Jan 9, 2020

VES Award: Lion King, Toy Story 4, and Alita: Battle Angel lead with 5 nominations

Nominations have been announced for the 18th annual VES Awards, recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, and video games.

Disney's The Lion King and Pixar's Toy Story 4 lead the animation pack with five nominations apiece. Disney's Frozen 2 and Laika's Missing Link have four each, while 20th Century Fox's hybrid Alita: Battle Angel also has five. In the broadcast categories, Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian - the Disney+ streaming service's flagship series - and HBO's Game of Thrones lead with six nominations each.

The nominees for best overall vfx in a photoreal (i.e. hybrid or live action) film are Alita: Battle Angel, Avengers: Endgame, Gemini Man, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and The Lion King. (All of those bar Gemini Man are Disney properties.) The equivalent category for animated films consists of Frozen 2, Klaus, Missing Link, The Lego Movie 2, and Toy Story 4.

Predictably, The Lion King has been classed as a photoreal entry. With the exception of the Golden Globes, major awards have consistently gone along with Disney's campaign to present the film as a vfx contender, not the work of animation it really is. The ploy by Disney to falsely label The Lion King as not animated enables The Lion King to compete for awards separately from the company's two other animated big hitters, Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4.

As of this year, animation productions were eligible in the three compositing categories, although none ended up being nominated. The VES committee also opened up the award for outstanding virtual cinematography to animation works, stating: “This decision reflects industry trends where live action and animation production are blending.” The Lion King and Toy Story 4 are both nominated in the category.

Interestingly, the hybrid reboot of Lady and the Tramp - the first Disney remake to be released exclusively on Disney+ - has been classed in the broadcast categories. It is a standalone feature film.

The winners in the 25 categories will be determined by members of the Visual Effects Society, which hosts the awards, and will be announced on January 29 at the Beverly Hilton in L.A. In addition, Martin Scorsese, whose The Irishman has two nominations, will be presented with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. The VES Visionary Award will go to Roland Emmerich, and the VES Award for Creative Excellence will be presented to vfx supervisor Sheena Duggal.

The nominees for the 18th VES Awards are as follows:

Alita: Battle Angel Richard Hollander Kevin Sherwood Eric Saindon Richard Baneham Bob Trevino

Avengers: Endgame Daniel DeLeeuw Jen Underdahl Russell Earl Matt Aitken Daniel Sudick

Gemini Man Bill Westenhofer Karen Murphy-Mundell Guy Williams Sheldon Stopsack Mark Hawker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Roger Guyett Stacy Bissell Patrick Tubach Neal Scanlan Dominic Tuohy

The Lion King Robert Legato Tom Peitzman Adam Valdez Andrew R. Jones

1917 Guillaume Rocheron Sona Pak Greg Butler Vijay Selvam Dominic Tuohy

Ford v Ferrari Olivier Dumont Kathy Siegel Dave Morley Malte Sarnes Mark Byers

Joker Edwin Rivera Brice Parker Mathew Giampa Bryan Godwin Jeff Brink

The Aeronauts Louis Morin Annie Godin Christian Kaestner Ara Khanikian Mike Dawson

The Irishman Pablo Helman Mitchell Ferm Jill Brooks Leandro Estebecorena Jeff Brink

Frozen 2 Steve Goldberg Peter Del Vecho Mark Hammel Michael Giaimo

Klaus Sergio Pablos Matthew Teevan Marcin Jakubowski Szymon Biernack

Missing Link Brad Schiff Travis Knight Steve Emerson Benoit Dubuc

The Lego Movie 2 David Burgess Tim Smith Mark Theriault John Rix

Toy Story 4 Josh Cooley Mark Nielsen Bob Moyer Gary Bruins

Game of Thrones; “The Bells” Joe Bauer Steve Kullback Ted Rae Mohsen Mousavi Sam Conway

His Dark Materials; “The Fight to the Death” Russell Dodgson James Whitlam Shawn Hillier Robert Harrington

Lady and the Tramp Robert Weaver Christopher Raimo Arslan Elver Michael Cozens Bruno Van Zeebroeck

Lost in Space; “Ninety-Seven” Jabbar Raisani Terron Pratt Niklas Jacobson Juri Stanossek Paul Benjamin

Stranger Things; “Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum” Paul Graff Tom Ford Michael Maher Jr. Martin Pelletier Andy Sowers

The Mandalorian; “The Child” Richard Bluff Abbigail Keller Jason Porter Hayden Jones Roy K. Cancion

Chernobyl; “1:23:45” Max Dennison Lindsay McFarlane Clare Cheetham Paul Jones Claudius Christian Rauch

Living with Yourself; “Nice Knowing You” Jay Worth Jacqueline VandenBussche Chris Wright Tristan Zerafa

See; “Godflame” Adrian de Wet Eve Fizzinoglia Matthew Welford Pedro Sabrosa Tom Blacklock

The Crown; “Aberfan” Ben Turner Reece Ewing David Fleet Jonathan Wood

Vikings; “What Happens in the Cave” Dominic Remane Mike Borrett Ovidiu Cinazan Tom Morrison Paul Byrne

Call of Duty Modern Warfare Charles Chabert Chris Parise Attila Zalanyi Patrick Hagar

Control Janne Pulkkinen Elmeri Raitanen Matti Hämäläinen James Tottman

Gears 5 Aryan Hanbeck Laura Kippax Greg Mitchell Stu Maxwell

Myth: A Frozen Tale Jeff Gipson Nicholas Russell Brittney Lee Jose Luis Gomez Diaz

Vader Immortal: Episode I Ben Snow Mike Doran Aaron McBride Steve Henricks

“Anthem Conviction” Viktor Muller Lenka Likarova Chris Harvey Petr Marek

“BMW Legend” Michael Gregory Christian Downes Tim Kafka Toya Drechsler

“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds” Carsten Keller Selcuk Ergen Kiril Mirkov William Laban

“PlayStation: Feel The Power of Pro” Sam Driscoll Clare Melia Gary Driver Stefan Susemihl

“Purdey's: Hummingbird” Jules Janaud Emma Cook Matthew Thomas Philip Child

Avengers: Damage Control Michael Koperwas Shereif Fattouh Ian Bowie Kishore Vijay Curtis Hickman

Jurassic World: The Ride Hayden Landis Friend Wells Heath Kraynak Ellen Coss

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run Asa Kalama Rob Huebner Khatsho Orfali Susan Greenhow

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Jason Bayever Patrick Kearney Carol Norton Bill George

Universal Sphere James Healy Morgan MacCuish Ben West Charlie Bayliss

Alita: Battle Angel; Alita Michael Cozens Mark Haenga Olivier Lesaint Dejan Momcilovic

Avengers: Endgame; Smart Hulk Kevin Martel Ebrahim Jahromi Sven Jensen Robert Allman

Gemini Man; Junior Paul Story Stuart Adcock Emiliano Padovani Marco Revelant

The Lion King; Scar Gabriel Arnold James Hood Julia Friedl Daniel Fortheringham

Frozen 2; The Water Nøkk Svetla Radivoeva Marc Bryant Richard E. Lehmann Cameron Black

Klaus; Jesper Yoshimichi Tamura Alfredo Cassano Maxime Delalande Jason Schwartzman

Missing Link; Susan Rachelle Lambden Brenda Baumgarten Morgan Hay Benoit Dubuc

Toy Story 4; Bo Peep Radford Hurn Tanja Krampfert George Nguyen Becki Rocha Tower

Lady and the Tramp; Tramp Thiago Martins Arslan Elver Stanislas Paillereau Martine Chartrand

Stranger Things 3; Tom/Bruce Monster Joseph Dubé-Arsenault Antoine Barthod Frederick Gagnon Xavier Lafarge

The Mandalorian; The Child; Mudhorn Terry Bannon Rudy Massar Hugo Leygnac

The Umbrella Academy; Pilot; Pogo Aidan Martin Craig Young Olivier Beierlein Laurent Herveic

“Apex Legends”; Meltdown; Mirage Chris Bayol John Fielding Derrick Sesson Nole Murphy

“Churchill”; Churchie Martino Madeddu Philippe Moine Clement Granjon Jon Wood

“Cyberpunk 2077”; Dex Jonas Ekman Jonas Skoog Marek Madej Grzegorz Chojnacki

“John Lewis”; Excitable Edgar; Edgar Tim van Hussen Diarmid Harrison-Murray Amir Bazzazi Michael Diprose

Aladdin; Agrabah Daniel Schmid Falk Boje Stanislaw Marek Kevin George

Alita: Battle Angel; Iron City John Stevenson-Galvin Ryan Arcus Mathias Larserud Mark Tait

Motherless Brooklyn; Penn Station John Bair Vance Miller Sebastian Romero Steve Sullivan

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; Pasaana Desert Daniele Bigi Steve Hardy John Seru Steven Denyer

The Lion King; The Pridelands Marco Rolandi Luca Bonatti Jules Bodenstein Filippo Preti

Frozen 2; Giants' Gorge Samy Segura Jay V. Jackson Justin Cram Scott Townsend

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; The Hidden World Chris Grun Ronnie Cleland Ariel Chisholm Philippe Brochu

Missing Link; Passage to India Jungle Oliver Jones Phil Brotherton Nick Mariana Ralph Procida

Toy Story 4; Antiques Mall Hosuk Chang Andrew Finley Alison Leaf Philip Shoebottom

Game of Thrones; The Iron Throne; Red Keep Plaza Carlos Patrick DeLeon Alonso Bocanegra Martinez Marcela Silva Benjamin Ross

Lost in Space; Precipice; The Trench Philip Engström Benjamin Bernon Martin Bergquist Xuan Prada

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance; The Endless Forest Sulé Bryan Charles Chorein Christian Waite Martyn Hawkins

The Mandalorian; Nevarro Town Alex Murtaza Yanick Gaudreau Marco Tremblay Maryse Bouchard

Alita: Battle Angel Emile Ghorayeb Simon Jung Nick Epstein Mike Perry

The Lion King Robert Legato Caleb Deschanel Ben Grossmann AJ Sciutto

The Mandalorian; The Prisoner; The Roost Richard Bluff Jason Porter Landis Fields IV Baz Idione

Toy Story 4 Jean-Claude Kalache Patrick Lin

Lost in Space; The Resolute Xuan Prada Jason Martin Jonathan Vårdstedt Eric Andersson

Missing Link; The Manchuria Todd Alan Harvey Dan Casey Katy Hughes

The Man in the High Castle; Rocket Train Neil Taylor Casi Blume Ben McDougal Chris Kuhn

The Mandalorian; The Sin; The Razorcrest Doug Chiang Jay Machado John Goodson Landis Fields IV

Dumbo; Bubble Elephants Sam Hancock Victor Glushchenko Andrew Savchenko Arthur Moody

Spider-Man: Far from Home; Molten Man Adam Gailey Jacob Santamaria Jacob Clark Stephanie Molk

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Don Wong Thibault Gauriau Goncalo Cababca François-Maxence Desplanques

The Lion King David Schneider Samantha Hiscock Andy Feery Kostas Strevlos

Abominable Alex Timchenko Domin Lee Michael Losure Eric Warren

Frozen 2 Erin V. Ramos Scott Townsend Thomas Wickes Rattanin Sirinaruemarn

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; Water and Waterfalls Derek Cheung Baptiste Van Opstal Youxi Woo Jason Mayer

Toy Story 4 Alexis Angelidis Amit Baadkar Lyon Liew Michael Lorenzen

Game of Thrones; “The Bells” Marcel Kern Paul Fuller Ryo Sakaguchi Thomas Hartmann

“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds” Selcuk Ergen Radu Ciubotariu Andreu Lucio Vincent Ullmann

Lost in Space; “Precipice”; “Water Planet” Juri Bryan Hugo Medda Kristian Olsson John Perrigo

Stranger Things 3; “Melting Tom/Bruce” Nathan Arbuckle Christian Gaumond James Dong Aleksandr Starkov

The Mandalorian; “The Child”; “Mudhorn” Xavier Martin Ramirez Ian Baxter Fabio Siino Andrea Rosa

Alita: Battle Angel Adam Bradley Carlo Scaduto Hirofumi Takeda Ben Roberts

Avengers: Endgame Tim Walker Blake Winder Tobias Wiesner Joerg Bruemmer

Captain Marvel; Young Nick Fury Trent Claus David Moreno Hernandez Jeremiah Sweeney Yuki Uehara

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Jeff Sutherland John Galloway Sam Bassett Charles Lai

The Irishman Nelson Sepulveda Vincent Papaix Benjamin O'Brien Christopher Doerhoff

Game of Thrones; “The Bells” Sean Heuston Scott Joseph James Elster Corinne Teo

Game of Thrones; “The Long Night”; “Dragon Ground Battle” Mark Richardson Darren Christie Nathan Abbot Owen Longstaff

Stranger Things 3; “Starcourt Mall Battle” Simon Lehembre Andrew Kowbell Karim El-Masry Miklos Mesterhazy

Watchmen; “Pilot”; “Looking Glass” Nathaniel Larouche Iyi Tubi Perunika Yorgova Mitchell Beaton

“BMW Legend” Toya Drechsler Vivek Tekale Guillaume Weiss Alexander Kulikov

“Feeding America: I Am Hunger in America” Dan Giraldo Marcelo Pasqualino Alexander Koester

“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds” Rod Norman Guillaume Weiss Alexander Kulikov Alessandro Granella

“PlayStation: Feel the Power of Pro” Gary Driver Stefan Susemihl Greg Spencer Theajo Dharan

Aladdin; Magic Carpet Mark Holt Jay Mallet Will Wyatt Dickon Mitchell

Game of Thrones; “The Bells” Sam Conway Terry Palmer Laurence Harvey Alastair Vardy

Terminator: Dark Fate Neil Corbould David Brighton Ray Ferguson Keith Dawson

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance; “She Knows All the Secrets” Sean Mathiesen Jon Savage Toby Froud Phil Harvey

Downfall Matias Heker Stephen Moroz Bradley Cocksedge

Love and Fifty Megatons Denis Krez Josephine Roß Paulo Scatena Lukas Löffler

Oeil pour Oeil Alan Guimont Thomas Boileau Malcom Hunt Robin Courtoise

The Beauty Marc Angele Aleksandra Todorovic Pascal Schelbli Noel Winzen