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On Saturday, the winners of the 52nd Annual Annie Awards were announced. The awards are part of the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, and are used to honorexcellence in animationthat features on TV and in theaters in America each year. The entrants do not need to be American in origin, but they do have to be broadcast in America. This year, despite having nominations in a few categories, no anime titles took home any awards.
The two titles that won the most Annie Awards this year wereThe Wild RobotandArcane, both of which won several awards each. Historically, though, at least one anime has taken home an Annie Award most years. No awards for anime for 2024 is a hard hit for the anime industry in America, even though it has beengrowing and increasing in popularityeach year - though it also shows a high quality of Western animation that anime had to compete against.
What Anime were Nominated at the Annie Awards?
And What Did They Lose To?
The anime (or anime-like shows) that were nominated for Annie Awards at the 52nd Annual Awards show wereUltraman: Rising,Look Back,Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,TransformersOne, andSecret Level. Sadly, though, despite multiple nominations for a few of these titles, none of them were able to take home the award. Many were lost toThe Wild Robot, which took nine awards in total (in every category it was nominated). Netflix’s hit seriesArcanebased onLeague of Legendswon seven awards, which also everything it was nominated for.
Ultraman: Risingwas nominated for Best Feature, Best FX - Feature, and Best Production Design - Feature. It lost all three categories toThe Wild Robot, which won all of them.Look Backwas nominated for Best Feature - Independent, but lost toFLOW.Godzilla x Kong: The New Empirewas nominated for Best Character Animation - Live Action, but lost toKingdom of the Planet of the Apes.Transformers Onewas nominated for Best Voice Acting - Feature, but also lost toThe Wild Robot. Finally, three episodes ofSecret Levelwere nominated for Best FX - TV/Media (“Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear,” “Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle,” and “Crossfire: Good Conflict”). However, they lost toArcane.
Anime Excellence in Past Years
A Look Back at the Annie Awards
This is not the first year that no anime has won anything at the Annie Awards. No anime titles took home anything in 2020, 2021, or 2022 either. However, in 2019, Mamoru Hosoda’s movieMiraiwon the award for Best Animated Feature - Independent. Significantly, Hayao Miyazaki’s movieThe Boy and the Heronwon Best Storyboarding in 2023. Additionally,The Boy and the Heron’s animation director, Takeshi Honda, won the award for Best Character Animation. Joe Hisaishi, Studio Ghibli’s composer, also won the Winsor McCay Award in recognition of all that he hascontributed to the world of animated film.
For anime fans, it is disappointing to see no anime title take home an award despite an impressive number of nominations. However, it goes to showthe level of excellence that Western animationslikeArcaneandThe Wild Robotbrought to the entertainment industry this year. With no blockbuster anime movies coming out in 2024, anime was put at a handicap for the awards circuit. There are still more award ceremonies to go, but the likelihood of any title not winning an Annie Award but going on to win something bigger is slim.
