Annie Awards: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ & ‘Elio’ Lead Film Nominations

Trending 4 months ago

Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters leads nan measurement pinch 13 nominations for nan 2026 Annie Awards, followed by Pixar’s Elio with 10. Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2 and Gkids’ Little Amélie aliases nan Character of Rain are adjacent pinch 5 each.

Those 4 titles will compete pinch DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys 2 for nan marquee Best Feature Prize. Up for Best Feature – Independent are Arco, I’m Frankelda, Lost In Starlight, A Magnificent Life and Scarlet. See nan afloat database of noms below

ASIFA-Hollywood revealed its Annie noms successful 32 categories connected Monday. Winners will beryllium feted during nan 53rd Annie Awards ceremonial connected February 21 astatine UCLA’s Royce Hall.

Since nan Best Animated Feature Oscar class was launched successful 2002, 14 of nan 23 winners of nan Annies’ marquee Best Feature prize – and 7 of nan past 13 – went connected to declare nan aureate statuette. But past twelvemonth bucked nan inclination arsenic the Academy Award went to Flow over The Wild Robot, which dominated nan 2025 Annies with 7 nods. Flow, however, did triumph nan Annie for Best Independent Feature backmost successful February, on pinch Best Writing.

RELATED: All The Animated Feature Oscar Winners: Photo Gallery

ASIFA-Hollywood besides has group nan winners of its 2026 Juried Awards, honoring “unparalleled accomplishment and exceptional contributions to animation.”

The Winsor McCay Award successful nickname of life aliases profession contributions are being presented to animator, writer and head Michaël Dudok de Wit, filmmakers Christopher Miller and Phil Lord and writer-director Chris Sanders.

The June Foray Award for important and benevolent effect to nan animation organization will beryllium awarded to Sandy Rabins, animation and unrecorded action shaper and nan founding guiding ray for nan AnimAID effort to assistance and support those successful nan animation manufacture who were affected by nan L. A. wildfires.

The Ub Iwerks Award for method advancement affecting nan animation manufacture will beryllium presented to Wacom, shaper of nan Cintiq graphics tablet and different products that person go an integral portion of animation accumulation worldwide.

RELATED: 2026 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Guilds, Grammys, Tonys & More

The Special Achievement Award acknowledging unsocial and outstanding accomplishment not recognized wrong nan existing grant class building will beryllium presented to LightBox Expo, nan yearly arena that brings nan imaginative animation organization of filmmakers together pinch animation students and fans.

Here are nan nominees for nan 2026 Annie Awards:

BEST FEATURE

Elio
Pixar Animation Studios

KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Little Amélie aliases nan Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by Gkids

The Bad Guys 2
DreamWorks Animation

Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios

BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENT

A Magnificent Life
Mediawan, What nan Prod and Bidibul productions

Arco
Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma

I’m Frankelda
Cinema Fantasma, Warner Bros. Discovery, Woo Films, Cine Vendaval

Lost In Starlight
Netflix / Climax Studio

Scarlet
Studio CHIZU

BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION

A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty aliases Nice
Nickelodeon Animation Studio & Jam Filled Entertainment

Adult Swim’s The Elephant
Titmouse and Williams Street

Not Just a Goof
Venturia Animation Studios ® for CNEK Films LLC

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
WildBrain Studios successful relation pinch Apple

The Night Before Christmas successful Wonderland
Lupus Films, Universal Pictures Content Group

BEST SHORT SUBJECT

Cardboard
Locksmith Animation

Ovary-Acting
Klipp og Lim, Jante Films, Apparat Filmproduktion AB

Pillowzzz
Animoshe

Snow Bear
The Art of Aaron Blaise

The Girl Who Cried Pearls
National Film Board of Canada

BEST SPONSORED

Animated Short: “Trek” | Honkai: Star Rail
FLiiiP Design

Fortnite x The Simpsons: Apocalypse D’Oh!
A Gracie Films Production successful Association pinch 20th Television Animation

LouiMax Dreams of Being An Adult
Imagine Create Media Inc. successful conjunction pinch Maileg APS

Olipop Yeti
Screen Novelties & Passion Pictures

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – The Animation
SEGA of America successful relation pinch GXS Productions

BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL

Eva The Owlet
Episode: Welcome to Treetopington
Brown Bag Films / Scholastic Entertainment successful relation pinch Apple

Kindergarten: The Musical! Episode: Gotta Go!
Oddbot Entertainment, Disney Branded Television

The Tiny Chef Show
Episode: Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular
Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions

Wow Lisa
Episode: Rainy Day
Punkrobot

Xavier Riddle and nan Secret Museum Episode: I americium Jackie Robinson
9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films

BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN

My Melody & Kuromi
Episode: All For Our Best Friend
Sanrio Company for Netflix

Spice Frontier: Escape From Veltegar Episode: 1
Steamroller Animation

Tales of nan Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Episode: Rise of nan Night Ninja
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and PointGrey Pictures

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball Episode: The Rewrite
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe

Wylde Pak
Episode: Sungandeul
Nickelodeon Animation Studios / Jam Filled Entertainment

BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE

Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Grand Pre-Pre-Pre Opening
20th TV

Common Side Effects Episode: Pilot
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions

Haha, You Clowns
Episode: 107 – Duncan Holds a Baby
Williams Street

Il Baracchino
Episode: Claudia entra successful un caffè
Luckyred, Megadrago

South Park
Episode: Sermon connected nan ‘Mount
Comedy Central LLC

BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES

Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight Episode: Episode III
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films

Eyes of Wakanda
Episode: Into The Lion’s Den
Marvel Studios

Marvel Zombies Episode: 2
Marvel Studios

Star Wars: Visions – Volume 3 Episode: BLACK
david production

Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 8: Home
Pixar Animation Studios

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

BEST FX – TV/MEDIA

Marvel Zombies Episode: Episode 4
Production Company: Marvel Animation
FX Production Company: Stellar Creative Lab, Inc.
Emma Badia, Tristan Fairclough, Jimmy Dumont, Sheng Hung, Arth Vasavada

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age Episode: The Big Freeze
Production Company: BBC Studios Natural History Unit
FX Production Company: Framestore
Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Shuleman , Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian

Spice Frontier Episode: 1
Production Company: Steamroller Animation
FX Production Company: Steamroller Animation
Steamroller Animation Effects Department

Star Wars: Visions – Volume 3 Episode: The Bird of Paradise
Production Company: Polygon Pictures
FX Production Company: Polygon Pictures
Takashi Okamoto, Kohei Yamamoto, Genyo Sasaki, Chizuru Nakamura, Erika Matsui

WONDLA
Episode: Lost
Production Company: Skydance Animation
FX Production Company: ICON Creative Studio
EP 209 ICON Creative Studio FX Team

BEST FX – FEATURE

Elio
Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
FX Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
Ferdi Scheepers, Shaun Galinak, Alyssa Lee, Nate Skeen, Gary Bruins

In Your Dreams
Production Company: Netflix, Kuku Studios
FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks
Dmitriy Kolesnik, Stephen Paschk, David Sellares, Stephanie McNair

KPop Demon Hunters
Production Company: Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks
Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Lewis, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chapelle

The Bad Guys 2
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
Landon Gray, Michael Losure, Zachary Glynn, Chris Wombold, Olivier Malric

Zootopia 2
Production Company: Walt Disney Animation Studios
FX Production Company: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Le Joyce Tong, Shamintha Kalamba Arachchi, Dimitre Berberov, Chris Carignan, Cristiana Covone

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA

Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight Episode: Episode III
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Floriane Caseiro

Forevergreen Special Production
Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
Brendan Gottlieb

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical Special Production
WildBrain Studios successful relation pinch Apple
Chris Derochie

The Simpsons Various Episodes
A Gracie Films Production successful Association pinch 20th Television Animation
Nik Ranieri

Win Or Lose Various Episodes
Pixar Animation Studios
Alli Sadegiani

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE

Elio
Pixar Animation Studios
Jonah Sidhom

KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix
Ryusuke Furuya

Little Amélie aliases nan 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 nan 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 nan 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

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight Episode: Episode IV
Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films
Borja Montoro

Bat-Fam
Episode: A Knight astatine nan Movies
Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment
Benjamin Tong

Love, Death + Robots Episode: 400 Boys
Blur Studio for Netflix
Robert Valley

Wednesdays pinch 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

BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA

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 successful relation pinch Apple
Siri Melchior

Tales of nan Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Episode: Rise of nan 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 aliases nan Character of Rain
Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by Gkids
Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han

Scarlet
Studio CHIZU
Mamoru Hosoda

BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA

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 successful relation pinch 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 aliases nan 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

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

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 pinch Gramps Short Film
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 nan Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Episode: Rise of nan 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 aliases nan 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

BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA

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)

BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA

#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 simply a Rhinoceros Special Production
Bento Box and Propagate successful relation pinch 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 aliases nan 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

BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA

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 nan 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 aliases nan 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

More
Source deadline.com
deadline.com