The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Originally designed to celebrate lifetime or career contributions to animation, the award has been given to individual works since 1992, becoming the biggest awards ceremony in the United States for the animation industry.

Membership in ASIFA-Hollywood is divided into three main categories: General Member (for professionals), Patron (for enthusiasts of animation), and Student Member. Members in each category pay a fee to belong to the branch. Selected professional members of the branch are permitted to vote to decide the awards.

The 48th and 49th Annie Awards ceremonies were held virtually on April 16, 2021, and March 12, 2022, respectively, due to the then ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

History

In 1972, June Foray first conceived the idea of awards for excellence in the field of animation. With the approval of ASIFA-Hollywood president Nick Bosustow, an Annie Award ceremony was organized. The first ceremony was held at the banquet room of Sportsmen's Lodge on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, Los Angeles, California. Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer were the first to be honored by the first Annie Awards for creating Betty Boop, bringing Popeye, and Olive Oyl to the animated screen, and for inventing the technique of rotoscoping.

Naming "Annie Awards"

According to Foray, her husband Hobart Donavan suggested that the awards be called "Annie", because they are presented for excellence in animation.

Production

  • Best Animated Feature
  • Best Animated Feature – Independent
  • Best Animated Special Production
  • Best Animated Short Subject
  • Best Animated Sponsored Production
  • Best General Audience Animated Television Broadcast Production
  • Best TV Production for Children
  • Best TV Production for Preschool Children
  • Best Student Film
  • Best TV/Media – Limited Series

Individual achievement in Film

  • Outstanding Animated Effects
  • Outstanding Character Animation – Animation
  • Outstanding Character Animation – Live Action
  • Outstanding Character Design
  • Outstanding Directing
  • Outstanding Editorial
  • Outstanding Music
  • Outstanding Production Design
  • Outstanding Storyboarding
  • Outstanding Voice Acting
  • Outstanding Writing

Individual achievement in Television, Broadcast and Video Game

  • Outstanding Animated Effects
  • Outstanding Character Animation – TV/Media
  • Outstanding Character Animation – Video Game
  • Outstanding Character Design
  • Outstanding Directing
  • Outstanding Editorial
  • Outstanding Music
  • Outstanding Producing
  • Outstanding Production Design
  • Outstanding Storyboarding
  • Outstanding Voice Acting
  • Outstanding Writing

Juried awards

  • June Foray Award
  • Ub Iwerks Award
  • Winsor McCay Award
  • Special Achievement in Animation
  • Certificates of Merit

Defunct categories

  • Best Animated Home Entertainment Production
  • Best Virtual Reality Production
  • Outstanding Animated Effects – Live Action
  • Best Animated Television Production
  • Best Animated Video Game

Balloting controversies and criticism

2008 Best Short Subject mixup

In 2008, the Annie Award nominees for Best Short Subject included two Walt Disney cartoons, a Pixar short, and two independent films: Picnic Pictures' The Chestnut Tree, and Don Hertzfeldt's short Everything Will Be OK. Official rules for the Annie Awards state that voting members must view all nominated achievements in their entirety before casting their ballot for a winner. Members are directed to view the nominated films on a secure website.

When the online ballot launched on January 15, the two independent films were not included for voters to judge. ASIFA acknowledged this error over a week later, at which point all the votes were reportedly thrown out and the balloting system was reset. Voters were instructed to return and re-vote the category. "The Chestnut Tree" was now uploaded properly to the ballot; however, Everything Will Be OK was again not included: this time, the online ballot only played a portion of this film's 17-minute running time to voters, abruptly cutting out in the middle of a scene. ASIFA again took several days to repair the ballot, but this time allowed voting to continue.

By the time the ballot officially closed on February 1, Everything Will Be OK was only available to voters for less than 24 hours of the entire 18-day voting period. Even though ASIFA apologized to Hertzfeldt, they took no further action and carried on with the event, awarding the prize to the Pixar short, Your Friend the Rat. (Hertzfeldt would eventually win the award for his 2015 Oscar-nominated short film World of Tomorrow.)

Dreamworks upset and Disney boycott

In 2009, DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda swept the Annie Awards in a surprise upset over Pixar's WALL-E, which won no Annie Awards but did go on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Many felt that the vote had been rigged: DreamWorks at the time gave each of their employees a free membership to ASIFA-Hollywood, which in turn conferred voting rights. (For most film awards, voting rights cannot be bought but must be conferred by one's peers.)

As a result, Walt Disney Studios decided to cease submissions and support for the 2010 Annie Awards from their two animated film divisions, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar.

Disney and Pixar rejoined the Annie Awards in 2011, with no formal announcement.