Netflix took home the Annie Awards on Saturday, winning 20 out of 31 competitive trophies during the virtual show. The streamer’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines was named Best Animated Feature, topping the film categories with eight wins, while Arcane led TV with nine, including Best Television/Media – General Audience.
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Neon animated documentary “Run” was named best indie film.
In addition to the top film award, Sony Pictures Animation’s Netflix film Mitchells won awards for screenplay, special effects, character design, production design, voice acting and editorial work. A win could give him an edge at the Oscars, with final voting for the Oscars due to start on Thursday.
“This team would never settle for anything that wasn’t original, bold or new, and they were breaking the rules,” said Christopher Miller, who produced the film with his partner Lord Miller Phil Lord and Kurt Albrecht of Sony Pictures Animation. “They threw out all the old formulas and never ceased to amaze us.” Lord added: “They have created groundbreaking software. They invented a whole new art style, all this mixed media to get inside a teenager’s head.”
Other wins for Arcane, Riot Games, and Fortiche Production for Netflix were for directing, special effects, character animation, character design, production design, storyboarding, voice acting, and writing.
Other multiple winners were Disney’s Encanto, which took home trophies for character animation, storyboarding and, of course, music, and Jorge Gutierrez’s epic animated series Maya and the Three, which was named Best TV/Media Program by Netflix. for children, and also won at his expense by Tim Davis and Gustavo Santaolalla.
The stop-motion animation “The Beast” by Trebol 3 Producciones and Maleza Estudio, directed and written by Hugo Covarrubias, was named Best Short Film, giving it an Oscar momentum.
Created in both VR and 2D animation, Namu, a short film by Baobab Studios and directed by Eric Oh, has received Annie for a special production.
Best TV/Media Program for Preschoolers was Netflix’s Ada Twist, Scientist, an adaptation of popular children’s books from creator/producer Chris Nee and Higher Ground, a production company backed by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
Mike Rianda in his feature film debut and co-director Jeff Rowe were honored for directing The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The couple also took on Annie to write articles. The film’s production designer, Lindsey Olivares, received one trophy for character design and another along with Toby Wilson and Dave Bleich for feature film design.
The voice acting winners were Abbie Jacobson, who voiced Cathy Mitchell in Mitchels vs. the Machine, and Ella Purnell, who played Jinx in Arcane.
Christopher Logan, Man-Luk Chin, Devdatta Nerurkar, Pav Grohola and Filippo Maccari shared the award for FX in The Mitchells Feature, while Greg Levitan, Colleen Wightman, TJ Young, Tony Ferdinand and Bret Allen took home the best editorial trophy. for the movie.
Germain Franco and Lin-Manuel Miranda were awarded for their work on the music for “Encanto”. Miranda noted the collaborative aspect of animation in her acceptance speech. Thank you Annie Awards. You know better than anyone that this doesn’t happen alone,” he said, thanking the film’s creative team and “the countless animators who have worked to bring this to you.” Dave Hardin won Annie for character animation and Jason Hand for storyboarding Encanto.
Pascal Charyu, Arnaud Delors and Barthélemy Maunoury have been praised for their work in television and the media for their work on Arcane, an animated adventure series based on the online multiplayer game League of Legends. Christian Linke and Alex Yee have been praised for writing the series.
Arcane masters Julien Georgel, Aymeric Kevin and Arnaud Baudry received the Annie Award for TV and Media Design, and Simon Andrivo for Storyboarding. The show’s Leah Chervet won for Character Animation and Evan Monteiro won for Character Design. The TV/media FX award went to Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Martin Tooze, Frédéric Meis and Jérôme Dupré.
Best Character Animation in a Live Action Production went to Carl Rapley, Sebastian Trujillo, Richard John Moore, Merlin Bele, Wassily Mertz and Pascal Reimbaud for their work on Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Nexus Studios’ The Future Begins won Best Sponsorship, while Night of the Living Horror, directed by Ida Melum and produced by Danielle Goff, won Best Student Film.
The other winners of the evening were the animation team Insomniac Games for animating the characters in the video game “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart”, as well as Joel Fisher, Graham Fisher, Sharia Davis, Basuki Yuwono and Adam Spiekermann, the editorial team of Marvel’s “What If…?” animated series on Disney Plus.
Hosts included Guillermo del Toro, John Leguizamo, Diane Warren, Blythe Danner and animation directors Mamoru Hosoda, Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart.
In addition to the competitive categories, Annies, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, also recognized the achievements with awards from the jury. Disney animator Ruben Aquino, computer pioneer Lillian Schwartz and Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki received the Winsor McCay Awards for Lifetime Achievement. The June Foray Award for philanthropic contributions to the animation industry was presented to directors Renzo and Sayoko Kinoshita, founders of the Hiroshima International Animation Festival. The Python Foundation has been honored with the Ub Iwerks Award for the technical advancement of its open source Python programming language. Artist and writer Glen Vilppu received a special award for his work in educating a generation of animation professionals, and Evan Vernon received a certificate of honor for his services to the art and animation industry.
Below is the complete list of winners:
Best Feature
Mitchells vs. Machines, Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Best Indie Film
Flee, Neon, Final Cut For Real, Sun Creature, Vivement Lundi!, MostFilm, Mer Film, VICE, Left HandFilms, Member
Best Special Production
Namu, Baobab Studios
Best Short Film
Bestia, Trebol 3 Producciones, MALEZA Estudio
Best Sponsored
The Future Begins, Nexus Studios
Best TV/Media – Preschool
Ada Twist, scientist, Episode: Twelve Angry Birds, Laughing Wild, Higher Ground Productions, Wonder Worldwide, Netflix
Best TV/Media
Maya and Three Episode: Sun and Moon Netflix Series
Best TV/Media – General Audience
Arcane, Episode: When These Walls Come Down, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Student Film
Night of Living Fear, student director: Ida Melum; Student Producer: Daniel Goff School: National Film and Television School, UK.
Best Special Effect – TV/Media
Secret; Special Effects Team: Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Martin Touzet, Frédéric Maset, Jérôme Dupré; Episode: Oil and Water; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Special Effect – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Special Effects Team: Christopher Logan, Man-Luk Chin, Devdatta Nerurkar, Pav Grohola, Filippo Maccari; Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
Best Animated Character – TV/Media
Secret; Animator: Lea Cherve; Episode: The Monster You Created; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Character Animation – Feature Film
Encanto; Animator: Dave Hardin Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Character Animation – Live Action
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Animation Team: Carl Rapley, Sebastian Trujillo, Richard John Moore, Merlin Bela Vasily Maerts, Pascal Reimbaud; Marvel Entertainment, Weta Digital
Best Character Animation – Video Game
Ratchet & Clank: Rift; Animation Team: Insomniac Games Animation Team; Insomnia Games
Best Character Design – TV/Media
Secret; Designer: Evan Monteiro; Episode: Some mysteries are best left unsolved; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Character Design – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Designer: Lindsey Olivares; Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
Best Direction – TV/Media
Secret; Directed by: Pascal Charyu, Arnaud Delors, Barthelemy Maunoury; Episode: The Monster You Created; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Direction – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Directed by: Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
Best Music – TV/Media
Maya and three; Music: Tim Davis, Gustavo Santaolalla Episode: Sun and Moon; Series Netflix
Best Music – Feature Film
Encanto; Music: Germain Franco, Lin-Manuel Miranda; Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Production Design – TV/Media
Secret; Design Team: Julien Georgel, Aymeric Kevin, Arnaud Baudry; Episode: Happy Progress Day!; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Production Design – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Design Team: Lindsey Olivares, Toby Wilson, Dave Bleich; Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
Best Storyboard – TV/Media
Secret; Storyboard artist: Simon Andrivo; Episode: When These Walls Are Falling Down; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Storyboard – Feature Film
Encanto; Storyboard artist: Jason Hand; Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Secret; Ella Purnell as Jinx; Episode: When These Walls Are Falling Down; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Voice Acting – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Abbi Jacobson as Katie Mitchell; Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
Best Screenplay – TV/Media
Secret; Writers: Christian Linke, Alex Yi Episode: The Monster You Created; Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Best Writing – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Writers: Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
Best Editorial – TV/Media
What if…?; Editorial team: Joel Fisher, Graham Fisher, Sharia Davis, Basuki Juwono, Adam Spiekermann; Episode: What If… Ultron Won?; Marvel Studios
Best Editing – Feature Film
Mitchells vs. Machines; Editorial Team: Greg Levitan, Colleen Wightman, T.J. Young, Tony Ferdinand, Bret Allen; Animation by Sony Pictures for Netflix
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