Pinocchio seems headed for an easy win in Animated Feature
There’s not a lot of suspense over the winner for Best Animated Feature this year. Pinocchio has this in a walk, and hey, at least it’s not yet another Disney or Pixar winner, so the streak is broken. I suppose if there was a runner-up for this it’s Puss in Boots, which got surprisingly good reviews and has turned into a sleeper hit, bringing family audiences back to the box office in the last few weeks, but the respect for del Toro keeps this from becoming a race, I think. Although, with the Oscars still two months away, there could be a chance for a late Puss in Boots surge, so we may have to keep an eye on that (that would also not be Disney or Pixar, but rather a return to DreamWorks after many years).
2023 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS
FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix
“Wendell & Wild,” Netflix Presents A Monkeypaw Production/A Gotham Group Production
INDIE FEATURE
“Charlotte,” January Films, Ltd., Balthazar Productions, and Walking the Dog
“Inu-Oh,” Science SARU
“Little Nicholas, Happy As Can Be,” On Classics (Mediawan)/Bidibul Productions/Buffalo 8
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC
“My Father’s Dragon,” Cartoon Saloon for Netflix
FX – FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Minions: The Rise of Gru”
“The Sea Beast”
CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Teresa Falcone
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Eric Anderson
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Tucker Barrie
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Jorge Capote
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Min Hong
CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Company: 20th Century Studios/Disney Studios, FX Production Company: Weta FX; Daniel Barrett, Stuart Adcock, Todd Labonte, Douglas McHale, Stephen Cullingford
“Beast,” Production Company: Universal Pictures, RVK Studios, Will Packer Productions, FX Production Company: Framestore; Alvise Avati, Chris McGaw, Bora Şahin, Krzysztof Boyoko, Laurent Benhamo
“Finch,” Production Company: Amblin Partners Apple Original Films, FX Production Company: MPC; Simon Allen, Harinarayan Rajeev, Paul Nelson, Matthias Schoenegger
“Jurassic World Dominion,” Production Company: Amblin Entertainment & Universal Pictures, FX Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic; Jance Rubinchik, Alexander Lee, Rich Bentley, Antoine Verney Carron, Sally Wilson
“Peacemaker,” Production Company: HBO Max, FX Production Company: Weta FX; Michael Cozens, Mark Smith, Kai-Hua Lan, Selene McLean, Richard John Moore
CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
“Luck,” Skydance LLC; Massimiliano Narciso
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Jesús Alonso Iglesias
“Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie,” Nickelodeon Animation Studio; Ida Hem
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Taylor Krahenbuhl
“Wendell & Wild,” Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production/A Gotham Group Production; Pablo Lobato
DIRECTION – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Domee Shi
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC; Dean Fleischer Camp, Kirsten Lepore, Stephen Chiodo
“My Father’s Dragon,” Cartoon Saloon for Netflix; Nora Twomey
“Wendell & Wild,” Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production/A Gotham Group Production; Henry Selick
MUSIC – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Ludwig Göransson, Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale
“Mad God,” Tippett Studio; Dan Wool
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Daniel Pemberton
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Mark Mancia, Nell Benjamin, Laurence O’Keefe
PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Curt Enderle, Guy Davis
“Mad God,” Tippett Studio; Phil Tippett
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Nate Wragg, Joseph Feinsilver, Claire Keane, Wayne Tsay, Naveen Selvanathan
“The Bad Guys,” DreamWorks Animation; Luc Desmarchelier, Floriane Marchix
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Matthias Lechner, Jung Woonyoung
STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” Illumination; Nima Azarba
“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” Illumination; Dave Feiss
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Anthony Holden
“Strange World,” Walt Disney Animation Studios; Jeff Snow
“Strange World,” Walt Disney Animation Studios; Javier Ledesma Barboll
VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; David Bradley (character: Geppetto)
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Gregory Mann (character: Pinocchio)
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC; Jenny Slate (character: Marcel)
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” DreamWorks Animation; Wagner Moura (character: Wolf)
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Zaris-Angel Hator (character: Maisie Brumble)
WRITING – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Domee Shi, Julia Cho “Eternal Spring,” Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc.; Jason Loftus
“Inu-Oh,” Science SARU; Akiko Nogi
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” Marcel the Movie LLC; Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm
EDITORIAL – FEATURE
“Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear,” Pixar; Tony Greenberg, Katie Bishop, Chloe Kloezeman, Axel Geddes, Tim Fox
“Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red,” Pixar Animation Studios; Nicholas Smith, Steve Bloom, David Suther, Anna Wolitzky, Christopher Zuber
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company; Ken Schretzmann, Holly Klein, Emily Chiu, Hamilton Barrett
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Dreamworks Animation; James Ryan, ACE, Jacquelyn Karambelas, Natalla Cronembold, Joe Butler, Katie Parody
“The Sea Beast,” Netflix; Joyce Arrastica, ACE, Will Erokan, Vivek Sharma, Michael Hugh O’Donnell, Daniel Ortiz
