Mar 3, 2021

Analysis: Netflix Dominates Annie Award nominations 40; Two-way Race between "Wolf Walker" and "Soul"

The nominations for the 48th annual ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards were announced today.

By our count, Netflix leads all companies with 40 nominations, followed by Disney with 32 recognitions. Dreamworks Animation pulled in 20 nominations (nine of which are also included in the Netflix total), while Warnermedia (which includes Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network) earned 15 nominations.

Disney-Pixar's Soul and Apple TV+ and GKIDS's Wolfwalkers, produced by Cartoon Saloon, topped the feature film nominations with ten apiece. Curiously, they aren't competing in the same category for the top feature film award. Soul is in the best feature category, alongside Onward, The Croods: A New Age, The Willoughbys, and Trolls World Tour, while Wolfwalkers is in the best indie feature category alongside A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Calamity Jane, On-Gaku: Our Sound, and Ride Your Wave.

There will likely be a lot of questions about why films like Wolfwalkers and Shaun the Sheep, which are respectively distributed by Apple TV+ and Netflix, are allowed to compete in the independent category. Apple is literally the most valuable company in the United States, worth over $2 trillion dollars. Netflix is the largest streaming service in the world. While they are technically eligible to compete in the category based on the Annie Awards's own poorly written rules, it will be obvious to most that it's unfair to let these films run against actual independent films made on modest budgets and without conglomerate marketing power.

Other key features that earned at least a half-dozen nominations: Disney-Pixar's Onward (7), Dreamworks Animation's The Croods: A New Age (6), and both Netflix's The Willoughbys (6) and Over the Moon (6). In what could be viewed as an upset, The Willoughbys picked up a nomination for best feature, leaving the company's more high profile Over the Moon out of the category.

On the television side, it's a remarkably diverse year, with only one series, Hilda, picking up three nominations. No other television series earned more than two nods. This speaks to the incredible breadth of television production, and perhaps highlights that with the boom in animated series content over the past few years, shows are having a tougher time than ever standing out from the pack.

Also notable, the European tv special Shooom's Odyssey, directed by Julien Bisaro, picked up three nominations:

The shorts category at the Annies won't serve as any kind of an indicator for the Oscars because the Annies didn't nominate any of the ten Oscar-shortlisted shorts. However, the Dreamwork Oscar-shortlisted short To: Gerard picked up three nominations in individual achievement categories, while the television special The Snail and the Whale, which has also bizarrely been shortlisted for an Oscar, was also nominated for an Annie in the best special production category. The disparity between the Annie and Oscar short film categories is another indicator of the remarkable wealth of quality short-form filmmaking nowadays. The Annies did indeed nominate some fine shorts such as Kangmin Kim's KKUM, Bastien Dubois's Souvenir Souvenir, and Don Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime.

In addition to the competitive categories, juried awards will be presented to honor “unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.”

The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement will be presented to Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously), and Bruce Smith. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation will be awarded to Tonko House co-founder Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, while the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement will be given to Epic Games. An additional Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Howard, the feature documentary about the late lyricist Howard Ashman.

Voting for this year's Annie Awards will begin on March 29. The Annie Awards will not take place in-person this year; rather a virtual ceremony will be held on Friday, April 16.

The complete list of nominees is below:

Onward Pixar Animation Studios

Soul Pixar Animation Studios

The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation

The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media

Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment An Aardman Production for Netflix

Calamity Jane Maybe Movies

On-Gaku: Our Sound Rock'n Roll Mountain, Tip Top

Ride Your Wave Science SARU

Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / AppleTv / Gkids

Baba Yaga Baobab Studios

Libresse / Bodyform – #WombStories Chelsea Pictures

Nixie & Nimbo Hornet

Shooom's Odyssey Picolo Pictures

The Snail and the Whale Magic Light Pictures

Filles Bleues, Peur Blanche Miyu Productions

KKUM Open the Portal

Souvenir Souvenir Blast Production

The Places Where We Live (Cake) FX Productions and FX

World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime Don Hertzfeldt

Bonfire Baobab Studios

Gloomy Eyes Atlas V

Kaiju Confidential Shadowmachine

Erste Group 'Edgar's Christmas' Passion Animation Studios

Max & Maxine Hornet

The Last Mile Nexus Studios

There's a Monster in my Kitchen Cartoon Saloon, Mother

Travel the Vote Hornet

Buddi “Snow” Unanico Group

Muppet Babies “Wock-a-bye-Fozzie” Oddbot / Disney Junior

Stillwater “The Impossible Dream / Stuck in the Rain” Apple / Gaumont / Scholastic

The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru” Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum “I am Madam President” 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films

Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” Silvergate Media for Netflix

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Finale Part 4: Rise” Nickelodeon Animation Studio

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2” DreamWorks Animation

Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Shattered” Lucasfilm Animation

Victor And Valentino “The Lonely Haunts Club 3: La Llorona” Cartoon Network Studios

Close Enough “Logan's Run'd/Room Parents” Cartoon Network Studios

Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal “Coven Of The Damned” Cartoon Network Studios

Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green” Eshugadee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation

Rick and Morty “The Vat of Acid Episode” Rick and Morty LLC

The Midnight Gospel “Mouse of Silver” Titmouse Animation for Netflix

100,000 Acres of Pine Student director: Jennifer Alice Wright The Animation Workshop

Coffin Student directors: Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Théo Tran Ngoc Gobelins, l'école de l'image

La Bestia Student directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt Gobelins, l'école de l'image

Latitude du printemps Student directors: Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Maylis Mosny, Zijing Ye Rubika

O Black Hole! Student director: Renee Zhan Student producer: Jesse Romain National Film and Television School, UK

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers “Sirocco Fire Explosion” DreamWorks Animation Chris Browne, Brand Webb, Russell Richardson, Ardy Ala, Reggie Fourmyle

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World” DreamWorks Animation Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang

Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios Greg Gladstone, Keith Daniel Klohn, Matthew Wong

Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Killahead, Part Two” DreamWorks Animation Greg Lev, Igor Lodeiro, Brandon Tyra, Cui Wei, Ma Xiao

Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy “Siege: Episode 6” Rooster Teeth Productions for Netflix Masanori Sakakibara

Over the Moon Netflix Pearl Studio Ian Farnsworth, Brian Casper, Reinhold Rittinger, Zoran Stojanoski, Jennifer Lasrado

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller

The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation Amaury Aubel, Domin Lee, Alex Timchenko, Andrew Wheeler, Derek Cheung

Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation Zachary Glynn, Landon Gray, Youxi Woo, John Kosnik, Doug Rizeakos

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films / GKIDS Kim Kelly, Leena Lecklin, Frédéric Plumey, Almu Redondo, Nicole Storck

Alien Xmas Netflix Presents Fairview Entertainment/Sonar Entertainment/Chiodo Bros. Productions Kim Blanchette

BoJack Horseman “Good Damage” Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix James Bowman

Cosmos: Possible Worlds “Vavilov” Starburns Industries Dan MacKenzie

Hilda Silvergate Media for Netflix David Laliberté

Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios Lucas Fraga Pacheco

Onward Pixar Animation Studios Shaun Chacko

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Michal Makarewicz

The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation Rani Naamani

The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media Andrés Bedate Martin

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart

The Christmas Chronicles 2 Production Company: Netflix Presents A 26th Street Pictures/Wonder Worldwide Production FX Production Company: Weta Digital Nick Stein, Caroline Ting, Sebastian Trujillo, David Yabu, Paul Ramsden

The Mandalorian Production Company: Lucasfilm FX Production Company: Image Engine Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk

The Umbrella Academy 2 Production Company: UCP for Netflix FX Production Company: Weta Digital Aidan Martin, Hunter Parks, Craig Young, Viki Yeo, Krystal Sae Eua

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures FX Production Company: Framestore Anders Beer, Marianne Morency, Hennadii Prykhodko, Sophie Burie, Cedric Le Poullennec

League of Legends Riot Games Inc. Jose “Sho” Hernandez, Lana Bachynski , Christopher Hsing, Matthew Johnson, Jason Hendrich

Marvels Spider-Man Miles Morales Insomniac Games Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Moon Studios Xbox Game Iam8bit Jim Donovan, Warren Goff, Boris Hiestand, Kim Nguyen, Jason Martinsen

The Last of Us Part II Naughty Dog Jeremy Yates, Eric Baldwin, Almudena Soria, Michal Mach, August Davies

Amphibia “The Shut-In!” Disney TV Animation Joe Sparrow

BNA “Runaway Raccoon” Trigger/Netflix Yusuke Yoshigaki

Craig of the Creek Cartoon Network Studios Danny Hynes

Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation Jim Soper

The Owl House “Young Blood, Old Souls” Disney Television Animation Marina Gardner

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Daniel López Muñoz

The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation Joe Pitt

The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media Craig Kellman

Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation Timothy Lamb

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Federico Pirovano

Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal “Plague Of Madness” Cartoon Network Studios Genndy Tartakovsky

Great Pretender “Case 1_1: Los Angeles Connection” Production I.G. for Fuji Television Network and Netflix Hiro Kaburagi

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart “Mao Mao's Nakey” Titmouse Inc/Cartoon Network Studios Michael Moloney

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Battle Nexus NYC” Nickelodeon Animation Studio Alan Wan

The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse “Hard to Swallow” Disney Television Animation Eddie Trigueros

Calamity Jane Maybe Movies Rémi Chayé

Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production /A Glen Keane Productions Presentation Glen Keane

Ride Your Wave Science SARU Masaaki Yuasa

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Pete Docter, Kemp Powers

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films / GKIDS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart

Blood of Zeus “Escape or Die” Powerhouse Animation Studios for Netflix Paul Edward-Francis

Mira Royal Detective “The Great Diwali Mystery” Wild Canary/Disney Junior Amritha Vaz, Matthew Tishler, Jeannie Lurie

Star Trek: Lower Decks “Crisis Point” CBS's Eye Animation Productions, Titmouse; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment Chris Westlake

Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death” Lucasfilm Animation Kevin Kiner

The Tiger That Came to Tea Lupus Films David Arnold, Don Black

Onward Pixar Animation Studios Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna

Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation Steven Price, Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield, Helen Park

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste

The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media Mark Mothersbaugh, Alessia Cara, Jon Levine, Colton Fisher

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Bruno Coulais, Kíla

Baba Yaga Baobab Studios Glenn Hernandez, Matthieu Saghezchi

Shooom's Odyssey Picolo Pictures Julien Bisaro

The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington And Halloween” Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio Negar Bagheri

To: Gerard DreamWorks Animation Raymond Zibach

Trash Truck Glen Keane Productions for Netflix Eastwood Wong, Sylvia Liu, Elaine Lee, Tor Aunet, Lauren Zurcher

Onward Pixar Animation Studios Noah Klocek, Sharon Calahan, Huy Nguyen, Bert Berry, Paul Conrad

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Steve Pilcher, Albert Lozano, Paul Abadilla, Bryn Imagire

The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media Kyle McQueen

Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, Timothy Lamb

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore

Archibald's Next Big Thing “Baritone Tea Part 1” DreamWorks Animation Ben McLaughlin

Big City Greens “Cheap Show” Walt Disney Television Animation Kiana Khansmith

Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation Andrew Dickman

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge Warner Bros. Animation Milo Neuman

Shooom's Odyssey Picolo Pictures Julien Bisaro

Earwig and the Witch Studio Ghibli Goro Miyazaki

Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation Glen Keane

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Trevor Jimenez

The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation Evon Freeman

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Guillaume Lorin

Dragons Rescue Riders “Hunt for the Golden Dragon” DreamWorks Animation Jeff Bennett (Erik the Wretched)

It's Pony “Episode 107” Blue-Zoo Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio Jessica DiCicco (Annie)

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe Walt Disney Television Animation & Disney+ Ashley Tisdale (Candace)

Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act” DreamWorks Animation David Bradley (Merlin)

ThunderCats Roar! “ThunderSlobs” Warner Bros. Animation Patrick Seitz (Mumm-Ra, Tygra)

Earwig and the Witch Studio Ghibli Vanessa Marshall (Bella Yaga)

Onward Pixar Animation Studios Tom Holland (Ian Lightfoot)

Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation Robert G. Chiu (Chin)

The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation Nicolas Cage (Grug)

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)

Big Mouth “The New Me” Netflix Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison, Andrew Goldberg

Craig of the Creek Cartoon Network Studios Jeff Trammell, Tiffany Ford, Dashawn Mahone, Najja Porter

Fancy Nancy “Nancy's New Friend” Disney Television Animation Krista Tucker, Andy Guerdat, Matt Hoverman, Laurie Israel, Marisa Evans-Sanden

Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green” Eshugadee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation Sarah Peters

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2” DreamWorks Animation Noelle Stevenson

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment an Aardman Production for Netflix Mark Burton, Jon Brown

Onward Pixar Animation Studios Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley, Keith Bunin

Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production/A Glen Keane Productions Presentation Audrey Wells

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Will Collins

Cops and Robbers Lawrence Bender Productions for Netflix Brandon Terry, Ezra Dweck, Del Spiva

Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” Silvergate Media for Netflix John McKinnon

If Anything Happens I Love You Gilbert Films/Oh Good Productions for Netflix Peter Ettinger, Michael Babcock

Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios Serena Warner

To: Gerard DreamWorks Animation James Ryan

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment an Aardman Production for Netflix Sim Evan-Jones, ACE, Adrian Rhodes

Calamity Jane Maybe Movies Benjamin Massoubre

Onward Pixar Animation Studios Catherine Apple, Anna Wolitzky, Dave Suther

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk

The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A Bron Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media Fiona Toth, Ken Schretzmann, ACE