Annie Awards Nominations 2024: 'Nimona', 'The Boy and the Heron'

Netflix's sci-fi 'Nimona' was the big winner in the 2024 Annie Awards nominees (awards bestowed by the ASIFA-Hollywood chapter), honoring excellence in animation.

The film by Nick Bruno & Troy Quane garnered 9 nominations for the Annie Awards, including Best Feature and Direction. Of course, Hayao Miyazaki is always a force to reckon with. The Studio Ghibli film scored 7 nominations (again including Best Feature and Direction); the same number of Annie nominations was given to Sony Pictures' 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'.

A more European field in the Best Independent Feature category, where we meet 'Ernest and Celestine -  A Trip to Giberitia', the Berlin-premiered dystopian sci-fi 'White Plastic Sky', and the Annecy-awarded 'Four Souls of Coyote'.

The 2023 winner of the European animation feature award, 'Robot Dreams' features in both Best Independent Feature and Best Direction categories, with 5 nominations overall.

In the short (Best short subject) category, we observe that 2 of the candidates ('Humo' and 'War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko' ) are Oscar-shortlisted as well. A small surprise here: the daring thematically 'Carne de dios' by  Patricio Plaza and Gervasio Canda (a Catholic priest and his nemesis) is Annie-nominated. Other able short animation films (for instance, '27', 'Eeva') are here absent.

Related: Our review of the Annie-nominated film 'Pina'

Annie Awards decided to honor posthumously the master of cutout animation Lotte Reiniger -let's hope for a nice tribute. Check some of the nominations below:

2024 Annie Awards Nominations

Best Feature

• Nimona, Annapurna Animation for Netflix
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation
• Suzume, CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY inc.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies
• The Boy and the Heron, Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS

Best Direction: Feature

• Nimona (Nick Bruno, Troy Quane) - Annapurna Animation for Netflix
• Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger, Benoît Feroumont) / Arcadia Motion Pictures
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson) - Sony Pictures Animation -
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears) : Mutant Mayhem / Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies -
• The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki):  Studio Ghibli / Distributed by GKIDS
  
  

Best Independent Feature:

• Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia - Folivari, Mélusine Productions, Studio Canal / Distributed by GKIDS
• Four Souls of Coyote - Cinemon Entertainment
• Robot Dreams - Arcadia Motion Pictures
• The Inventor - Curiosity Studios
• White Plastic Sky - SALTO Films &  Artichoke

Best Short Subject

• Carne de Dios, Ojo Raro & Fedora Productions
•  Daffy in Wackyland, Warner Bros. Animation
•  HUMO, Outik Animation, 3rd Street Video, Mindsoup Entertainment, IMCINE
•  PINA, PUNCHLINE CINEMA / NEXT DAYS FILMS
•  WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, ElectroLeague

Best Student Film

• From The Top / Student Director: Rich Farris, Student Producer: Martina Buendia Silva
  School: National Film and Television School
• Kolaj / Student Director: Besen Dilek / Student Producer: Besen Dilek
  School: Filamakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
• La quête de l'humain / Student Team: Mélina IENCO, Lucie JURIC, Caroline LEIBEL, Faustine MERLE, Claire PELLET
  School: Gobelins, l'école de l'image
• Quem Salva / Student Team: Laure Devin, Maxime Bourstin, Nathan Medam, Charles Hechinger, Titouan Jaouen
  School: Supinfocom Rubika
• The Little Poet / Student Director: Justine King, Student Producer: Justine King
  School: California Institute of the Arts

Check the full Annie Awards nominations

Special Annie Awards

The Winsor McCay Award:  in recognition of lifetime or career contributions are being presented to three recipients: Legendary animator and director Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger (posthumous); prolific Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi and National Film Board animator and producer Marcy Page. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact will be awarded to the BRIC Foundation, Alison Mann and Nicole Hendrix, co-founders.

The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry will be presented to John Oxberry (posthumous). The Special Achievement Award recognizing unique and outstanding achievements not recognized within the existing award category structure will be presented to The Artists of Walt Disney Animation.

The 51st Annie Awards will return to UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday, February 17, 2024