Editorial: 2023 Annie Awards Predictions

Truth be told, I really should stop taking breaks from work without a solid plan of what I'm gonna do during that break. Oh well, month's almost over, so what can you do? Anyway, the nominees for the Annie Awards are out. Granted I'm about as enthused for the Annie Awards as any other award show, but since this one is all about animation I'll give it an advantage that the Oscars don't get. Now, the actual awards show won't be until February 25th, so this gives us animation fans plenty of time to speculate which movie will win what award, and complain about some movie getting snubbed, because that just comes with the territory. So, that's what I'm gonna do, because this sounds fun.

To make this easy on myself, and on you, I'm only going to bring up the categories for features, there are a lot of categories even putting aside all the TV and Special Production categories, so there's going to be a lot. For sake of ease, I'm going to introduce the categories and then discuss which of the nominees I think will win. This does mean I'll be overlooking quite a lot of nominees, so if you want to check out the full list of nominees, here's the link for you: https://annieawards.org/legacy/50th-annie-awards

Enough beating around the bush, let's go.

Best Feature:

Ultimately, I think the Best Feature award is gonna come down between two movies, and while my choice would be for The Sea Beast or Wendell & Wild, I think the two movies that are really in the running for this award are Turning Red and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. Of the two movies, I have to go with Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, I feel like that one is the big shoe in for most of the awards this year.

Best Indie Feature:

While I loved Charlotte, and would not be shocked if Inu-Oh or Little Nicholas, Happy As Can Be got the award, I think the two movies that are most likely to win are Marcel the Shell With Shoes On and My Father's Dragon. I didn't watch My Father's Dragon, but I know that the Annie Awards love Cartoon Saloon, and since The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers were both previously award winners in this category, I'd say it's a safe bet that My Father's Dragon will make the record three for three.

Best FX - Feature:

This is a...weird series of nominations. Not that Lightyear and The Sea Beast aren't worthy of this nomination, but I wouldn't say they were award winning good. The two major movies I think are most likely to win are Avatar: The Way of Water and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. again, I'm positive Pinocchio will take home most of the awards it is nominated for, though Avatar is... Avatar so.. we'll see.

Best Character Animation - Feature:

Two different character animators for both Turning Red and The Bad Guys got nominated here. Meaning this is one of the few categories I doubt Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio will take home.

Best Character Animation - Live Action:

I'm betting on Avatar: The Way of Water for this one.

Best Character Design - Feature:

Somehow Luck got nominated for this category, I really don't see it winning. Also Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie got nominated and after being told I had no taste because I didn't like the first few episodes, I'm pretty much done with Ninja Turtles. I'm hoping this one mostly goes to The Bad Guys or Wendell & Wild, though Puss in Boots: The Last Wish may also be a top contender. I missed out on that one, so I wouldn't know.

Best Direction - Feature:

I think all the nominees for this category are fair choices. Domee Shi for Turning Red, Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson for Pinocchio, Dean Fleischer-Cap, Kirtsen Lepore and Stepehn Chiodo for Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Nora Twomey for My Father's Dragon, and Henry Selick for Wendell & Wild, all excellent picks. Again, I'm pinning Turning Red and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio as the most likely to win in this category. Though I'm rooting for Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.

Best Music - Feature:

Err... I don't actually remember a lot of the music for most of these movies, and I have not seen Mad God at all so... I'll bet on Turning Red here.

Best Production Design - Feature:

Another Mad God nomination, I may have to check that one out. Anyway, I think this one is likely to go to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. Though The Sea Beast and The Bad Guys would also be solid winners.

Best Storyboarding - Feature:

Two nominations for Minions: The Rise of Gru and Strange World. Because I actually have seen those movies, I'm gonna say Puss In Boots: The Last Wish should win.

Best Voice Acting - Feature:

I feel like this one is likely to go to Gregory Mann in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, but I do hope that it goes to Jenny Slate in Marcel The Shell With Shoes On. To be fair, David Bradley's performance in Pinocchio was also really good, shame Ewan McGregor wasn't nominated.

Best Writing - Feature:

Four nominees this time, and I only watched two of them. I'm positive it's going to go to Turning Red, but it's likely to also go to the other three nominees, ETERNAL SPRING, Inu-Oh, and Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.

Best Editorial - Feature:

Again, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is likely to win this one, but I hope The Sea Beast gets it. I dunno, I really don't pay that much to editing unless it's really distracting.

Well, that was a lot. Either way, come February I'll be looking at the award winners and sharing my thoughts on them. I eager to see which movies take home the awards, even if I'm betting most of them go to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio or Turning Red, but hey, I've been surprised by award shoes before. I'm also excited to see who gets the special awards this year, but until then, I'll see you in February with review number 75. See you then!

Seriously... does John Lassetter still have friends in the Annie Awards Sphere? How else did Luck get a nomination?