ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for the 53rd Annie Awards, with K-Pop Demon Hunters and Zootopia 2 emerging among the contenders for Best Animated Feature as animation’s most prestigious honors return to UCLA this February.
The Annie Awards will take place Saturday, February 21, 2026, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. A pre-reception and red carpet will begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 7:00 p.m. An after-party will immediately follow, with all events hosted on campus.
This year’s Annie Awards Best Animated Feature category reflects a wide range of styles and global voices. Nominees include Elio from Pixar Animation Studios, K-Pop Demon Hunters from Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain from Maybe Movies and Ikki Films, distributed by GKIDS, The Bad Guys 2 from DreamWorks Animation, and Zootopia 2 from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The Best Animated Feature–Independent category spotlights films with smaller distribution footprints, including A Magnificent Life from Mediawan, What the Prod, and Bidibul Productions; Arco from Remembers, MountainA France, and France 3 Cinéma; I’m Frankelda from Cinema Fantasma in association with Warner Bros. Discovery, Woo Films, and Cine Vendaval; Lost in Starlight from Netflix and Climax Studio; and Scarlet from Studio CHIZU.
In addition to competitive awards across 37 categories, the Annie Awards will honor influential figures through its Juried Awards. The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime or career achievement will be presented to animator and filmmaker Michaël Dudok de Wit, filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and writer-director Chris Sanders.
The June Foray Award will go to producer Sandy Rabins for her leadership of AnimAID, which supports members of the animation community impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement will be awarded to Wacom, recognizing its long-standing impact on animation production tools.
The Special Achievement Award will be presented to LightBox Expo, honoring its role in bringing together animation professionals, students, and fans through its annual industry gathering.
A complete list of nominees for the 53rd Annie Awards is available at annieawards.org as the animation industry prepares to celebrate another year of standout creative achievement.
Complete List of 2026 Annie Awards Nominees
Best Animated 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 Animated Feature – Independent
- A Magnificent Life — Mediawan, What the Prod, 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 or Nice — Nickelodeon Animation Studio and 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! — Gracie Films in association with 20th Television Animation
- LouiMax Dreams of Being an Adult — Imagine Create Media Inc. with Maileg APS
- Olipop Yeti — Screen Novelties and Passion Pictures
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – The Animation — SEGA of America with GXS Productions
Best TV/Media – Preschool
- Eva the Owlet — “Welcome to Treetopington” — Brown Bag Films / Scholastic Entertainment with Apple
- Kindergarten: The Musical! — “Gotta Go!” — Oddbot Entertainment, Disney Branded Television
- The Tiny Chef Show — “Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular” — Imagine Entertainment, Nickelodeon
- Wow Lisa — “Rainy Day” — Punkrobot
- Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum — “I Am Jackie Robinson” — 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films
Best TV/Media – Children
- My Melody and Kuromi — “All For Our Best Friend” — Sanrio for Netflix
- Spice Frontier: Escape From Veltegar — Episode 1 — Steamroller Animation
- Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — “Rise of the Night Ninja” — Nickelodeon / PointGrey
- The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball — “The Rewrite” — Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
- Wylde Pak — “Sungandeul” — Nickelodeon / Jam Filled
Best TV/Media – Mature
- Bob’s Burgers — “Grand Pre-Pre-Pre Opening” — 20th TV
- Common Side Effects — “Pilot” — Green Street Pictures, Williams Street
- Haha, You Clowns — “Duncan Holds a Baby” — Williams Street
- Il Baracchino — “Claudia entra in un caffè” — Luckyred, Megadrago
- South Park — “Sermon on the ’Mount” — Comedy Central
Best TV/Media – Limited Series
- Asterix and Obelix: The Big Fight — Episode III — Netflix / Banijay
- Eyes of Wakanda — “Into the Lion’s Den” — Marvel Studios
- Marvel Zombies — Episode 2 — Marvel Studios
- Star Wars: Visions – Volume 3 — “BLACK” — david production
- Win or Lose — “Home” — Pixar Animation Studios
Best Student Film
- A Sparrow’s Song — Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
- Acrobats — Gobelins
- Jour de vent — École des Nouvelles Images
- The Undying Pain of Existence — Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
- TRASH — ESMA
Best FX – Feature
- Elio — Pixar Animation Studios
- In Your Dreams — Netflix / Kuku Studios
- KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
- The Bad Guys 2 — DreamWorks Animation
- Zootopia 2 — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Character Animation – TV/Media
- Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight — 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 — Gracie Films 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 for 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 — Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Mojang Studios — Weta FX — Kevin Estey, Anthony McIndoe, Jade Lorier, Caroline Ting, Luisma Lavin Peredo
- Captain America: Brave New World — Marvel Studios — Weta FX — Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, Andrew William Park, Marco Röth, Paul Seyb, Thien Ly
- How to Train Your Dragon — DreamWorks Animation — Framestore — Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi
- Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — BBC Studios Natural History Unit — Framestore — Adrien Annesley, Alvise Avati, Riyad Chalakkara, Daniel Mizuguchi, Liam Russell
- Superman — DC Studios — 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, 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 IV — Netflix / Banijay Productions France / Légende Films — Borja Montoro
- Bat-Fam — A Knight at the Movies — Amazon MGM Studios, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment — Benjamin Tong
- Love, Death + Robots — “400 Boys” — Blur Studio for Netflix — Robert Valley
- Wednesdays with Gramps — Short Film — DreamWorks Animation — Seth St. Pierre
- Win or Lose — 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 / The Roald Dahl Story Company — Kei Acedera, Tristan Poulain, Jules Rigolle, Fernando Peque, Remi Salmon
Best Direction – TV/Media
- Common Side Effects — “Cliff’s Edge” — Green Street Pictures, Williams Street — Vincent Tsui
- DAN DA DAN — “Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot!” — Science SARU, distributed by GKIDS — Fuga Yamashiro, Abel Góngora
- Not a Box — “It’s a Boat” — Silver Creek Falls Entertainment / Passion Pictures with Apple — Siri Melchior
- Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — “Rise of the Night Ninja” — Nickelodeon / PointGrey — 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 — 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 — “Lakeshore Limited” — Green Street Pictures — Nicolas Snyder
- Devil May Cry — “The First Circle” — Netflix / Studio Mir — Power Glove, Alex Seaver
- Éiru — Short Film — Cartoon Saloon — Leo Pearson, Ceara Conway
- Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — WildBrain Studios with Apple — Ben Folds, Jeff Morrow, Alan Zachary, Michael Weiner
- Win or Lose — “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
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