Apr 17, 2021

"Soul" and "Wolf Walker" dominated the 48th Annie Awards, and "Hilda" led to the series Side winners list

Disney-Pixar's Soul and Apple TV+/GKids/Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers traded awards back and forth in a largely uneventful 48th annual ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards, which took place tonight during a virtual ceremony.

Here's a look at what happened:

It had been expected that both films would perform strongly. Pete Docter's Soul came out on top, winning seven honors, including the top prize for best animated feature. Tomm Moore's Wolfwalkers won the honor for independent animated feature, among a total of five wins, including best direction.

No other animated feature won an award besides these two films.

On the television side, Silvergate Media's Hilda, produced for Netflix, was the top honoree with three wins, including best tv/media for children. The only other multi-winning tv series was Cartoon Network Studios' Primal, which earned two awards, including best tv/media for a general audience.

The Walt Disney Company took home the most awards, with ten total, but it was a weak night for the other majors: Warnermedia walked away with three wins, Dreamworks Animation notched two Annies, and Nickelodeon Animation was recognized just once for The Adventure of Paddington (best preschool tv/media).

Also, give credit to Apple TV+, which scored five wins in its first major year at the Annies. As we reported earlier this week, competition is heating up in the streaming space, and that competition extends to industry awards like the Annies.

The big upset of the event was Netflix's performance, which had led with 40 nominations, but came out with just six awards (including the three for Hilda). Its two main features – Over the Moon and The Willoughbys – were locked out of the feature awards. A year earlier, the streamer had dominated the Annies with 19 wins.

Also disappointing but not unusual for the Annies: 40 out of 46 of the winners in the individual achievement categories – 87% – were men. Also, in five of the main categories (feature/indie feature/special production/short subject/sponsored), 21 out of 25 nominated projects (84%) were directed by men, including all ten nominated features.

The industry is changing – the percentage of women working in the unionized portion of L.A.'s animation industry is currently at an all-time high – and as more women gain a foothold in the industry, the number of supervising roles they occupy will continue to grow, hopefully leading to more recognition at the Annies. But right now, the Annie Awards feels like a clunky relic that is out of step with the modern world – and sadly, it has felt this way for years.

Compare the Annies to the world's largest animation festival, Annecy, which has made a real effort to address the gender disparity in its competition selections. This year, 43% of the projects in its short competition are directed by women. (In Annecy's tv and commissioned competitions, 27% and 38% of projects have women directors respectively.) There's already plenty of great work being produced by women; ASIFA-Hollywood must do a better in acknowledging the evolution that is happening throughout the animation industry.

In addition to the competitive categories at the Annies, juried awards were presented to honor “unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.” The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement was presented to Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously), and Bruce Smith.

The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation was awarded to Tonko House co-founder Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, while the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement went to Epic Games. An additional Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation was presented to Howard, the feature documentary about the late lyricist Howard Ashman.

Soul Pixar Animation Studios

Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / AppleTv / Gkids

The Snail and the Whale Magic Light Pictures

Souvenir Souvenir Blast Production

There's a Monster in my Kitchen Cartoon Saloon, Mother

The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru” Blue-Zoo Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” Silvergate Media for Netflix

Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal “Coven Of The Damned” Cartoon Network Studios

La Bestia Student directors: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt Gobelins, l'école de l'image

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World” DreamWorks Animation Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller

Hilda Silvergate Media for Netflix David Laliberté

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Michal Makarewicz

The Mandalorian Production Company: Lucasfilm FX Production Company: Image Engine Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk

Marvels Spider-Man Miles Morales Insomniac Games Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock

Amphibia “The Shut-In!” Disney TV Animation Joe Sparrow

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Federico Pirovano

Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal “Plague Of Madness” Cartoon Network Studios Genndy Tartakovsky

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films / GKIDS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart

Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death” Lucasfilm Animation Kevin Kiner

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste

Shooom's Odyssey Picolo Pictures Julien Bisaro

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore

Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation Andrew Dickman

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Trevor Jimenez

Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act” DreamWorks Animation David Bradley (Merlin)

Wolfwalkers Apple Original Films/GKIDS Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)

Big Mouth “The New Me” Netflix Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison, Andrew Goldberg

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers

Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” Silvergate Media for Netflix John McKinnon

Soul Pixar Animation Studios Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk