The 53rd Annie Awards in 35 categories are being handed out tonight at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and Deadline is posting the winners as they are announced. See the list below.
Netflix’s juggernaut KPop Demon Hunters comes into the evening with 10 nominations — co-leading along with Pixar’s Elio — and already is 7-for-7.
Netflix’s most popular film ever took the night’s first prize, for Production Design and then snagged — in a decided non-upset — Best Music. KPop Demon Hunters later added Best Voice Acting for Arden Cho as lead Rumi, along with Best Character Design, Character Animation, FX and editorial. The film has been viewed more than 482 million times, and its soundtrack has been streamed some 11 billion times (with a capital B). KPop‘s directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were early presenters tonight.
Since the Best Animated Feature Oscar category was launched in 2002, 14 of the 23 winners of the Annies’ marquee Best Feature prize – and seven of the past 13 – went on to claim the golden statuette. But last year bucked the trend as the Academy Award went to Flow over The Wild Robot, which dominated the 2025 Annies with seven nods. Flow, however, did win the Annie for Best Independent Feature back in February, along with Best Writing.
The first two TV awards of the night went to Netlfix’s Love, Death + Robots, its ninth and 10th Annies overall to go with 17 Emmys. Win or Lose, Pixar’s first longform animated series, also has two wins so far tonight.
The evening’s first Juried Award, The June Foray Award, went to Sandy Rabins, animation and live-action producer and the founder of the AnimAID effort to assist and support those in the animation industry who were affected by the L.A. Wildfires. The group has raised nearly $700,000 so far. Named for the Annie Awards founder, the award is presented to people who have made a positive impact on the animation industry.
The first of three Winsor McCay Awards for lifetime achievement was presented to prolific Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Miller and Phil Lord of the Spider-Verse and Lego Movie franchises and many other films. The second went to Oscar-winning animator, writer and director Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle, short film Father and Daughter). The final McCay Award was four-time Oscar-nominated animation whiz and voice actor Chris Sanders, who has won five career Annie Awards including for The Wild Robot last year. The awards were presented by his fellow Lilo & Stitch actor Tea Carerre.
ASIFA-Hollywood‘s Special Achievement Award went to LightBox Expo, the annual event that brings the creative animation community of filmmakers together with animation students and fans.
Wacom, manufacturer of the Cintiq graphics tablet and other products, later received the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement.
The juried award winners also are listed below.
ASIFA-Hollywood previously revealed the Animation Educators’ Forum Hall of Fame Class of 2026. They are Elmer Plummer, Doug Crane, Harry Love, Harold Whitaker and Nancy Beiman.
Created in 1972 by veteran voice actor June Foray, the Annie Awards recognize the animation industry’s most talented artists and storytellers.
Here are the winners at the 2026 Annie Awards so far, followed by the remaining nominees:
Winners
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Arden Cho (Character: Rumi)
BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: Don’t Worry Be Hoopy
20th TV
Dan Mintz (Character: Tina Belcher)
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
Common Side Effects Episode: Raid
Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions
Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim
BEST FX – FEATURE
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
BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
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
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix
Ryusuke Furuya
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV MEDIA
Win or Lose
Pixar Animation Studios
Alli Sadegiana
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
How To Train Your Dragon
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: Framestore
Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
South of Midnight
Compulsion Games
Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Love, Death + Robots Episode: 400 Boys
Blur Studio for Netflix
BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters Music Team
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
Win Or Lose
Episode: Episode 6, Mixed Signals
Pixar Animation Studios
Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar
BEST SPONSORED
Olipop Yeti
Screen Novelties & Passion Pictures
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Love, Death + Robots
Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
Blur Studio for Netflix
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
Snow Bear
The Art of Aaron Blaise
BEST STUDENT FILM
A Sparrow’s Song
Student director: Tobias Eckerlin
Student producer: Tobias Eckerlin
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award
Michaël Dudok de Wit
Christopher Miller and 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
Nominees
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 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 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 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 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