Disney films are the ones to beat at the 49th annual Annie Awards, whose nominations were announced Tuesday morning. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto scored a leading 10 and nine noms, respectively, followed by Pixar’s Luca with eight.
Sony & Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines also landed eight noms and will vie for the marquee Best Feature prize with those Disney titles and Illumination’s Sing 2, which scored just the one nom.
Gkids distributes three of the four pics up for Best Indie feature: Belle, Pompo the Cinephile and Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko. They will battle against Flee, which is Denmark’s official entry for the International Feature Oscar, and Netflix’s The Summit of the Gods.
For the list of the nominees in all 36 categories, click here.
“In spite of everything or maybe because of what we and the world around us have been through for nearly two years, we all want to return to some sort of normal,” said Frank Gladstone, executive producer of the Annie Awards.
As for the top TV categories, Arcane, Bob’s Burgers, Love, Death + Robots, Star Wars: Visions and Tuca & Bertie are up for Best TV/Media – General Audience. The Best TV/Media – Children category will be a race among Amphibia, Carmen Sandiego, Dug Days, Maya and the Three and We the People.
Up for Voice Acting – Feature are John Leguizamo and Stephanie Beatriz (both for Encanto), Jack Dylan Grazer (Luca), Kelly Marie Tran (Raya and the Last Dragon) and Abbi Jacobson (The Mitchells vs. the Machines).
The nominees for Voice Acting – TV/Media are Ella Purnell for Arcane, Michael J. Woodard (Arlo the Alligator Boy), Parvesh Cheena (Centaurworld), Kimberly Brooks (DC Super Hero Girls) and Charlie Saxton (Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans).
The trophies will be handed out during ASIFA-Hollywood’s 49th annual Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 26.
“2021 brought another increase in Annie Awards submissions, ASIFA memberships and ongoing sponsorships,” Gladstone added, “so we are planning to return to UCLA’s Royce Hall for an in-person event with all the trimmings.”