Mar 8, 2021

VES Award nominations: "Mandalorian" dominates the series, "Soul" leads the animation function

The Visual Effects Society (VES) have announced the nominees for their 19th annual VES Awards, which recognize outstanding visual effects and artistry in film, television, commercials, and video games.

The Mandalorian has the most nominations of any single project, with 13 across seven categories (there are 25 categories in total). This more than doubles the number of nominations it had just last year. Overall, the Star Wars spin-off dominates the broadcast categories - something made possible in part by the absence of HBO's Game of Thrones, which reigned supreme at the VES Awards for years, and competed for the last time in 2020.

Disney/Pixar's Soul - which, like The Mandalorian, is a Disney+ exclusive - leads as the top animated film with five nominations. Warner Bros.'s The Witches and Netflix's Project Power lead the live-action feature film nominations with three apiece.

Soul is joined in the visual effects in an animated feature category by Universal/Dreamworks Animation's Trolls World Tour (which has four total nominations), Netflix's Over the Moon (three), Pixar's Onward (four), and Universal/Dreamworks Animation's The Croods: A New Age (one). The effects simulations in an animated feature category was identical except for the substitution of Netflix's The Willoughbys for The Croods.

The nominations were selected by VES members across 32 virtual nomination events held across the globe. The ceremony, which will be virtual, will be streamed worldwide April 6 or 7 depending on the time zone.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey Brad Parker Roma Van Den Bergh Eric Guaglione Carlos Monzon Stefano Pepin

Project Power Ivan Moran Leslie Hough Joao Sita Matthew Twyford Yves Debono

Tenet Andrew Jackson Mike Chambers Andrew Lockley David Lee Scott Fisher

The Midnight Sky Matt Kasmir Greg Baxter Chris Lawrence Max Solomon David Watkins

The Witches Kevin Baillie Sandra Scott Sean Konrad Glenn Melenhorst Mark Holt

Da 5 Bloods Randall Balsmeyer James Cooper Watcharachai “Sam” Panichsuk

Extraction Marko Forker Lynzi Grant Craig Wentworth Olivier Sarda

Mank Wei Zheng Peter Mavromates Simon Carr James Pastorius

News of the World Roni Rodrigues Dayaliyah Lopez Ian Fellows Andrew Morley Brandon K. McLaughlin

Welcome to Chechnya Ryan Laney Eugen Bräunig Maxwell Anderson Johnny Han Piers Dennis

Onward Dan Scanlon Kori Rae Sanjay Bakshi Vincent Serritella

Over the Moon Glen Keane Gennie Rim Céline Desrumaux David Alexander Smith

Soul Pete Docter Dana Murray Michael Fong Bill Watral

The Croods: A New Age Joel Crawford Mark Swift Betsy Nofsinger Jakob Hjort Jensen

Trolls World Tour Walt Dohrn Gina Shay Kendal Cronkhite-Shaindlin Matt Baer

Lovecraft Country, “Jig-A-Bobo” Kevin Blank Robin Griffin Pietro Ponti Francois Dumoulin

Star Trek: Discovery “Su'Kal” Jason Michael Zimmerman Aleksandra Kochoska Ante Dekovic Ivan Kondrup Jensen

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal” Joe Bauer Abbigail Keller Hal Hickel Richard Bluff Roy Cancino

Timmy Failure Rich McBride Leslie Lerman Nicolas Chevallier Anders Beer Tony Lazarowich

Westworld, “Crisis Theory” Jay Worth Elizabeth Castro Bruce Branit Joe Wehmeyer Mark Byers

I Know This Much Is True, “Episode 1” Eric Pascarelli Keith Kolder Ariel Altman

Mrs. America, “Shirley” Janelle Croshaw Kaylie Whitcher Leonardo Silva Zena Bielewicz Michael Innanen

Survive Ariel Altman Rae Welty Caius Wong Carl Fong

The Crown, “Gold Stick” Ben Turner Reece Ewing Andrew Scrase Jonathan Wood

Vikings, “Best Laid Plans” Dominic Remane Bill Halliday Tom Morrison Ovidiu Cinazan Paul Byrne

Warrior, “Learn to Endure, Or Hire a Bodyguard” Jonathan Alenskas Leah Orsini Nate Overstrom David Eschrich

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Raphael Lacoste Jean-Sebastien Guay Virginie Cinq-Mars Thierry Beaumont

Cyberpunk 2077 Jakub Knapik Malgorzata Mitrega Piotr Suchodolski Krzysztof Krzyscin

Ghost of Tsushima Jason Connell Matt Vainio Jasmin Patry Joanna Wang

Spider-Man: Miles Morales; Reactor Finale Gavin Goulden Jess Reed Bryanna Lindsey Mike Yosh

The Last of Us Part II Neil Druckmann Eben Cook Erick Pangilinan John Sweeney

Arm & Hammer, “Once Upon a Time” Kiril Mirkov Solomon Tiigah Vanessa Duquesnay Prashanth Paramasivam

Burberry, “Singin' In The Rain” Fabian Frank Ryan Hancocks Rob Richardson Alex Lovejoy

Hornbach, “It Seems Impossible Until You Do It” Ben Cronin Tomek Zietkiewicz Amir Bazzazi Bruno Fukumothi

Playstation, “The Edge” Diarmid Harrison-Murray Tom Igglesden Alex Gabucci Tom Raynor

Walmart, “Famous Visitors” Chris “Badger” Knight Lori Talley Yarin Mares Matt Fuller

Xbox, “Us Dreamers” Dan Seddon Elexis Stearn Fabian Frank Zhenya Vladi

Asteroid Hunters Antoine Durr Jini Durr Bert Poole Neishaw Ali

The Bourne Stuntacular Salvador Zalvidea Tracey Gibbons George Allan Matthías Bjarnason Scott Smith

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway Ryan Donoghue Becky Train Blaine Kennison Nick da Silva Corban Prim

The March Aruna Inversin Peter Nelson Kevin Williams Sean Kealey

Die Känguru-Chroniken, Kangaroo Claudius Urban Sebastian Badea Dorian Knapp Ruth Wiegand

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Don Juan Diego Eric Guaglione Shuchi Singhal Adrien Annesley Mahmoud Ellithy

The One and Only Ivan, Ivan Valentina Rosselli Thomas Huizer Andrea De Martis William Bell

The Witches, Daisy Jye Skinn Sarah Fuller Marco Iannaccone Fredrik Sundqvist

Onward, Dad Pants Kristopher Campbell Jonas Jarvers Rob Jensen Jacob Kuenzel

Over the Moon, Chang'e Siggi Orri Thorhannesson Hyesook Kim Javier Solsona Alan Chen

Soul, Terry Jonathan Hoffman Jonathan Page Peter Tieryas Ron Zorman

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Spongebob Jacques Daigle Guillaume Dufief Adrien Montero Liam Hill

The Crown, “The Balmoral Test,” Imperial Stag Ahmed Gharraph Ross Burgess Gabriela Ruch Salmeron Joel Best

The Mandalorian, “The Jedi,” The Child John Rosengrant Peter Clarke Scott Patton Hal Hickel

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal,” Krayt Dragon Paul Kavanagh Zaini Mohamed Jalani Michal Kriukow Nihal Friedel

Timmy Failure, “Mistakes Were Made,” Total Maxime Masse Hennadii Prykhodko Luc Girard Sophie Burie

AFK Arena, “Toilet,” Uzgahk Chloe Dawe Brad Noble Tim van Hussen Simon Legrand

Arm & Hammer, “Once Upon a Time,” Tuxedo Tom Shiny Rajan Silvia Bartoli Matias Heker Tiago Dias Mota

Far Cry, “Legacy,” Anton Maxime Luere Leon Berelle Rémi Kozyra Dominique Boidin

Legends of Runeterra, “Breathe,” Darius Maxime Luere Leon Berelle Rémi Kozyra Dominique Boidin

TK Maxx, The Lil Goat Kiril Mirkov Silvia Bartoli Chris Welsby David Bryan

Bloodshot, Neuralspace Arnaud Brisebois Patrick Bacon Dawid Borkiewicz Gérôme Viavant

Mulan, Imperial City Jeremy Fort Matt Fitzgerald Ben Walker Adrian Vercoe

The Eight Hundred, 1937 Shanghai Downtown Stefano Cieri Aaron Auty Simon Carlile Patrick Zentis

The Eight Hundred, Shanghai Warehouse District Jamie Macdougall Julian Hutchens Mark Honer David Pekarek

Onward, Swamp Gas Eric Andraos Laura Grieve Nick Pitera Michael Rutter

Soul, You Seminar Hosuk Chang Sungyeon Joh Peter Roe Frank Tai

Trolls World Tour, Techno Reef Luke Heathcock Zachary Glynn Marina Ilic Michael Trull

Trolls World Tour, Volcano Rock City Brian LaFrance Sara Cembalisty Christopher Sprunger Ruben Perez

Brave New World, New London Guy Williams Justin Gros-Désir Markus Sterner Ryan Clarke

Cyberpunk 2077, Night City Jakub Knapik Lucjan Wiecek

Lovecraft Country, Tulsa 1921 Patrice Poissant Pauline Lavelle Mohamed Abdou Elhakim Alan Lam

The Mandalorian, “The Believer,” Morak Jungle Enrico Damm Johanes Kurnia Phi Tran Tong Tran

The Mandalorian, “The Siege,” Nevarro Canyon Kevin George Aaron Barr Piotr Tatar Abel Milanés Betancourt

Ghost of Tsushima, “A Storm is Coming” Aladino Debert Matt Dougan Eric Beaver David Liu

Soul Matt Aspbury Ian Megibben

The Mandalorian, “The Believer” Richard Bluff Matt Jensen Chris Williams Landis Fields IV

The Mandalorian, “The Siege” Dave Crispino Kyle Winkelman Paul Kavanagh Jose Burgos

The Mandalorian, Boba Fett's Ship Jay Machado Enrico Damm Gerald Blaise Ryan Church

The Mandalorian, The Rescue; Light Cruiser John Knoll John Goodson Dan Patrascu Rene Garcia

The Midnight Sky, Aether Michael Balthazart Jonathan Opgenhaffen John-Peter Li Simon Aluze

The Witches, Rollercoaster Jared Michael Peter Dominik Sylvain Lesaint Emily Tilson

Bloodshot Omar Meradi Jeremy Poupin Sylvain Robert Deak Ferrand

Greyhound Mike Nixon Nicholas Papworth Jeremy Smith Yashdeep Sawant

Monster Hunter Vimal Mallireddy Warren Lawtey Tom O'Bready Dominik Haase

Mulan Theo Vandernoot Sandra Balej James Carson Yuri Rudakov

Project Power Yin Lai Jimmy Leung Jonathan Edward Lyddon-Towl Pierpaolo Navarini Michelle Lee

Onward Dave Hale Jonah Blue Laird Stephen Marshall Ricardo Nadu

Over the Moon Ian Farnsworth Brian Casper Reinhold Rittinger Jennifer Lasrado

Soul Alexis Angelidis Keith Daniel Klohn Aimei Kutt Melissa Tseng

Trolls World Tour Stephen Wood Carl Hooper Spencer Knapp Nick Augello

The Willoughbys Helén Ahlberg Kyle McQueen Russell Smith Raehyeon Kim

Lovecraft Country, “Strange Case,” Chrysalis Federica Foresti Johan Gabrielsson Hugo Medda Andreas Krieg

Playstation, “The Edge” Tom Raynor Andreu Lucio Martin Aufinger Platon Filimonov

Tales from the Loop, “Loretta's House” Dominik Kirouac Gaël Chopin Sylvain Nouveau Laurent Pancaccini

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal,” Krayt Dragon HuaiYuan Teh Don Wong Mathieu Chardonnet Prashanth Bhagavan

Greyhound Chris Gooch Tiago Santos Stu Bruzek Sneha Amin

Mulan Christoph Salzmann Beck Veitch Joerg Bruemmer Indah Maretha

Project Power Russell Horth Matthew Patience Julien Rousseau

Underwater Sreejith Venugopalan Ruslan Borysov Susil Sabat Andreas Andersson

Lovecraft Country, “Strange Case,” Chrysalis Viktor Andersson Linus Lindblom Mattias Sandelius Crawford Reilly

The Mandalorian, “The Believer” Peter Demarest Christopher Balog Shawn Mason David Wahlberg

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal” Nicolas Caillier Simon Rafin SiangKee Poh Simon Marinof

The Mandalorian, “The Passenger” TC Harrison Tami Carter Jaume Creus Costabella Shane Davidson

Burberry, “Singin' In the Rain” Alex Lovejoy Mithun Alex David Filipe Amresh Kumar

Perrier, “Heat” Stéphane Pivron Franck Lambertz Harry Bardak Christophe Courgeau

Playstation, “The Edge” Alex Gabucci Rebecca Clay Alex Grey Alex Kulikov

Walmart, “Famous Visitors” Chris “Badger” Knight Ben Smith Jake Albers Franz Kol

Fear the Walking Dead, “Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg” Frank Iudica Scott Roark Daniel J. Yates

Time's Down Valentin Soulard François Brugalières Nils Lemonnier Yan Weitlauff

Aral Cédric Moens de Hase Benoit Paya Charles Morhain Mathilde Dallamaggiore

Strands of Mind Adrian Meyer Laura Messner

Migrants Antoine Dupriez Hugo Caby Lucas Lermytte Zoé Devise