Feb 8, 2017

2017ves Awards: "Kubo and 2 Strings" Breaks 19-game Disney Streak [Full list of Winners]

Animated features by the Walt Disney Company have won 19 animation awards in a row during the last five years of the VES Awards (including three tonight), but the streak was finally broken by Laika's Kubo and The Two Strings which won the top prize for outstanding visual effects in an animated feature.

Despite leading the animation pack with six nominations, Kubo lost its first five nominations earlier in the evening to Moana (winner of two awards) and Finding Dory (which won for best animated performance). It salvaged the evening at the last moment by taking the final award, marking the first time since 2012 that a non-Disney animated feature had been honored by members of the Disney-leaning Visual Effects Society.

On the photoreal front, Disney's The Jungle Book dominated the evening with five awards, and Game of Thrones led the way as usual on the broadcast side, also with five awards.

For commercials, this John Lewis holiday spot won three honors:

The VES Awards were handed out this evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. In addition to the competitive categories, a lifetime achievement honor was presented to vfx veteran Ken Ralston, who we interviewed on Cartoon Brew earlier today, and the Visionary Award was given to Marvel Studios executive vice president of physical production Victoria Alonso, also profiled on the Brew a few months ago.

A complete list of winners can be found below.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

The Jungle Book Robert Legato Joyce Cox Andrew R. Jones Adam Valdez JD Schwalm

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Deepwater Horizon Craig Hammack Petra Holtorf-Stratton Jason Snell John Galloway Burt Dalton

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings Travis Knight Arianne Sutner Steve Emerson Brad Schiff

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards Joe Bauer Steve Kullback Glenn Melenhorst Matthew Rouleau Sam Conway

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Black Sails; XX Erik Henry Terron Pratt Aladino Debert Yafei Wu Paul Stephenson

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

Uncharted 4 Bruce Straley Eben Cook Iki Ikram

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

John Lewis; Buster the Boxer Diarmid Harrison-Murray Hannah Ruddleston Fabian Frank William Laban

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Pirates of the Caribbean; Battle for the Sunken Treasure Bill George Amy Jupiter Hayden Landis David Lester

Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature

The Jungle Book; King Louie Paul Story Dennis Yoo Jack Tema Andrei Coval

Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature

Finding Dory; Hank Jonathan Hoffman Steven Clay Hunter Mark Piretti Audrey Wong

Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode or Real-Time Project

Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Drogon James Kinnings Michael Holzl Matt Derksen Joeseph Hoback

Outstanding Animated Performance in a Commercial

John Lewis; Buster the Boxer Tim van Hussen David Bryan Chloe Dawe Maximillian Mallman

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Doctor Strange; New York City Adam Watkins Martijn van Herk Tim Belsher Jon Mitchell

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

Moana; Motonui Island Rob Dressel Andy Harkness Brien Hindman Larry Wu

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Meereen City Deak Ferrand Dominic Daigle François Croteau Alexandru Banuta

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project

The Jungle Book Bill Pope Robert Legato Gary Roberts John Brennan

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Deepwater Horizon; Deepwater Horizon Rig Kelvin Lau Jean Bolte Kevin Sprout Kim Vongbunyong

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

The Jungle Book; Nature Effects Oliver Winwood Fabian Nowak David Schneider Ludovic Ramisandraina

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

Moana Marc Henry Bryant David Hutchins Ben Frost Dale Mayeda

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Meereen City Thomas Hullin Dominik Kirouac James Dong Xavier Fourmond

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature

The Jungle Book Christoph Salzmann Masaki Mitchell Matthew Adams Max Stummer

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode

Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Retaking Winterfell Dominic Hellier Morgan Jones Thijs Noij Caleb Thompson

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial

John Lewis; Buster the Boxer Tom Harding Alex Snookes David Filipe Andreas Feix

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Breaking Point Johannes Franz Nicole Rothermel Thomas Sali Alexander Richter