Pixar's Soul Scores Seven Top Honors During Virtual 48th Annie Awards™

LOS ANGELES, April 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixar's Soul received seven Annie Awards™ during the 48th virtual awards ceremony Friday evening, winning top honors for Best Feature, Character Animation (Michal Makarewicz), Music (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste), Storyboarding (Trevor Jimenez), Writing (Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers), Best FX (Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller) and Editorial (Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk). Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon/Melusine Productions for Apple/GKIDS) garnered five Annies for Best Independent Feature, Character Design (Federico Pirovano), Direction (Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart), Production Design (Maria Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore) and Voice Acting (Eva Whittaker as the voice of Mebh Óg MacTíre).

The Snail and the Whale (Magic Light Pictures) won Best Animated Special Production; Best Animated Short Subject – Souvenir Souvenir (Blast Production); Best Sponsored Production – There's a Monster in my Kitchen (Cartoon Saloon); Best General Audience Animated TV/Media Production - Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Coven of the Damned (Cartoon Network Studios); and Best Animated TV/Media Production for Children - Hilda: Chapter 9 – The Deerfox  (Hilda Productions Limited); Best Animated TV/Media Production for Preschool Children - Adventures of Paddington: Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru (Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio); and Character Animation in a Live Action Production - The Mandalorian (Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk) (Image Engine). 

"This year was a challenge, in many ways, for all of us," remarked Frank Gladstone, ASIFA's executive director. "Especially after deciding to go to a virtual award ceremony, we did not know what to expect. To our surprise, we had more submissions this year than we have ever had and, now that we are streaming the Annies worldwide, we are also hoping for the biggest audience ever."

The evening's presenters included actors Josh Gad, Matthew Rhys, Philippa Soo (Hamilton) Eva Whittaker and Patrick Warburton; Oscar™ winning composer, Michael Giacchino; and award winning directors Sergio Pablos and Jill Culton; Cartoon Saloon producer /director Nora Twomey, producer/director Matthew A. Cherry and the cast of the web series, Critical Role.

Juried awards were presented for the following: The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation were presented to three recipients – animator Willie Ito, designer Sue Nichols (posthumously) and animator/director Bruce Smith. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation was awarded to animator and art director, Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi.

The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to Epic Games for its Unreal Engine; and The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to the documentary, Howard (Stone Circle Pictures).            

Many thanks for the generous support from this year's sponsors: Platinum Level – Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation, DreamWorks Animation, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Walt Disney Animation Studios//Pixar, and Variety; Gold Level – Disney TV Animation; Silver Level – Apple, and Pixar Animation Studios; Bronze Level – Epic Games, Skydance Animation and Sony Pictures Animation; and Education/Nonprofit Level – Animation Guild Local 839 IATSE and Sheridan College.

The Annie Awards™ honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories from best feature, best feature – independent, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting, and have often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The ceremony was streamed this year courtesy of ASIFA-Hollywood in association with Variety - www.annieawards.org/watch-it-live.

A complete list of winners can be viewed at www.annieawards.org. Video highlights of the ceremony will be uploaded to the Annies website in the next few days. 

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SOURCE ASIFA-Hollywood