Annie Awards Announces Presenters For April 16th Online Event

Annie Awards Announces Presenters For April 16th Online Event

March 30th, 2021

Jerry Beck

ASIFA-Hollywood announced its slate of presenters today for the 48th Virtual Annie Awards to stream live courtesy of Variety on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. PST. Additional presenters to be announced. The virtual Annies link is here: http://annieawards.org/watch-it-live/. Presenters include actors Josh Gad, Matthew Rhys, Philippa Soo (Hamilton) and Eva Whittaker; Oscar winning composer, Michael Giacchino; last year’s Annie winning director Sergio Pablos; along with DreamWorks director Jill Culton, producer Nora Twomey and the cast of the web series, Critical Role. Additional presenters to be confirmed shortly.

The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories including Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Special Production, Commercials, Short Subjects and Outstanding Individual Achievements.

This year’s Best Animated Feature nominations include: Onward (Pixar Animation Studios), Soul (Pixar Animation Studios), The Croods: A New Age (DreamWorks Animation), The Willoughbys (Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media) and Trolls World Tour (DreamWorks Animation). Best Animated Feature-Independent, spotlighting features with a much smaller distribution footprint than major studio releases, include: A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment An Aardman Production for Netflix), Calamity Jane (Maybe Movies), On-Gaku: Our Sound (Rock’n Roll Mountain, Tip Top), Ride Your Wave (Science SARU) and Wolfwalkers (Apple/GKIDS).

The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation are being presented to three recipients – Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously) and Bruce Smith.

The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation will be awarded to animator and art director, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi. The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Epic Games for its Unreal Engine; and The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to the documentary, Howard (Stone Circle Pictures).

Many thanks to the generous support from this year’s sponsors: Platinum Level – Walt Disney Animation Studios//Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation, and Variety; Gold Level – Disney TV Animation; Silver Level – Apple and Pixar Animation Studios; Bronze Level – Epic Games, Skydance Animation and Sony Pictures Animation; and Education/Nonprofit Level – Animation Guild and Sheridan College.

ASIFA-Hollywood is the world’s first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the Art of Animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Educators Forum, Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, animated film preservation, special events, classes and screenings.

Created in 1972 by veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards™ have grown in scope and stature for nearly five decades. For information regarding the Annie Awards, please visit www.annieawards.org.

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.