The 2026 Annie Awards nominations, recognizing the best in animation across film and TV, have been revealed.
Elio and KPop Demon Hunters top this year’s film nominations, with 10 nods each, including in the top category of best feature. For best feature, they’ll compete against seven-time nominees Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Zootopia 2 and five-time nominee The Bad Guys 2.
Other films with multiple nominations include Arco, with five, and The Twits and Scarlet, with three each.
Top TV nominees include Win or Lose (six nominations), Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight (five nods) and Common Side Effects.
In addition to the competitive awards, juried awards will be presented honoring unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation. The Windsor McCay Award, recognizing lifetime career contributions, will be presented to Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, animator-writer-director Michaël Dudok de Wit and writer-director Chris Sanders. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent impact to the animation community will be given to animation and live action producer Sandy Rabins who led the AnimAID effort to help those in the animation industry affected by the L.A. wildfires. The Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement affecting the animation industry will be presented to Wacom, which makes the Cintiq graphics tablet and other products that have become a key part of animation production. And the special achievement award will be presented to LightBox Expo, the annual event that brings animation filmmakers together with students and fans.
The 53rd Annie Awards, set to take place on Feb. 21 at UCLA’s Royce Hall, are presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of international organization ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation), dedicated to promoting the art of animation and celebrating the people who create it.
A complete list of the 2026 Annie Awards nominees follows.
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’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 & 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 Special Production
DreamWorks Animation
Frederic Stewart
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
