Nov 20, 2020

New animation category created for the first critics' Choice Super Awards; Netflix is leading with 14 animation Nom

With the Critics Choice Awards pushed back from their usual January slot to March 7, a new awards show has rushed in to fill the void. Welcome to the Critics Choice Super Awards, which is also hosted by the Critics Choice Association (CCA), but whose focus is more squarely placed on genre and popular entertainment.

As the CCA puts it, the new venture honors “the most popular, fan-obsessed genres across both television and movies, including superhero, science fiction/fantasy, horror, action, and animation.” (Yes, it considers animation to be a genre.) While the Critics Choice Awards have dedicated awards for some of these categories, the Super Awards go deeper, creating multiple awards for each genre and six for animation.

The CCA has always skewed quite mainstream in any case. Given the “popular” remit of the Super Awards, it's no surprise to see that the nominees list is a battleground for the major studios. Pixar's Onward and Netflix's The Willoughbys have the most nominations among the animated films, with four apiece (the latter picking up a nom in the Best Villain race). Netflix's Big Mouth and FXX's Archer lead the animated series field with four nominations each.

Netflix dominates the animation categories (and indeed the awards in general). In the animation-specific categories, it has 14 nominations in all, while Disney follows with eight. Apple has four: three for its debut animated feature Wolfwalkers, one for its flagship animated series Central Park. No other broadcaster/studio has more than one title in the running.

Outside the animation categories, other nominees of note are Paramount's hybrid Sonic the Hedgehog, which has four nominations, including one for best superhero movie; Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, which has two, including one for best action movie; and Superman: Man of Tomorrow, a direct-to-video animated film from Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, which is up for best superhero movie.

Commenting on the reason for the new show, CCA CEO Joey Berlin told Deadline: “We have given out best horror movie and action movie and animated series and those things [at the Critics Choice Awards], and they often didn't get on the air.” He added, “I think it is going to be really entertaining. I think it can really grow into its own annual event.”

The ceremony will air on Sunday, January 10, 2021 on The CW at 8 p.m. ET/PT. It will be held virtually - according to Berlin, this was always the plan for the inaugural edition, even before the pandemic hit.

Here are all the nominees in the animation categories: