Nominations For The Annie Awards Announced

As 2016 draws to a close, the hot topic leading into the new year in Hollywood is the upcoming awards season. It has been quite the tumultuous 12 months in film, but it has no doubt produced some astounding work, and animation is no exclusion. Today, the nominations for the 44th annual Annie awards have landed, which honors a wide range of works in animation, were announced. Including feature films, shorts, television and an array of others.

This year’s Best Animated Feature nomination list boasts some heavy hitters vying to take the award. Disney’s Moana and Zootopia represent the House of Mouse, with Kung Fu Panda 3 and Pixar sequel Finding Dory. The sublime Kubo & The Two Strings rounds off the contenders – which additionally has a further 9 nominations in other categories, and looks to make a massive impact when the Annies are held on February 4th 2017.  Not included for this year’s consideration for the top accolade are Trolls, Sing, Sausage Party and The Secret Life of Pets.

So with February 4th in our midst, here are the some of the top animated feature awards up for contention and their respective nominees.

Best Animated Feature

Finding Dory – Pixar

Kubo & The Two Strings – Laika

Kung Fu Panda 3 – DreamWorks

Moana – Walt Disney Animation

Zootopia – Walt Disney Animation

Best Animated Feature – Independent

Long Way North – Sacrebleu Productions, Maybe Movies, NorlumStudios, France 3 Cinéma & 2 Minutes

Miss Hokusai – GKids

My Life as a Zucchini (Courgette) – GKids

The Red Turtle – Studio Ghibli, Wild Bunch, Why Not Productions

Your Name – CoMix Wave Films

Animated Effects In An Animated Production

Kubo & The Two Strings – Laika

Kung Fu Panda 3 – DreamWorks

Moana – Walt Disney Animation

The Red Turtle – Studio Ghibli, Wild Bunch, Why Not Productions

Zootopia – Walt Disney Animation

Directing In An Animated Feature Production

Kubo & The Two Strings – Dir. Travis Knight

My Life As A Zucchini (Courgette) – Dir. Claude Barras

The Red Turtle – Dir. Michael Dudok de Wit

Your Name – Dir. Makoto Shinkai

Zootopia – Dirs. Byron Howard & Rich Moore

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Kubo & The Two Strings – Art Parkinson (Kubo)

Moana – Auli’i Cravalho (Moana)

Storks – Katie Crown (Tulip)

Trolls – Zooey Deschanel (Bridget)

Zootopia – Jason Bateman (Nick Wilde)

The 44th Annual Annie Awards will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2017, at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Sources: Collider, Annie Awards.org