunt May, Goblin, Jefferson
Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Disney Mickey Mouse,“ Disney Television Animation; Director: Eddie Trigueros
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,“ Sony Pictures Animation; Director: Bob Persichetti, Director: Rodney Rothman, Director: Peter Ramsey
Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Disney Mickey Mouse,“ Disney Television Animation; Composer: Christopher Willis
Music in an Animated Feature Production
“Incredibles 2,“ Pixar Animation Studios; Composer: Michael Giacchino
Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Age of Sail,“ Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures; Production Design: Céline Desrumaux; Production Design: Jasmin Lai
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,“ Sony Pictures Animation; Production Design: Justin K. Thompson
Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production (tie)
“Disney Mickey Mouse,“ Disney Television Animation; Storyboard Artist: Alonso Ramirez Ramos
“Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,“ Nickelodeon Animation Studio; Storyboard Artist: Kevin Molina-Ortiz
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
“Incredibles 2,“ Pixar Animation Studios; Storyboard Artist: Dean Kelly
Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Will Arnett, “BoJack Horseman,” Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix; Character: BoJack
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Bryan Cranston, “Isle of Dogs,” Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures; Character: Chief
Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Hilda,“ Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks; Writer: Stephanie Simpson
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,“ Sony Pictures Animation; Writer: Phil Lord, Writer: Rodney Rothman
Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
“Big Hero 6: The Series,“ Walt Disney Television Animation; Nominee: Charles Jones, Nominee: Joe Molinari, Nominee: Dao Le, Nominee: Vartan Nazarian, Nominee: David Vazquez
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,“ Sony Pictures Animation; Nominee: Bob Fisher, Nominee: Andrew Leviton, Nominee: Vivek Sharma