The Annie Awards, which recognize the best in animated film and TV, announced their nominations on January 5. Unsurprisingly, things look “Golden” for “KPOP Demon Hunters.”
The Netflix sleeper hit was one of the two films to receive the most nominations at the ceremony, along with “Elio,” the Pixar sci-fi film that underperformed at the box office upon its June premiere. Both films received nominations in the best feature category, alongside categories like character animation, music, and voice acting; “KPOP Demon Hunters” additionally nabbed a directing nomination. Other films nominated in the Best Feature category are “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” and “Zootopia 2,” both of which received seven nods, and “The Bad Guys 2,” which received five. The best Independent feature category includes “Arco,” which received five nominations, three-time nominee “Scarlet,” as well as “A Magnificent Life,” “I’m Frankelda,” and “Lost in Starlight.”
In the TV categories, Pixar animated series “Win or Lose” leads with six nominations. Other shows recognized include “Common Side Effects,” “Smiling Friends,” and “The Simpsons.”
In addition, the Annie Awards also announced recipients for several honorary awards. Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, Michaël Dudok de Wit, and Chris Sanders will all receive Windsor McCay Award’s for lifetime contributions to animation. Sandy Rabins, who led AnimAID efforts to help those in the animation industry affected by the 2025 LA wildfires, will receive the June Foray Award for benevolent impact to the animation community. Wacom will receive the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement, while LightBox Expo will receive a special achievement award.
The 53rd Annie Awards, presented by ASIFRA-Hollywood, will be held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on February 21. Read the complete list of nominees below.
Best Feature
“Elio”
“KPop Demon Hunters,”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain,”
“The Bad Guys 2”
“Zootopia 2”
Best Feature — Independent
“A Magnificent Life”
“Arco”
“I’m Frankelda”
“Lost in Starlight”
“Scarlet”
Best Special Production
“A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice”
“Adult Swim’s The Elephant”
“Not Just a Goof”
“Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical”
“The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland”
Best Short Subject
“Cardboard”
“Ovary-Acting”
“Pillowzzz”
“Snow Bear”
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
Animated Short: “Trek” | Honkai: Star Rail
Fortnite x The Simpsons: Apocalypse D’Oh!
LouiMax Dreams of Being An Adult
Olipop Yeti
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – The Animation
Eva The Owlet
Episode: Welcome to Treetopington
Kindergarten: The Musical!
Episode: Gotta Go!
The Tiny Chef Show
Episode: Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular
Wow Lisa
Episode: Rainy Day
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Episode: I am Jackie Robinson
My Melody & Kuromi
Episode: All For Our Best Friend
Spice Frontier: Escape From Veltegar
Episode: 1
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Rise of the Night Ninja
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
Episode: The Rewrite
Wylde Pak
Episode: Sungandeul
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Grand Pre-Pre-Pre Opening
Common Side Effects
Episode: Pilot
Haha, You Clowns
Episode: 107 – Duncan Holds a Baby
Il Baracchino
Episode: Claudia entra in un caffè
South Park
Episode: Sermon on the ‘Mount
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode III
Eyes of Wakanda
Episode: Into The Lion’s Den
Marvel Zombies
Episode: 2
Star Wars: Visions – Volume 3
Episode: BLACK
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
Acrobats
Student Directors: Eloïse Alluyn, Hugo Danet, Anna Despinoy, Antonin Guerci, Alexandre Marzin, Shali Reddy
School: Gobelins
Jour de vent
Student Directors: Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Elise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez, Camille Truding
School: École des Nouvelles Images
The Undying Pain of Existence
Student Director: Oscar Jacobson
Student Producers: Franz Rügamer, Nadiia Yunatska
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
TRASH
Student Directors: Maxime Crançon, Alexis Le Ral
Student Producers: Robin Delaporte, Romain Fleischer, Mattéo Durand
School: ESMA
Marvel Zombies
Episode: Episode 4
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Episode: The Big Freeze
Spice Frontier
Episode: 1
Star Wars: Visions – Volume 3
Episode: The Bird of Paradise
WONDLA
Episode: Lost
Best FX – Feature
Elio
In Your Dreams
KPop Demon Hunters
The Bad Guys 2
Zootopia 2
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Forevergreen
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
The Simpsons
Win Or Lose
Best Character Animation – Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Jonah Sidhom
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix
Ryusuke Furuya
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Juliette Laurent
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Ludovic Bouancheau
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Tony Smeed
Best Character Animation – Live Action
A Minecraft Movie
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Mojang Studios, Vertigo Entertainment, On the Roam
FX Production Company: Weta FX
Kevin Estey, Anthony McIndoe, Jade Lorier, Caroline Ting, Luisma Lavin Peredo
Captain America: Brave New World
Production Company: Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
FX Production Company: Weta FX
Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, Andrew William Park, Marco Röth, Paul Seyb, Thien Ly
How To Train Your Dragon
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: Framestore
Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Production Company: BBC Studios Natural History Unit
FX Production Company: Framestore
Adrien Annesley, Alvise Avati, Riyad Chalakkara, Daniel Mizuguchi, Liam Russell
Superman
Production Company: DC Studios
FX Production Company: Framestore
Loic Mireault, Michael Elder, Philipp Winterstein, Victor Dinis, Diego De Paula Pereira Batista
Best Character Animation – Video Game
Bye Sweet Carole
Little Sewing Machine
Chris Darril
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Kojima Productions
Hideo Kojima, Masaaki Kawata, Kojima Productions, PlayStation Studios XDEV
Ghost of Yōtei
Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions Animation Team
Keeper
Double Fine Productions
Zach Baharov, Alex Turner, Jerry Matsko, Anne-Sophie Savard, Geneviève Desbiens
South of Midnight
Compulsion Games
Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode IV
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Borja Montoro
Bat-Fam
Episode: A Knight at the Movies
Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment
Benjamin Tong
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: 400 Boys
Blur Studio for Netflix
Robert Valley
Wednesdays with Gramps Short Film
DreamWorks Animation
Seth St. Pierre
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 8, Home
Pixar Animation Studios
Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Best Character Design – Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Matt Nolte, Yingzong Xin, James Woods, Kaleb Rice, Bob Pauley
Fixed
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Craig Kellman
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Paramount Animation / Nickelodeon Movies
Adam Paloian, Thaddeus Couldron, Alvi Ramirez
The Twits
Netflix Presents / The Roald Dahl Story Company
Kei Acedera, Tristan Poulain, Jules Rigolle, Fernando Peque, Remi Salmon
Common Side Effects
Episode: Cliff’s Edge
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions
Vincent Tsui
DAN DA DAN
Episode: Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot!
Science SARU, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Distributed by GKIDS
Fuga Yamashiro, Abel Góngora
Not a Box Episode: It’s a Boat
Silver Creek Falls Entertainment / Passion Pictures in association with Apple
Siri Melchior
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Rise of the Night Ninja
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and PointGrey Pictures
JJ Conway, Kevin Molina-Ortiz
The Quinta’s Ghost Short Film
Martirio Films & Illusorium films
James A. Castillo
Best Direction – Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Ugo Bienvenu, Adam Sillard, Anaëlle Saba
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
MAPPA Studios
Tatsuya Yoshihara
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han
Scarlet
Studio CHIZU
Mamoru Hosoda
Common Side Effects
Episode: Lakeshore Limited
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Nicolas Snyder
Devil May Cry
Episode: The First Circle
A Netflix Series / Studio Mir / Adi Shankar Animation / Capcom
Power Glove, Alex Seaver
Éiru
Short Film
Cartoon Saloon
○ Leo Pearson, Ceara Conway
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical Special Production
WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
Ben Folds, Jeff Morrow, Alan Zachary, Michael Weiner
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 6, Mixed Signals
Pixar Animation Studios
Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar
Best Music – Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Arnaud Toulon
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Rob Simonsen
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Music Team
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Mari Fukuhara
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Blake Slatkin, Michael Giacchino
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode II
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Aurélien Prédal
Forevergreen Special Production
Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
Jeremy Spears, Gregory Culp
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
Gigi Cavenago
ParaNorman: The Thrifting Special Production
LAIKA
Thibault Leclercq, Santiago Montiel, Jung Woonyoung, Stephanie Bray-Lee
Wednesdays with Gramps Special Production
DreamWorks Animation
Frederic Stewart
Best Production Design – Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Harley Jessup, Ernesto Nemesio, Maria Lee, Kristian Norelius, Kyle Jones
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Luc Desmarchelier, Floriane Marchix
The Twits
Netflix Presents / The Roald Dahl Story Company
Estefania Pantoja, Alexandre Diboine, Clement Dartigues, Fernando Peque, Remi Salmon
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Cory Loftis, Limei Z. Hshieh
Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
Edgar Martins
ParaNorman: The Thrifting Special Production
LAIKA
Coleton Palmer, Katherine Jay Myong, Heewon Jeong
Snow Bear Short Film
The Art of Aaron Blaise, LLC.
Aaron Blaise
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Rise of the Night Ninja
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and PointGrey Pictures
Richard Chi, Matthew Kim, Sheldon Vella, Lyndsay Simpson
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 8, Home
Pixar Animation Studios
Esteban Bravo
Best Storyboarding – Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Ugo Bienvenu
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Tony Rosenast
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Nicolas Pawlowski
The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation
Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Hikari Toriumi
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Don’t Worry Be Hoopy
20th TV
Dan Mintz (Character: Tina Belcher)
Hazbin Hotel
Episode: Behind Closed Doors
Amazon MGM Studios, A24, Bento Box Entertainment
Erika Henningsen (Character: Charlie Morningstar)
Long Story Short
Episode: Shira Can’t Cook
Tornante Television and ShadowMachine for Netflix
Abbi Jacobson (Character: Shira Schwooper)
Smiling Friends
Episode: Shmaloogles
Williams Street
Zach Hadel (Character: Evil Wizard)
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball Episode: The Amadain
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
Alkaio Thiele (Character: Gumball Watterson)
Best Voice Acting – Feature
Dog Man
DreamWorks Animation
Lil Rey Howery (Character: Chief)
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Remy Edgerly (Character: Glordon)
In Your Dreams
Netflix Presents a Kuku Studios Production / Sony Pictures Imageworks
Craig Robinson (Character: Baloney Tony)
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Arden Cho (Character: Rumi)
The Twits
Netflix Presents / The Roald Dahl Story Company
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Character: Beesha)
#1 Happy Family USA
Episode: Episode 101: NINE TEN
Amazon MGM Studios, A24, Cairo Cowboy
Ramy Youssef, Pam Brady
Adult Swim’s The Elephant Special Production
Titmouse and Williams Street
Pendleton Ward, Ian Jones-Quartey, Rebecca Sugar, Patrick McHale
Common Side Effects
Episode: Pilot
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Joe Bennett, Steve Hely
Lulu is a Rhinoceros Special Production
Bento Box and Propagate in association with Apple
Allison Flom
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 4, Pickle
Pixar Animation Studios
Carrie Hobson, Michael Yates
Best Writing – Feature
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, Mike Jones
KPop Demon Hunters
KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team
Danya Jimenez , Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Liane-Cho Han, Aude Py, Maïlys Vallade, Eddine Noël
Scarlet
Studio CHIZU
Mamoru Hosoda
Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Jared Bush
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
Episode: Episode III
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
David Boyadjian
Common Side Effects
Episode: Raid
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions
Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim
Haunted Hotel
Episode: The Acolytes of Abaddon
Titmouse for Netflix
Benjamin Morse, Benjamin Martian, Marshall Wetta
Invincible S3
Episode: I Thought You’d Never Shut Up
Amazon MGM Studios, Skybound Animation
Luke Asa Guidici, Matt Michael, Lea Carosella, Liam Johnson
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch Episode: Up From the Grave
Ubisoft Film & Television
Thomas Belair, Nicolas Bourgeois, Julien Perez
Best Editorial – Feature
Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
Nathan Jacquard
Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Anna Wolitzky, Steve Bloom, Noah Newman, Greg Snyder, Ben Morris
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
Ludovic Versace
Olivia & las Nubes
Cine Chani, Historias de Bibi & Guasábara Cine
Tomás Pichardo Espaillat