Annie Awards: ‘Soul’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ Sweep Feature Animation Honors
Pixar’s “Soul” and Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers” swept ASIFA-Hollywood’s 48th Annie Awards Friday night, with the former grabbing seven animated feature awards and the latter capturing five (plus the sponsored prize for “There’s a Monster in My Kitchen”).
The Black-led, existential fantasy “Soul” took best feature, writing (Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers), music (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste), character animation, FX, storyboarding, and editorial. The hand-drawn Irish folk tale “Wolfwalkers” (co-produced by Apple Original Films) countered with best indie feature, direction (Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart), production design, character design, and voice acting (Eva Whittaker as Mebh).
Before sweeping the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and PGAs, “Soul” was already in a good position to win the Oscar. Now, after winning the top Annie prize, “Soul” is in a very comfortable position, with six of the last nine Annie winners agreeing with the Academy. This would mark Pixar’s 11th Oscar win for animated feature, and Docter’s third, (following “Up” and “Inside Out”). However, as Pixar’s chief creative officer, Docter will step away from directing to guide the next generation of animators and directors at the studio with the same stylistic boldness and personal vision that he’s displayed in his movies.
Other Annie awards went to Disney’s “The Mandalorian” (live action character animation); Bastien Dubois’ “Souvenir Souvenir” (best short) about a filmmaker struggling to make a movie about his grandfather’s Algerian war souvenirs; and Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon’s “The Snail and the Whale” (special production) about making a difference no matter how small you are, which captured special production.
The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation are being presented to Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera animation designer Willie Ito; posthumously to Sue Nichols, one of the few women who had a voice in the development of such Disney classics as “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” “Mulan,” and “Brave”; and Bruce Smith, the influential character animator, director, and producer (the Oscar winning “Hair Love” and “The Proud Family”).
The June Foray Award will be awarded to animator and art director Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi for his work initiating the Totoro Forest Project as well as Sketchtravel, a sketchbook passed from one artist to another through 12 countries throughout four years.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement will be presented to Epic Games for its Unreal game engine. The Special Achievement Award will be presented to “Howard,” the documentary about the late musical genius, Howard Ashman (“The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Aladdin”).
BEST FEATURE
“Soul”
Pixar Animation Studios
BEST INDIE FEATURE
“Wolfwalkers”
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
“The Snail and the Whale”
Magic Light Pictures
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
“Souvenir Souvenir”
Blast Production
BEST SPONSORED
“There’s a Monster in My Kitchen”
Cartoon Saloon, Mother
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
“The Adventures of Paddington”
Episode: Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru
Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
“Hilda”
Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
BEST TV/MEDIA – GENERAL AUDIENCE
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”
Episode: Coven Of The Damned
Cartoon Network Studios
BEST STUDENT FILM
“La Bestia”
School: Gobelins, l’école de l’image
Student directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt
BEST FX FOR TV/MEDIA
“Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous”
Episode: Welcome to Jurassic World
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: Dreamworks Animation and CGCG Inc.
Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang, Chris Wombold, Kyle Goertz, Kathy D. Tran
BEST FX FOR FEATURE
“Soul”
Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
FX Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
“Hilda”
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
David Laliberté
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
“Soul”
Pixar Animation Studios
Michal Makarewicz
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
“The Mandalorian”
Production Company: Lucasfilm
FX Production Company: Image Engine
Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
“Marvels Spider-Man Miles Morales”
Insomniac Games
Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
“Amphibia”
Episode: The Shut-In!
Disney TV Animation
Joe Sparrow
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
“Wolfwalkers”
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS
Federico Pirovano
BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”
Episode: Plague Of Madness
Cartoon Network Studios
Genndy Tartakovsky
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
“Wolfwalkers”
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”
Episode: Victory and Death
Lucasfilm Animation
Kevin Kiner
BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
“Soul”
Pixar Animation Studios
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
“Shooom’s Odyssey”
Picolo Pictures
Julien Bisaro
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
“Wolfwalkers”
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS
María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
“Looney Tunes Cartoons”
Episode: Big League Beast / Firehouse Frenzy
Warner Bros. Animation
Andrew Dickman
BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
“Soul”
Pixar Animation Studios
Trevor Jimenez
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
“Tales of Arcadia: Wizards”
Episode: Our Final Act
DreamWorks Animation
David Bradley (Merlin)
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
“Wolfwalkers”
Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS
Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)
BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA
“Big Mouth”
Episode: The New Me
Netflix
Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison
BEST WRITING – FEATURE
“Soul”
Pixar Animation Studios
Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
“Hilda”
Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
John McKinnon
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
“Soul”
Pixar Animation Studios
Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk
