Netflix dominated the 47th Annie Awards on Saturday, Jan. 25, picking up 19 trophies, including the top prizes of best feature (“Klaus”), best feature-independent (“I Lost My Body”), best TV/media production for preschool children (“Ask the Storybots”) and best general audience TV/media production (“BoJack Horseman”). Disney TV Animation’s “Disney Mickey Mouse” won best TV/media production for children.
The traditionally animated “Klaus” won seven Annies, the most overall, winning in every category in which it was nominated, with Sergio Pablos winning for both his direction and for storyboarding. “Klaus” also won for character animation (Sergio Martins), character design (Torsten Schrank), production design (Szymon Biernaki and Marcin Jakubowski) and editorial (Pablo Garcia Revert).
In addition to winning best feature-independent, “I Lost My Body” picked up trophies for composer Dan Levy and writing for director Jérémy Clapin and Guillaume Laurant, who together adapted the screenplay from Laurant’s novel “Happy Hand.”
Netflix’s genre-spanning anthology series “Love, Death & Robots” scored four Annie Awards: animated effects in an animated TV/media production (Viktor Németh, Szabolcs Illés, Ádám Sipos, Vladimir Zhovna), music (composer/lyricist Rob Cairns), production design (Alberto Mielgo) and editorial (Bo Juhl, Stacy Auckland and Valerian Zamel).
Other Netflix projects scoring Annies are “Carmen Sandiego” (character design and storyboarding in an animated TV/media production) and “Tuca & Bertie” (writing in an animated TV/media production).
Disney picked up five awards overall. In addition to TV/media production for children, “Disney Mickey Mouse” won for direction (Alonso Ramirez-Ramos). As for features, Josh Gad scored a trophy for his vocal performance of Olaf in “Frozen 2,” which also won for animated effects in an animated feature (Benjamin Fiske, Alex Moaveni, Jesse Erickson and Dimitri Berberov). The Disney-Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” won for character animation in a live-action production.
How the results of the Annie Awards will affect the Oscars is anyone’s guess. Both “Klaus” and “I Lost My Body” are nominated for animated feature along with Laika’s “Missing Link,” which won the Golden Globe for animated feature, Pixar’s “Toy Story 4,” which just picked up the PGA Award, and DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.”
The “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise did end the evening with a trophy. The short “How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming” won for best animated special production.
Best animated short subject went to “Uncle Thomas” Accounting for the Days,” from Ciclope Filmes, National Film Board of Canada and Les Armateurs.
Other winners included Baobab Studio’s “Bonfire” for best virtual reality production, “Unruly Heroes” for character animation in a video game, “The Mystical Journey of Jimmy Page’s ‘59 Telecaster” for best animated commercial, “His Dark Materials” for character animation in a TV/broadcast production, “Bob’s Burgers” star H. Jon Benjamin for voice acting in an animated TV/Media production and “The Fox & the Pigeon” for best student film.
Juried awards were also handed out at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Animation veterans Henry Selick, the late Satoshi Kon and the team of Ron Clements & John Musker were honored with the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement.
Selick is best known for his work in stop-motion animation including “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “James and the Giant Peach” and “Coraline,” and is currently working with Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key on the stop-motion feature “Wendell and Wild.”
Clements and Musker co-directed a number of Disney films, including “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Hercules,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and, most recently, “Moana.” Clements is still working at Disney, but Musker retired last year after 40 years with the studio.
Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist. He died in 2010.
Also honored at the Annie Awards was Jeanette Bonds, who received the June Foray Award for benevolent contributions to the animation industry. Bonds co-founded and runs the GLAS Animation Festival, which highlights the work of independent animators.
In addition, computer scientist Jim Blinn, best known for his work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory creating pre-encounter animations for the Voyager project, was honored with the Up Iwerks Awards for technical advancements that make a significant impact on the art or industry of animation.
A complete list of winners follows:
Best Feature
Klaus; Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine
Best Feature-Independent
I Lost My Body; Xilam for Netflix
Best Special Production
How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming; DreamWorks Animation
Best Short Subject
Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days; Ciclope Filmes, National Film Board of Canada, Les Armateurs
Best Virtual Reality Production
Bonfire; Baobab Studios
Best Animated TV/Media Commercial
The Mystical Journey of Jimmy Page’s ‘59 Telecaster; Nexus Studios
Best TV/Media Production for Preschool Children
Ask the Storybots, Episode: Why Do We Have To Recycle?; JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
Best TV/Media Production for Children
Disney Mickey Mouse, Episode: Carried Away; Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel
Best General Audience TV/Media Production
BoJack Horseman, Episode: The Client; Tornante Productions for Netflix
Best Student Film
The Fox & The Pigeon; Michelle Chua
Animated Effects in an Animated TV/Media Production
Love, Death & Robots, Episode: The Secret War; Blur for Netflix; Viktor Németh, Szabolcs Illés, Ádám Sipos, Vladimir Zhovna
Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production
Frozen 2; Walt Disney Animation Studios; Benjamin Fiske, Alex Moaveni, Jesse Erickson, Dimitre Berberov, Kee Nam Suong;
Character Animation in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
His Dark Materials, Episode 7; BBC Studios; Lead Animator: Aulo Licinio; Character: Iroek
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Klaus, Netflix Presents a Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine; Animation Supervisor: Sergio Martins; Character: Alva
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Avengers: Endgame, Weta Digital; Animation Supervisor: Sidney Kombo-Kintombo
Character Animation in a Video Game
Unruly Heroes, Magic Design Studios; Character Animator: Sebastien Parodi (Characters: Heroes Kid version, Underworld NPC); Lead Animator: Nicolas Leger (Characters: Heroes Wukong, Kihong, Sandmonk and Sanzang), all enemies except Underworld levels, and cinematics)
Character Design in an Animated TV/Media Production
Carmen Sandiego, Episode: The Chasing Paper Caper; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and DHX Media for Netflix; Character Designer: Keiko Murayama (Characters: Carmen Sandiego, Paper Star, Player, Shadowsan, Chief, Julia Argent, Chase Devineaux)
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Klaus; Netflix Presents a Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine; Character Designer: Torsten Schrank
Directing in an Animated TV/Media Production
Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Disney Mickey Mouse, Episode: For Whom the Booth Tolls; Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Sergio Pablos, Klaus; Netflix Presents a Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine
Music in an Animated TV/Media Production
Rob Cairns, composer/lyricist; Love, Death & Robots, Episode: Sonnie’s Edge; Blur for Netflix
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Dan Levy, composer; I Lost My Body; Xilam for Netflix
Production Design in an Animated TV/Media Production
Love, Death & Robots, Episode: The Witness; Blur for Netflix; Production Design: Alberto Mielgo
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Klaus; Netflix Presents a Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine; Production Design: Szymon Biernaki, Marcin Jakubowski
Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Media Production
Carmen Sandiego, Episode: Becoming Carmen Sandiego: Part 1; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and DHX Media for Netflix; Storyboard Artist: Kenny Park
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Klaus, Netflix Presents a Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine; Storyboard Artist: Sergio Pablos
Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Media Production
H. Jon Benjamin as Bob in Bob’s Burgers, Episode: Roamin’ Bob-iday, 20th Century Fox/Bento Box Entertainment
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Josh Gad as Olaf in Frozen 2; Walt Disney Animation Studios
Writing in an Animated TV/Media Production
Tuca & Bertie, Episode: The Jelly Lakes; Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix; Writer: Shauna McGarry
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
I Lost My Body; Xilam for Netflix; Writers: Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant
Editorial in an Animated TV/Media Production
Love, Death & Robots, Episode: Alternate Histories; Blur for Netflix; Bo Juhl, Stacy Auckland and Valerian Zamel
Editorial In An Animated Feature Production
Klaus; Netflix Presents a Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine; Pablo García Revert