‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Nearly Sweeps Annie Awards With 10 Film Wins

“KPop Demon Hunters” sang and fought its way to total domination at the Annie Awards on Saturday, picking up 10 awards in the 12 film categories at the annual ceremony saluting animation.

In addition to winning in the Best Feature category, the Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix hit also picked up awards for direction, voice acting (for Arden Cho), writing, music, FX, character animation, character design, production design and editorial. It won in every category in which it was nominated, missing awards in only two feature categories: Best Feature – Independent, for which it wasn’t eligible, and Best Storyboarding – Feature, for which it wasn’t nominated.

Pixar’s “Elio,” which was tied with “KPop Demon Hunters” with 10 nominations going into the show, went home empty-handed while the “KPop” hit “Golden” was played incessantly at the ceremony in UCLA’s Royce Hall.

When presenter Larraine Newman opened the envelope to present the final award, she simply looked at the audience, nodded and said, “Say it with me: ‘KPop Demon Hunters.’”

The French film “Arco” won in the indie category, while “The Bad Guys 2” won for storyboarding.

Sweeps or near-sweeps are common at the Annie Awards, where Pixar’s “Coco” holds the record with 11 wins and “KPop Demon Hunters” joins six other films – “How to Train Your Dragon,” “The Incredibles,” “Inside Out,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Mulan” and “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” – in winning 10.

In the 24 years the Academy Awards established a Best Animated Feature category in 2001, 15 winners in the Annies’ Best Feature category have gone on to win the animation Oscar, and one winner of the Annies’ indie award has done so.

“Common Side Effects” led all TV series with four wins, followed by “Win or Lose” and “Love, Death + Robots” with three each.

Other TV awards went to “Wow Lisa,” “The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball” and “Bob’s Burgers.” “Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical” won the award for Best Special Production, while “Snow Bear” won for Best Short Subject. “Snow Bear” was shortlisted but not nominated for the animated short Oscar.

The Annie Awards are put on by ASIFA-Hollywood, the Southern California chapter of the Association Internationale du Film d’Animation. The ceremony also included the presentation of honorary awards to filmmakers Michael Dudok de Wit, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, and Chris Sanders.

Here is the complete list of winners:

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

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

Best Student Film “A Sparrow’s Song” Tobias Eckerlin Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH

Best FX – TV/Media “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” Episode: “The Big Freeze” Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Schuleman, Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian BBC Studios Natural History Unit FX: Framestore

Best FX – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Corbaux, Naoki Kato, Daniel LaChapelle Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix FX: Sony Pictures Imageworks

Best Character Animation – TV/Media “Win Or Lose” Alli Sadegiani Pixar Animation Studios

Best Character Animation – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Ryusuke Furuya Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix

Best Character Animation – Live Action “How To Train Your Dragon” Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi DreamWorks Animation FX: Framestore

Best Character Animation – Video Game “South of Midnight” Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond Compulsion Games

Best Character Design – TV/Media “Love, Death + Robots” Episode: “400 Boys” Robert Valley Blur Studio for Netflix

Best Character Design – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Best Direction – TV/Media “Common Side Effects” Episode: “Cliff’s Edge” Vincent Tsui Productions

Best Direction – FEATURE “KPop Demon Hunters” Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Best Music – TV/Media “Win Or Lose” Episode: “Episode 6, Mixed Signals” Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar Pixar Animation Studios

Best Music – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Best Production Design – TV/Media “Love, Death + Robots” Episode: “How Zeke Got Religion” Gigi Cavenago Blur Studio for Netflix

Best Production Design – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Best Storyboarding – TV/Media “Love, Death + Robots” Episode: “How Zeke Got Religion” Edgar Martins Blur Studio for Netflix

Best Storyboarding – Feature “The Bad Guys 2” Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon DreamWorks Animation

Best Voice Acting – TV/Media “Bob’s Burgers” Episode: “Don’t Worry Be Hoopy” Dan Mintz (as Tina Belcher) 20th Television Animation

Best Voice Acting – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Arden Cho (as Rumi) Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Best Writing – TV/Media “Common Side Effects” Episode: Pilot Joe Bennett, Steve Hely Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions ○

Best Writing – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Best Editorial – TV/Media “Common Side Effects” Episode: “Raid” Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions ○

Best Editorial – Feature “KPop Demon Hunters” Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

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 and Haley Mirren Douthit

Best Picture

Contender Probability

One Battle After Another

Probability: 66.67%

Up: 16.67%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

Wins: GG, Critics Choice

“One Battle After Another” marks the third consecutive Best Picture nominee for director Paul Thomas Anderson following “Licorice Pizza” and “Phantom Thread.”
Sinners

Probability: 33%

Up: 23.00%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

22 other films this century have gotten the same Best Picture nominations and wins as “Sinners.” Only one (“The King’s Speech”) won Best Picture. That being said, Two of the three films that previously held the nomination record (“All About Eve” and “Titanic”) won Best Picture.
Marty Supreme

Probability: 25%

Up: 15.91%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

Timothée Chalamet has now starred in eight Best Picture nominees across the past 10 Academy Awards ceremonies.
Frankenstein

Probability: 25%

Up: 15.00%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, SAG, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

Eight other films this century have gotten the same Best Picture nominations and wins as “Frankenstein.” Two (“Million Dollar Baby” and “CODA”) won the Oscar despite missing at the BAFTAs.
Hamnet

Probability: 20%

Up: 3.33%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, SAG, BAFTA, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

Wins: GG

There are five films this century that, like “Hamnet,” got nominations at the Actor Awards, PGAs and BAFTAs, won Best Drama at the Globes and lost Best Picture at Critics Choice. Only one (“Moonlight”) won Best Picture at the Oscars.
Train Dreams

Probability: 1%

No change: 0%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, PGA, Critics Choice

Joel Edgerton last starred in a Best Picture nominee in 2012 (“Zero Dark Thirty”)
Sentimental Value

Probability: 1%

No change: 0%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, BAFTA, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” picked up nominations for Best International Feature and Best Original Screenplay, but it was not recognized in Best Picture or any acting categories.
The Secret Agent

Probability: 1%

No change: 0%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, GG

Last year, “I’m Still Here” became the first Brazilian film and the first Portuguese-speaking film nominated for Best Picture. “The Secret Agent” is now the second.
F1

Probability: 1%

No change: 0%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, PGA

Read TheWrap’s coverage with the team behind “F1” here
Bugonia

Probability: 1%

No change: 0%

Show notes Hide notes

Nominations: Oscars, PGA, GG, Critics Choice

“Bugonia” marks Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s third collaboration (following “The Favourite” and “Poor Things”) to get a Best Picture nomination.