DreamWorks Animation’s heartwarming “The Wild Robot” ran away with the most trophies at the 52nd annual Annie Awards with nine, including best feature. Netflix’s video game adaptation “Arcane” led the TV/Media categories with seven. But Saturday’s ceremony didn’t go off without a hitch, as a pair of fire alarms went off at the venue, UCLA’s, Royce Hall, including one that interrupted the ceremony.
A fire alarm went off about halfway through the ceremony, causing attendees to evacuate the theater and exit the building before returning to their seats and resuming the show. A second fire alarm went off during the pre-show reception, keeping hundreds of guests waiting on the grounds and unable to enter the event for roughly 45 minutes. “There was a sensor that was tripped and then had to act and get everybody out. Once the fire marshal said it was clear, we could go back in. But there was no fire.” ASIFA-Hollywood executive director Aubry Mintz told Variety.
Both “Robot” and “Arcane” won in every category in which they were nominated. Meanwhile, the Latvian film “Flow,” about a cat’s journey for survival following a flood, won two Annies, including one for best animated feature – independent.
The wins for “The Wild Robot”–which also claimed the PGA Award for an animated feature on Saturday–and “Flow” cement their positions as front-runners for the animated feature Oscar. “Flow,” which also won for best writing (Gints Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža), is also up for foreign film at the Academy Awards next month, and it won the Golden Globe for animated feature in January.
In addition to winning best feature, “The Wild Robot,” adapted from Peter Brown’s book of the same name, picked up the feature directing Annie for writer-director Chris Sanders and voice acting nod for Lupita Nyong’o, who played the title robot Roz. Nyong’o was up against castmate Kit Connor in the feature voice acting category. Other Annie winners for “The Wild Robot” are Kris Bowers for music; Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim and Steve Avoujageli for feature FX; Fabio Lignini for character animation; Raymond Zibach and Ritchie Sacilioc for production design; Genevieve Tsai for character design; and Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon and Brian Parker for editorial.
Other winners in the features categories are DreamWorks’ Animation’s “Orion and the Dark” (best special production and writing – TV/Media for Charlie Kaufman); Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” (storyboarding); and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (character animation – live-action).
Netflix’s hit series adaptation with Riot Games, that takes place in Riot’s “League of Legends” video-game universe, won for direction (Arnaud Delord, Pascal Charrue and Bart Maunoury); FX (Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Adam Bachiri, Guillaume Zaouche, Jérôme Dupré); character animation (Tom Gouill); music (Ryan Jillian Santiago, Alexander Seaver and Simon Wilcox); production design (Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Julien Georgel, Faustine Dumontier, Charlotte O’Neil); storyboarding (Joséphine Meis); and editorial (Nazim Meslem, Gilad Carmel and Roberto Fernandez).
Other TV winners are “The Tiny Chef Show,” from Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions, for best TV/Media – preschool; “Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” from Flying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation and Disney Branded Television, for TV/Media – children and character design; 20th Television Animation’s “Bob’s Burgers” for TV/Media – Mature; and Pixar’s “Dream Productions” for TV/Media – limited series and voice acting (Paula Pell).
Rounding out the winners in the achievement categories are “Wander to Wonder” for short subject, “Fuzzy Feelings” for sponsored, “Adios” for student film and “Neva” for character animation – video game.
In addition to the achievement categories, ASIFA-Hollywood also handed out juried awards for exceptional contributions to animation. The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime or career achievement went to long time Disney supervising animator/director and educator Aaron Blaise; National Film Board of Canada writer, director, producer and Academy Award influencer Eunice Macaulay (posthumous); and NFB composer and sound designer Normand Roger.
The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent impact was given to the non-profit organization Women in Animation for its work advocating for gender equality and inclusion in the industry. Visual effects, animation and gaming pioneer Alberto Menache received the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement. And a special achievement award acknowledging unique contributions not recognized with the existing award category structure was given to the new book by Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter and Disney historian Don Peri, “Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt’s Animated Films.”
ASIFA-Hollywood recognized the ““extraordinary efforts and service of all the brave men and women of the greater Southern California Fire Department” during the evening. The ceremony opened with a performance by the Los Angeles Firefighters Pipes and Drums and representatives from the Department helped to present some of the awards on stage.
ASIFA-Hollywood also used the occasion of the Annie Awards to launch a fundraising effort alongside AnimAID, a coalition of animation studios, professionals and artists, to help support members of the animation community who have been severely impacted by last months fires. The effort hopes to raise at least $5 million in the coming months through donations and an auction of animation memorabilia via Sotheby’s. During the evening, the effort raised more than $107,000.
A complete list of winners follows:
BEST FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation
BEST FEATURE-INDEPENDENT
Flow, Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Orion and the Dark, DreamWorks Animation
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
Wander to Wonder, Circe Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo
BEST SPONSORED
Fuzzy Feelings, Passion Pictures Hungry Man
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
The Tiny Chef Show, Episode: Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular, Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Episode:The Molecular Level, Flying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television
BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE
Bob’s Burgers, Episode: They Slug Horses, Don’t They? – 20th Television Animation
BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES
Dream Productions, Episode: A Night to Remember, Pixar Animation Studios
BEST STUDENT FILM
Adiós, Student Director: José Prats, Student Producer: Bernardo Angeletti, School: National Film and Television School
BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
Arcane. Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails, Production Company: A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, FX Production Company: Fortiche Studio, Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Adam Bachiri, Guillaume Zaouche, Jérôme Dupré
BEST FX – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, Production Company: DreamWorks Animation, FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation, Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
Arcane, Episodes:Killing Is a Cycle, Heavy Is the Crown, Finally Got the Name Right, The Message Hidden Within the Pattern, The Dirt Under Your Nails, Pretend Like It’s the First Time, Blisters and Bedrock, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, Tom Gouill
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Fabio Lignini
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Production Company: 20th Century Studios. FX Production Company: Wētā FX, Christian Kickenweitz, Aidan Martin, Allison Orr, Radiya Alam, Howard Sly
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
Neva, Nomada Studio, Nomada Studio Animation Team
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Episode: The Molecular Level, Disney Television Animation, Cinema Gypsy Productions, Jose Lopez
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Genevieve Tsai
BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
Arcane, Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, Arnaud Delord, Pascal Charrue, Bart Maunoury
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Chris Sanders
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
Arcane. Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, Ryan Jillian Santiago, Alexander Seaver, Simon Wilcox
BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Kris Bowers
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Arcane, Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Julien Georgel, Faustine Dumontier, Charlotte O’Neil
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Raymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
Arcane, Episode: Killing Is a Cycle, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, Joséphine Meis
BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
Despicable Me 4, Illumination, Habib Louati
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
Dream Productions Episode: Out of Body, Pixar Animation Studios, Paula Pell (Character: Paula)
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Lupita Nyong’o (Character: Roz)
BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA
Orion and the Dark, DreamWorks Animation, Charlie Kaufman
BEST WRITING – FEATURE
Flow, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio, Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
Arcane, Episode:Pretend Like It’s the First Time, A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix, Nazim Meslem, Gilad Carmel, Roberto Fernandez
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation, Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker
