This past weekend saw the winners of the 52nd Annie Awards announced, and right up there was League of Legends animated series Arcane, which swept up awards in all of the seven categories it was nominated for! Now, that’s a result.
And the biggest winner of the night – again not really a surprise to anyone – was The Wild Robot, with eight wins including Best Direction for Chris Sanders, FX, Character Animation, Character Design, Production Design, Editorial, Music and Voice Acting for Lupita Nyong’o (who played lead character, Roz).
I’m so happy to see both of these amazing animation projects recognised in such a big way, and I hope this bodes well for future projects, because both of these were an absolute joy to watch. More of this, please!
An honor to receive seven awards this evening at the #AnnieAwards 💙 #Arcane @ForticheProd
— Arcane (@arcaneshow) February 9, 2025
• Best Direction
• Best Editorial
• Best Music
• Best FX
• Best Production Design
• Best Character Animation
• Best Storyboarding pic.twitter.com/LnKBHo62NQ
As a huge Arcane fan, myself, I’ve got to say this is so well deserved. And here’s the full list of winners, below:
BEST FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENT
Flow
Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Chris Sanders
BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Arnaud Delord, Pascal Charrue, Bart Maunoury
BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
Despicable Me 4
Illumination
Habib Louati
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: Killing is a Cycle
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Joséphine Meis
BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES
Dream Productions
Episode: A Night to Remember
Pixar Animation Studios
BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: They Slug Horses, Don’t They?
20th Television Animation
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode: The Molecular Level
Flying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
The Tiny Chef Show
Episode: Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular
Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions
BEST WRITING – FEATURE
Flow
Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio
Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža
BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA
Orion and the Dark
Special Production
DreamWorks Animation
Charlie Kaufman
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Lupita Nyong’o (Character: Roz)
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
Dream Productions Episode: Out of Body
Pixar Animation Studios
Paula Pell (Character: Paula)
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: Pretend Like It’s the First Time
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Nazim Meslem, Gilad Carmel, Roberto Fernandez
BEST FX – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli
BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
Production Company: A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
FX Production Company: Fortiche Studio
Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Adam Bachiri, Guillaume Zaouche, Jérôme Dupré
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Fabio Lignini
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episodes: Killing Is A Cycle, Heavy Is the Crown, Finally Got the Name Right, The Message Hidden Within the Pattern, The Dirt Under Your Nails, Pretend Like It’s the First Time, Blisters and Bedrock
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Tom Gouill
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Production Company: 20th Century Studios
FX Production Company: Wētā FX
Christian Kickenweitz, Aidan Martin, Allison Orr, Radiya Alam, Howard Sly
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
Neva
Nomada Studio
Nomada Studio Animation Team
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Genevieve Tsai
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode: The Molecular Level
Disney Television Animation, Cinema Gypsy Productions
Jose Lopez
BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Kris Bowers
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Ryan Jillian Santiago, Alexander Seaver, Simon Wilcox
BEST SPONSORED
Fuzzy Feelings
Passion Pictures Hungry Man
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Orion and the Dark
DreamWorks Animation
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Raymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Julien Georgel, Faustine Dumontier, Charlotte O’Neil
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
Wander to Wonder
Circe Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo
BEST STUDENT FILM
Adiós
Student Director: José Prats
Student Producer: Bernardo Angeletti
School: National Film and Television School
JURIED AWARDS
The Winsor McCay AwardsAaron Blaise
Eunice Macaulay
Normand Roger
June Foray AwardWomen in Animation
Ub Iwerks AwardAlberto Menache
Special Achievement AwardDirecting at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt’s Animated Films
What do you think of these wins for Arcane and The Wild Robot? Are you feeling optimistic for the future of animation based on these stunning recent offerings? Comment below.
