Animation - 47th Annual Annie Awards

Netflix was the big winner at the 47th Annual Annie Awards on Saturday evening. See how Susan Omand's predictions fared...

Netflix top honours in 18 of the 32 categories, with Klaus being the surprise winner of all seven of the awards it was nominated for, including Best Feature, Best Character Design and Best Character Animation, as well as Best Production Design, Best Storyboarding, Best Directing and Best Editorial in an Animated Feature, so that will definitely be one to watch when the Oscars spin around. Netflix also took home the gongs for both Best Independent Feature and Best Writing in an Animated feature with I Lost My Body. On the TV side the big winner was Love, Death & Robots with four awards while Carmen Sandiego picked up two.

"For years, we've described ASIFA-Hollywood as a sort of United Nations of Animation. This year, that comparison rings even more clearly," commented Frank Gladstone, ASIFA's executive director. "With nearly 2,000 submissions from productions world-wide, the award is becoming much more an international event. Many more films, many more artists and many new names we are learning to pronounce!"

The evening began with a special tribute to Richard Williams, Canadian–British animator, director, and writer, best known as animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), for which he won two of his three Academy Awards (the third for A Christmas Carol in 1973), and for his unfinished feature film The Thief and the Cobbler (1993).

Juried Awards were presented honouring unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation. Three Winsor McCay Award recipients were selected by the ASIFA-Hollywood Board of Directors for their exemplary industry careers – Satoshi Kon (posthumously), Japanese manga artist, director, animator and screenwriter on the now classic films Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika; Henry Selick, stop motion director, producer and writer, best known for directing the stop-motion films The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline; and Ron Clements & John Musker, animators, animation directors, screenwriters, producers and one of Walt Disney Animation Studio's leading director teams with nearly 40 years of animation credits, from The Little Mermaid to Moana and many others, too numerous to mention.

The June Foray Award was presented to Jeanette Bonds, writer, independent animator, and co-founder and director of GLAS Animation; and the Ub Iwerks Award was presented to Jim Blinn, computer scientist who first became widely known for his early work in computer animation, and as a graphics expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), particularly on the pre-encounter animations for the Voyager project.

The ceremony was live-streamed again this year at www.annieawards.org/watch-it-live and you can watch the complete 3 and a bit hour long show there. 

But we know you're itching to find out how badly Susan's guesses... er... mathematically derived predictions went so here is the full list of nominations with the real ** WINNERs ** alongside Susan's ** WILL WINs **

1 - Best Feature

Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios ** WILL WIN **
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - DreamWorks Animation
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC
Toy Story 4 - Pixar Animation Studios

2 - Best Indie Feature

Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles - Sygnatia, Glow, Submarine, Hampa Animation Studio
** WINNER ** I Lost My Body - Xilam for Netflix ** WILL WIN **
Okko's Inn - Madhouse
Promare - TRIGGER, XFLAG
Weathering With You - Toho Co., LTD. / STORY Inc. / CoMix Wave Films


3 - Best Special Production

Guava Island "Titles and Prologue" - Six Point Harness / Amazon
** WINNER ** How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming - DreamWorks Animation ** WILL WIN **
Infinity Train "The Perennial Child" - Cartoon Network Studios
SpongeBob SquarePants "SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout” - Nickelodeon and Jonas & Co.
Zog - Magic Light Pictures


4 - Best Short Subject

Acid Rain - Animoon ** WILL WIN **
DONT KNOW WHAT - Thomas Renoldner
Je sors acheter des cigarettes - Miyu Productions
Purpleboy - Bando à Parte, Rainbox Productions, Ambiances… asbl, Luna Blue Film
** WINNER ** Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days - Ciclope Filmes, National Film Board of Canada, Les Armateurs


5 - Best VR

** WINNER ** Bonfire - Baobab Studios
GLOOMY EYES - ATLAS V
Kaiju Confidential – ShadowMachine ** WILL WIN **


6 - Best Commercial

Dove Self-Esteem Project x Steven Universe: “Social Media” - Cartoon Network/Dove/Chromosphere ** WILL WIN **
Fortnite Season 7 Launch Spot - Epic Games / Screen Novelties / iam8bit
** WINNER ** The Mystical Journey of Jimmy Page’s ‘59 Telecaster - Nexus Studios (I said at the time this should win just for the title, and it DID so I'm counting it!)

7 - Best TV/Media - Preschool

** WINNER ** Ask the Storybots - JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
Elena of Avalor - Disney Television Animation
Let's Go Luna! - Brown Bag Films / 9 Story Media Group ** WILL WIN **
Norman Picklestripes - Factory
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum - Brown Bag Films / 9 Story Media Group


8 - Best TV/Media - Children

** WINNER ** Disney Mickey Mouse - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel
Niko and the Sword of Light - Titmouse, Amazon Studios
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Nickelodeon Animation Studio ** WILL WIN **
Tales of Arcadia: 3Below - DreamWorks Animation
The Tom and Jerry Show - Warner Bros. Animation

9 - Best TV/Media - General Audience

Big Mouth - Netflix
** WINNER ** BoJack Horseman - Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Harley Quinn - Warner Bros. Animation
Tuca & Bertie - Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Undone - Tornante Company and Amazon Studios ** WILL WIN **


10 - Best Student Film (caveat - I don't know any of these so am just guessing)

Con Fuerza - Savannah College of Art and Design
Gravedad - Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH Animationsinstitut
** WINNER ** The Fox & The Pigeon - Sheridan College
Un diable dans la poche - GOBELINS, l'école de l'image ** WILL WIN **


11 - Best FX for TV/Media

How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Manuel Reyes Halaby, Cristiana Covone, Koya Masubuchi, Jean Claude Nouchy, Dustin Henning
** WINNER ** Love, Death & Robots - Blur for Netflix - ** WILL WIN ** Nominees: Viktor Németh, Szabolcs Illés, Ádám Sipos, Vladimir Zhovna

My Moon - Eusong Lee, Co-produced with Chromosphere - Nominees: Stéphane Coëdel, Natan Moura
Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures - Lucasfilm, Titmouse, Inc. - Nominees: Araiza Tokumasu Naoki
Tales of Arcadia: 3Below - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Greg Lev, Igor Lodeiro, Chen Ling, Brandon Tyra

12 - Best FX for Feature

Abominable - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Amaury Aubel, James Jackson, Domin Lee, Michael Losure, Alex Timchenko
** WINNER ** Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Benjamin Fiske, Alex Moaveni, Jesse Erickson, Dimitre Berberov, Kee Nam Suong
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC - Nominees: Eric Wachtman, David Horsley, Peter Stuart, Timur Khodzhaev, Joe Strasser
Toy Story 4 - Pixar Animation Studios - Nominees: Alexis Angelidis, Amit Ganapati Baadkar, Greg Gladstone, Kylie Wijsmuller, Matthew Kiyoshi Wong
Weathering With You - GKIDS - Nominees: Hidetsugu Ito, Yuko Nakajima, Jumi Lee, Ryosuke Tsuda

13 - Best Character Animation - TV/Media

Ask the Storybots - JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix - Nominees: Chris O'Hara
Disney Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel - Nominees: Juliane Martin
** WINNER ** His Dark Materials - BBC Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Aulo Licinio
How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Andrew Muir
Robot Chicken - Stoopid Buddy Stoodios - Nominees: Scott DaRos


14 - Best Character Animation - Animated Feature

Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios - Nominees: Andrew Ford
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Dane Stogner
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - DreamWorks Animation ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Rani Naamani
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine - Nominees: Sergio Martins
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC - Nominees: Rachelle Lambden


15 - Best Character Animation - Live Action

Alita: Battle Angel - Weta Digital ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Michael Cozens
** WINNER ** Avengers: Endgame - Weta Digital - Nominees: Sidney Kombo-Kintombo
Game of Thrones - Season 8 Episode 3 "The Long Night" - Dance of the Dragons - Image Engine - Nominees: Jason Snyman, Sheik Ghafoor, Maia Neubig, Michael Siegel, Cheri Fojtik
Pokémon Detective Pikachu - Framestore - Nominees: Dale Newton, Waiyin Mendoza, Rochelle Flynn, Leila Gaed, Paul Jones
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME - Steven Argula - Nominees: Joakim Riedinger


16 - Best Character Animation - Video Game

Gears 5 - Cinematic Animation ** WILL WIN ** - The Coalition/ Microsoft - Nominees: Brian Whitmire
KINGDOM HEARTS III - SQUARE ENIX - Nominees: Munenori Shinagawa, Kayoko Yajima, Koji Hamada, Koji Inoue
Sinclair Snake: Museum Mischief - Chromosphere / Within - Nominees: Tommy Rodricks, Natan Moura, Nelson Boles
** WINNER ** Unruly Heroes - Magic Design Studios - Nominees: Sebastien Parodi, Nicolas Leger

17 - Best Character Design - TV/Media

** WINNER ** Carmen Sandiego - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and DHX Media for Netflix ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Keiko Murayama
DC Super Hero Girls - Warner Bros. Animation - Nominees: Lauren Faust
T.O.T.S. - Titmouse / Disney Junior - Nominees: John Jagusak
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Chris Mitchell
Victor and Valentino - Cartoon Network Studios - Nominees: FABIEN MENSE


18 - Best Character Design - Feature

Abominable - DreamWorks Animation / Pearl Studio - Nominees: Nico Marlet
Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios - Nominees: Bill Schwab
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine - Nominees: Torsten Schrank
Spies in Disguise - Blue Sky Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: José Manuel Fernández Oli
The Addams Family - MGM and BRON Creative - Nominees: Craig Kellman


19 - Best Direction - TV/Media

Ask the Storybots - JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix - Nominees: Jeff Gill
DC Super Hero Girls - Warner Bros. Animation - Nominees: Natalie Wetzig
** WINNER ** Disney Mickey Mouse - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel - Nominees: Alonso Ramirez Ramos
Rilakkuma & Kaoru - Dwarf for Netflix - Nominees: Masahito Kobayashi
Ultraman - Production IG, SOLA Digital Arts for Netflix ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Kenji Kamiyama, Shinji Aramaki

20 - Best Direction - Feature

Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck
I Lost My Body - Xilam for Netflix - Nominees: Jérémy Clapin
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine - Nominees: Sergio Pablos
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC - Nominees: Chris Butler
Weathering With You - Toho Co., Ltd. / STORY Inc. / CoMix Wave Films - Nominees: Makoto Shinkai


21 - Best Music - TV/Media

Carmen Sandiego - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and DHX Media for Netflix - Nominees: Jared Lee Gosselin, Steve D'Angelo, Lorenzo Castelli
** WINNER ** Love, Death & Robots - Blur for Netflix ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Rob Cairns
Seis Manos - VIZ Media / Powerhouse Animation Studios - Nominees: Carl Thiel
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Sunna Wehrmeijer
The Tom and Jerry Show - Warner Bros. Animation - Nominees: Vivek Maddala


22 - Best Music - Feature

AWAY - Dream Well Studios - Nominees: Gints Zilbalodis
Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios - Nominees: Christophe Beck, Frode Fjellheim, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez
** WINNER ** I Lost My Body - Xilam for Netflix - Nominees: Dan Levy
Spies in Disguise - Blue Sky Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Mark Ronson, Theodore Shapiro
Toy Story 4 - Pixar Animation Studios - Nominees: Randy Newman

23 - Best Production Design - TV/Media

Carmen Sandiego - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and DHX Media for Netflix - Nominees: Eastwood Wong, Sylvia Liu, Elaine Lee, Linda Fong, Emily Paik
Disney Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel - Nominees: Alan Bodner, Brian Woods, Steven Nicodemus, Laura Price, Leonard Robledo
** WINNER ** Love, Death & Robots - Blur for Netflix ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Alberto Mielgo
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart - Cartoon Network, Titmouse, Inc. - Nominees: Khang Le, Chris Fisher, Gael Bertrand, Deodato Pangandoyon, Howard Chen
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Chris Mitchell, Chris Turnham, Tor Aunet, DanBob Thompson, Aaron Spurgeon


24 - Best Production Design - Feature

Abominable - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Max Boas, Paul Duncan, Christopher Brock, Cecline Da Hyeu Kim, Jane Li
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - DreamWorks Animation ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Pierre-Olivier Vincent, Kirsten Kawamura, Woonyoung Jung, Iuri Lioi
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine - Nominees: Szymon Biernacki, Marcin Jakubowski
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC - Nominees: Nelson Lowry, Santiago Montiel, Trevor Dalmer
The Addams Family - MGM and Bron Creative - Nominees: Patricia Atchison, Maisha Moore, Chris Souza, Jack Yu


25 - Best Storyboarding - TV/Media

** WINNER ** Carmen Sandiego - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and DHX Media for Netflix - Nominees: Kenny Park
Carole & Tuesday - Bones for Netflix - Nominees: Shinichiro Watanabe
Love, Death & Robots - Blur for Netflix - Nominees: Owen Sullivan
Snoopy in Space - Apple - Nominees: Riccardo Durante
Zog - Magic Light Pictures ** WILL WIN **- Nominees: Max Lang


26 - Best Storyboarding - Feature

I Lost My Body - Xilam for Netflix - Nominees: Julien Bisaro
I Lost My Body - Xilam for Netflix - Nominees: Jérémy Clapin
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine - Nominees: Sergio Pablos
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC - Nominees: Julián Nariño
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Oliver Thomas

27 - Best Voice Acting - TV/Media

Big City Greens - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel - Nominees: Marieve Herington
** WINNER ** Bob's Burgers - 20th Century FOX / Bento Box Entertainment - Nominees: H. Jon Benjamin
Steven Universe - Cartoon Network Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Sarah Stiles
Tigtone - Titmouse, Inc., Babyhemyth Productions, Williams Street - Nominees: Debi Derryberry
Tuca & Bertie - Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix - Nominees: Ali Wong


28 - Best Voice Acting - Feature

Abominable - DreamWorks Animation / Pearl Studio - Nominees: Tenzing Norgay Trainor
** WINNER ** Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Josh Gad
Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus - CJ Entertainment and Nickelodeon Animation Studios for Netflix - Nominees: Richard Horvitz
The Secret Life of Pets 2 - Illumination - Nominees: Jenny Slate
Toy Story 4 - Pixar Animation Studios - Nominees: Tony Hale


29 - Best Writing - TV/Media

Apple & Onion - Cartoon Network Studios - Nominees: George Gendi, Michael Gendi, Deepak Sethi, Eric Acosta, Sean Szeles
BoJack Horseman - Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Alison Tafel
Pinky Malinky - Nickelodeon Animation Studios for Netflix - Nominees: Sheela Shrinivas, Aminder Dhaliwal, Rikke Asbjoern
** WINNER ** Tuca & Bertie - Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix - Nominees: Shauna McGarry
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum - Brown Bag Film / 9 Story Media Group - Nominees: Meghan Read


30 - Best Writing - Feature

Frozen 2 - Walt Disney Animation Studios ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Jennifer Lee
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: Dean DeBlois
** WINNER ** I Lost My Body - Xilam for Netflix - Nominees: Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant
Toy Story 4 - Pixar Animation Studios - Nominees: Andrew Stanton, Stephany Folsom
Weathering With You - Toho Co., Ltd. / STORY Inc. / CoMix Wave Films - Nominees: Makoto Shinkai, Makoto Shinkai


31 - Best Editorial - TV/Media

Big Hero 6: The Series - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel - Nominees: Dao Le, Joe Molinari, Charles T. Jones, David Vasquez
DC Super Hero Girls - Warner Bros. Animation - Nominees: Torien Blackwolf
Disney Mickey Mouse - Disney TV Animation/Disney Channel - Nominees: Tony Molina
Green Eggs and Ham - Warner Bros. Animation for Netflix ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Margaret Hou
** WINNER ** Love, Death & Robots - Blur for Netflix - Nominees: Bo Juhl, Stacy Auckland, Valerian Zamel


32 - Best Editorial - Feature

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - DreamWorks Animation - Nominees: John K. Carr, Mark Hester, Mary Blee
** WINNER ** Klaus - Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine - Nominees: Pablo García Revert
Missing Link - LAIKA, LLC - Nominees: Stephen Perkins
The Secret Life of Pets 2 - Illumination ** WILL WIN ** - Nominees: Tiffany Hillkurtz
Toy Story 4 - Pixar Animation Studios - Nominees: Axel Geddes, Torbin Xan Bullock, Greg Snyder

Images - Annie Awards/IMDb