53rd Annie Awards Winners – ‘KPOP Demon Hunters’ Takes Best Feature, Arco Wins Best Feature – Independent

KPOP Demon Hunters won ten awards, including Best Feature at the 53rd Annie Awards on Saturday night.

The film won Best FX- Feature (Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Corbaux, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chappelle) Best Character Animation – Feature (Ryusuke Furuya), Best Character Design – Feature (Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson), Best Direction – Feature (Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans), Best Music – Feature (KPop Demon Hunters Music Team), Best Production Design – Feature (Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim) Best Voice Acting – Feature (Arden Cho as Rumi) Best Writing – Feature (Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans) and Best Editorial – Feature (KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team).

Other top honors, including Best Feature – Independent was presented to Arco, and Best Special Production was presented to Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical.

Juried Awards, including the Winsor McCay Award in recognition of lifetime or career contributions, were awarded to three recipients: animator, writer, and director Michaël Dudok de Wit; Christopher Miller and Phil Lord; and writer/director Chris Sanders.

The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent impact to the animation community was awarded to Sandy Rabins, animation and live action producer, and the founding guiding light for the AnimAID effort to assist and support those in the animation industry who were affected by the L.A. Wildfires.

The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry was awarded to Wacom, manufacturer of the Cintiq graphics tablet; the Special Achievement Award was awarded to LightBox Expo; and the ASIFA-Hollywood Merit Award, given by the Board of Directors, was presented to Jeffrey New and Haley Mirren Douthit.

Winners of 53rd Annie Awards

Best Feature
KPop Demon Hunters

Best Feature – Independent
Arco

Best Special Production
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical

Best Short Subject
Snow Bear

Best Sponsored
Olipop Yeti

Best TV/Media – Preschool
Wow Lisa
Episode: Rainy Day

Best TV/Media – Children
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
Episode: The Rewrite

Best TV/Media – Mature
Common Side Effects
Episode: Pilot

Best TV/Media – Limited Series
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 8: Home

Best Student Film
A Sparrow’s Song
Student Director: Tobias Eckerlin
Student Producer: Tobias Eckerlin
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH

Best FX – TV/Media
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Episode: The Big Freeze
Production Company: BBC Studios Natural History Unit in association with Apple TV
FX Production Company: Framestore
Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Schuleman, Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian

Best FX – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks
Filippo Maccari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Corbaux, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chapelle

Best Character Animation – TV/Media
Win Or Lose
Various Episodes
Pixar Animation Studios
Alli Sadegiani

Best Character Animation – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix
Ryusuke Furuya

Best Character Animation – Live Action
How To Train Your Dragon
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: Framestore
Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi

Best Character Animation – Video Game
South of Midnight
Compulsion Games
Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond

Best Character Design – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: 400 Boys
Blur Studio for Netflix
Robert Valley

Best Character Design – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson

Best Direction – TV/Media
Common Side Effects
Episode: Cliff’s Edge
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions
Vincent Tsui

Best Direction – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans

Best Music – TV/Media
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 6, Mixed Signals
Pixar Animation Studios
Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Jonny Pakfar

Best Music – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Music Team

Best Production Design – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
Gigi Cavenago

Best Production Design – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim

Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
Edgar Martins

Best Storyboarding – Feature
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon

Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Don’t Worry Be Hoopy
20th Television Animation
Dan Mintz (Character: Tina Belcher)

Best Voice Acting – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Arden Cho (Character: Rumi)

Best Writing – TV/Media
Common Side Effects
Episode: Pilot
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Joe Bennett, Steve Hely

Best Writing – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans

Best Editorial – TV/Media
Common Side Effects
Episode: Raid
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim

Best Editorial – Feature
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team