'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