'Soul' Wins Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards
Hollywoodreporter.com: Pixar's Soul and Apple TV+/GKIDS' Wolfwalkers shared the wins in all of the animated feature categories during the 48th Annie Awards, which were presented Friday by ASIFA-Hollywood during a virtual ceremony.
Soul won seven awards including best animated feature, and Wolfwalkers won five including best independent animated feature. Additionally, Wolfwalkers helmers Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart won the category for best direction, topping a field that included Soul director Pete Docter and co-director Kemp Powers.
Soul's Docter and Powers, along with Mike Jones, won the Annie for writing, while Wolfwalkers' Moore and Stewart, along with María Pareja, additionally picked up the Annie for production design.
Soul also won trophies for editing, FX, character animation and storyboarding, as well as music, which was awarded to Oscar nominees Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Battiste. Wolfwalkers additionally collected Annies for character design as well as voice acting, which was presented to Eva Whittaker, who played Mebh.
Wolfwalkers was made at Ireland's Cartoon Saloon, and is the third in director Tomm Moore's Irish folklore trilogy (which also included The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, both of which were Oscar nominees). Moore is also a producer on Wolfwalkers and is a founder partner in Cartoon Saloon, which also picked up the best sponsored content Annie award for Greenpeace's There's a Monster in My Kitchen.
This year's Oscar nominees for best animated feature are Soul, Wolfwalkers, Pixar's Onward, Netflix's Over the Moon, and Aardman/Netflix's A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.
During the ceremony, Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to animation were presented to animator Willie Ito, animator/director Bruce Smith, and posthumously to designer Sue Nichols.
The June Foray Award for charitable contributions was bestowed on animator and art director, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, and the Ub Iwerks Award for technical innovation was presented to Epic Games for its Unreal Engine. Howard, Don Hahn's documentary on the life of songwriter Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) from Stone Circle Pictures received a Special Achievement Award.
The complete list of Annie Award winners follows.
Best Feature
Soul, Pixar Animation Studios
Best Indie Feature
Wolfwalkers, 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
Hilda Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox, Silvergate Media for Netflix
Best TV/Media - General Audience
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal Episode: Coven Of The Damned, Cartoon Network Studios
Best Student Film
La Bestia, Student director: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt School: Gobelins, l'école de l'image
Best FX for TV/Media
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Episode: Welcome to Jurassic World, DreamWorks Animation, Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang
Best FX for Feature
Soul, Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
Best Character Animation - TV/Media
Hilda, Silvergate Media for Netflix, David Laliberté
Best Character Animation - Feature
Soul, Michal Makarewicz
Best Character Animation - Live Action
The Madalorian, Production Company: Lucasfilm, FX Production Company: Image Engine, Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
Best Character Animation - Video Game
Marvel's 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, Federico Pirovano
Best Direction - TV/Media
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal "Plague Of Madness," Genndy Tartakovsky
Best Direction - Feature
Wolfwalkers, Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Best Music - TV/Media
Star Wars; the Clone Wars: "Victory and Death," Lucasfilm Animation Kevin Kiner
Best Music - Feature
Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Best Production Design - TV/Media
Shoom's Odyssey, Picolo Pictures, Julien Bisaro
Best Production Design - Feature
Wolfwalkers, María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore
Best Storyboarding - TV/Media
Looney Tunes Cartoons, Warner Bros. Animation, Andrew Dickman
Best Storyboarding - Feature
Soul, Trevor Jimenez
Best Voice Acting - TV/Media
Tales of Arcadia: Wizards, "Our Final Act," DreamWorks Animation, David Bradley (Merlin)
Best Voice Acting - Feature
Wolfwalkers, Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)
Best Writing - TV/Media
Big Mouth "The New Me," Netflix, Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison, Andrew Goldberg
Best Writing - Feature
Soul, Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Best Editorial - TV/Media
Hilda Episode: Chapter 9: The Deerfox, John McKinnon
Best Editorial - Feature
Soul, Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk