Jul 16, 2021

2021 Primetime Emmy Nominations: "Primal", "Big Mouth" against past winners for best animation program

The nominations are out for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The best animated program category features a bunch of familiar names, alongside one new one. Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons, and South Park have all won the award multiple times. Big Mouth is nominated for the third straight year; it has yet to emerge victorious. Primal, the edgy action series from Genndy Tartakovsky, gets its first nod in the category (although it has won big at the Juried Emmys).

The vfx awards have been reconfigured this year: “best effects” and “best effects in a supporting role” have been replaced by “best effects in a season or a movie” and “in a single episode.” There is more turnover in these categories than in best animated program, although last year's winners, The Mandalorian and Vikings, are both back with another shot.

In what is becoming a familiar pattern, Netflix and Disney+ dominate the animation and vfx categories: they have six nominations apiece. HBO and HBO Max, which together lead the nominations across all Emmy categories, have five between them here. HBO Max is competing for the first time, as is Paramount+.

Overall, streaming platforms have 19 nominations to linear tv's 13.

The awards ceremony will air on September 19 on CBS and Paramount Plus, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. Cedric the Entertainer will host the ceremony, which will take place at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater in front of a limited audience of nominees and their guests.

A list of all the nominees in the animation and vfx categories can be found below. For the full list of nominees in all categories, visit the Emmy website. The Daytime Emmy nominations were announced last month.