Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters continues its unlikely victory lap. The animated pop musical swept the 2026 Annie Awards, taking home 10 trophies, including Best Feature. Presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, the Annies are widely regarded as animation’s top honors.
Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the Sony-produced film also won for direction, music, writing, editorial, and voice acting for Arden Cho, who voices Rumi. It cleaned up across the technical categories as well, earning awards for FX, character animation, character design, and production design.
What makes the sweep more remarkable is the film’s launch story. Netflix debuted KPop Demon Hunters last summer with minimal fanfare, yet it quickly became a global breakout, ultimately ranking as the streamer’s most-watched movie of all time with 481.6 million views worldwide in the second half of 2025.
In the independent feature category, French filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu’s hand-drawn Arco took top honors.
Historically, Annie winners often carry momentum into the Oscars race. The last Annie Best Feature winner to also win the Academy Award was Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio in 2023. Last year’s Annie Best Feature winner, The Wild Robot, did not repeat at the Oscars, which instead honored Flow, the Annie’s independent winner.
On the television side, Adult Swim’s Common Side Effects won Best TV/Media Mature, Hulu’s The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball took Best TV/Media Children, and Disney+’s Win Or Lose earned Best Limited Series. The Chilean Spanish-language series Wow Lisa, notable for combining 3D characters with scale-model crafted backgrounds, won Best Preschool Series.
ASIFA-Hollywood also handed out its lifetime achievement honors. The Winsor McCay Award went to Dutch filmmaker Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle), directing duo Christopher Miller and Phil Lord (The Lego Movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), and Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Wild Robot).
Producer Sandy Rabins received the June Foray Award for her impact on the animation community, including her work on AnimAID, which supports industry professionals affected by the Los Angeles wildfires.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement was presented to Wacom for its Cintiq graphics tablet, now an industry standard in professional 2D animation and design. LightBox Expo received a special achievement award for fostering connections between animation creators, students, and fans.
With 10 wins in one night, KPop Demon Hunters cements its status not just as a streaming hit, but as a serious player in animation’s awards landscape.
Here’s the complete list of Annie Winners:
FEATURE FILM CATEGORIES
• Best Feature: KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
• Best Feature – Independent: Arco — Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
• Best Special Production: Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
• Best Short Subject: Snow Bear — The Art of Aaron Blaise
• Best Sponsored: Olipop Yeti — Screen Novelties & Passion Pictures
TELEVISION / MEDIA CATEGORIES
• Best TV/Media – Preschool: Wow Lisa — Episode: Rainy Day — Punkrobot
• Best TV/Media – Children: The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball — Episode: The Rewrite — Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
• Best TV/Media – Mature: Common Side Effects — Episode: Pilot — Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions
• Best TV/Media – Limited Series: Win Or Lose — Episode: Home — Pixar Animation Studios
STUDENT FILM
• Best Student Film: A Sparrow’s Song — Tobias Eckerlin — Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
FX
• Best FX – TV/Media: Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Schuleman, Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian — Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — Episode: The Big Freeze — BBC Studios Natural History Unit — FX: Framestore
• Best FX – Feature: Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Corbaux, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chapelle — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix — FX: Sony Pictures Imageworks
CHARACTER ANIMATION
• Best Character Animation – TV/Media: Alli Sadegiani — Win Or Lose — Pixar Animation Studios
• Best Character Animation – Feature: Ryusuke Furuya — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix
• Best Character Animation – Live Action: Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi — How To Train Your Dragon — DreamWorks Animation — FX: Framestore
• Best Character Animation – Video Game: Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond — South of Midnight — Compulsion Games
CHARACTER DESIGN
• Best Character Design – TV/Media: Robert Valley — Love, Death + Robots — Episode: 400 Boys — Blur Studio for Netflix
• Best Character Design – Feature: Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
DIRECTION
• Best Direction – TV/Media: Vincent Tsui — Common Side Effects — Episode: Cliff’s Edge
• Best Direction – Feature: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
MUSIC
• Best Music – TV/Media: Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar — Win Or Lose — Episode 6, Mixed Signals — Pixar Animation Studios
• Best Music – Feature: KPop Demon Hunters Music Team — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
PRODUCTION DESIGN
• Best Production Design – TV/Media: Gigi Cavenago — Love, Death + Robots — Episode: How Zeke Got Religion — Blur Studio for Netflix
• Best Production Design – Feature: Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
STORYBOARDING
• Best Storyboarding – TV/Media: Edgar Martins — Love, Death + Robots — Episode: How Zeke Got Religion — Blur Studio for Netflix
• Best Storyboarding – Feature: Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon — The Bad Guys 2 — DreamWorks Animation
VOICE ACTING
• Best Voice Acting – TV/Media: Dan Mintz (as Tina Belcher) — Bob’s Burgers — Episode: Don’t Worry Be Hoopy — 20th Television Animation
• Best Voice Acting – Feature: Arden Cho (as Rumi) — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
WRITING
• Best Writing – TV/Media: Joe Bennett, Steve Hely — Common Side Effects — Episode: Pilot — Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
• Best Writing – Feature: Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans — KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
EDITORIAL
• Best Editorial – TV/Media: Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim — Common Side Effects — Episode: Raid — Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
• Best Editorial – Feature: KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
SPECIAL HONORS
• Winsor McCay Award: Michaël Dudok de Wit; Christopher Miller; Phil Lord; Chris Sanders
• June Foray Award: Sandy Rabins
• Ub Iwerks Award: Wacom
• Special Achievement Award: LightBox Expo
• ASIFA-Hollywood Merit Award: Jeffrey New; Haley Mirren Douthit
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