The Annie Awards 2026, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, are set to celebrate the people who create the art of animation and promote their works. With only a month left for the annual award ceremony kickstart, ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominees for this year on Monday (January 5). In the film category, KPop Demon Hunters and Elio topped the nomination list with 10 awards each, including Best Feature, Best FX - Feature, and Best Character Animation - Feature.
For the Best Feature award, both films will compete against seven-time nominees Zootopia 2 and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and five-time nominee The Bad Guys 2. Meanwhile, Arco, The Twits, and Scarlet are nominated in multiple categories, such as Best Direction - Feature, Best Character Design - Feature, and Best Production Design - Feature.
In the TV category, Win or Lose topped the nomination list with six nods, followed by Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight and Common Side Effects with five nominations each. The other TV shows with multiple nominations are Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Love, Death + Robots, with triple nominees.
After announcing the nominees, the winners of The Winsor McCay Award, The June Foray Award, The Ub Iwerks Award, and The Special Achievement Award were announced. Michaël Dudok de Wit, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, and Chris Sanders will be presented with The Winsor McCay Award in recognition of lifetime or career contributions.
The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent impact on the animation community will be awarded to Sandy Rabins. The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry will be presented to Wacom. The Special Achievement Award, acknowledging unique and outstanding achievement not recognized within the existing award category structure, will be presented to LightBox Expo.
The 53rd Annie Awards will take place at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 21. According to ASIFA-Hollywood, the complete winners will be announced through a live event.
Annie Awards 2026 Nomination List
BEST FEATURE
- Elio – Pixar Animation Studios
- KPop Demon Hunters – Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
- Little Amélie or the 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 the Prod and Bidibul productions
- Arco – Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
- I Am 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 or 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 in association with Apple
- The Night Before Christmas in 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 in Association with 20th Television Animation
- LouiMax Dreams of Being an Adult – Imagine Create Media Inc. in conjunction with Maileg APS
- Olipop Yeti – Screen Novelties & Passion Pictures
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – The Animation – SEGA of America in association with GXS Productions
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
- Eva The Owlet – Episode: Welcome to Treetopington – Brown Bag Films / Scholastic Entertainment in association with 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 the Secret Museum – Episode: I Am 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 the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Episode: Rise of the 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 in un caffè – Luckyred, Megadrago
- South Park – Episode: Sermon on the '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 in association with Apple
- Chris Derochie
- The Simpsons – Various Episodes – A Gracie Films Production in Association with 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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 with Gramps – Short Film – DreamWorks Animation
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
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 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
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 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
