Feb 7, 2016

"Inside Out" dominates the Annie Awards with 10 wins - Full Winners List

At one point during tonight's ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, after Pixar had won its umpteenth award, SpongeBob Squarepants voice actor Tom Kenny asked the audience, “When are we going to start calling these awards The Pixies-”

It might have been more appropriate to ask when they'd start calling them The Disneys. The Walt Disney Company absolutely dominated tonight, winning 18 out of 31 possible awards. Disney was nominated in only 24 categories, so they won 75% of the categories in which they were eligible (including five for Disney TV Animation and 2 for ILM), leaving table scraps for the rest of the animation industry.

Pixar's Inside Out, of course, led the way for Disney, winning 10 awards, including the top prize for feature film. The only award in the feature category that it didn't win was for animated effects, which was won by Pixar's other film, The Good Dinosaur.

It's hard to think of a more worthy winner than Inside Out (which ranks as one of Pixar's very best in my book), but the fact that it ran the table on almost every feature award - not to mention that Disney won 75% of the awards that it was eligible for - raises serious questions about the Annies voting process and whether voters are actually voting for the nominees or being influenced by other factors.

It's especially problematic because the Walt Disney Company pressured ASIFA-Hollywood to overhaul the Annie voting process just a few years ago - over this exact issue! As readers may recall, in 2010, Disney Animation and Pixar president Ed Catmull, along with John Lasseter, withdrew all of Disney's productions from the Annie Awards in protest that Kung Fu Panda had won too many awards the prior year.

“We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board,” Catmull told Variety at the time. “Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns.”

Catmull and Lasseter's strong-arm tactic eventually led to the ouster of ASIFA-Hollywood's president, Antran Manoogian, who was replaced by the team of Frank Gladstone and Jerry Beck. An advisory committee of feature animation studios was formed, and numerous changes were made to the voting procedures to ensure that voters would judge categories on the merits of individual accomplishment rather than voting for a single popular film.

None of those supposed voting changes mattered tonight as Inside Out proved untouchable. And it's unlikely that Catmull or Lasseter will be complaining or pulling out of the Annies again after their own studio won every single feature film award.

Here is the complete list of winners. Congratulations to all!

Best Animated Feature

Best Animated Special Production

Best Animated Short Subject

Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial

Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children

Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children

Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Best Animated Feature-Independent

Best Student Film

Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production

Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in a Live Action Production

Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Live Action Production

Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Video Game

Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Music in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Music in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated Feature Production

Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production

Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

Winsor McCay Award – for their career contributions to the art of animation

June Foray Award – for their significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation