2017 Precursor Predictions: Annie Awards

Four categories at the Annie Awards will have an impact on the Oscars. For Best Animated Feature, look to the primary and independent awards to give an idea of what could be competing at the Oscars. Meanwhile, Best Animated Short film is comprised of content from both the short film and special production categories here. The online streaming of the awards is one of the most enjoyable awards shows out there, so I encourage you to check it out.

ANNIE AWARDS

Best Animated Feature

The Boss Baby (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
Cars 3
Coco (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Despicable Me 3

Wesley Lovell: Coco will lead the night with a ton of awards. Finishing off with this one.
Peter J. Patrick: The excellently reviewed Coco is so far ahead of the competition this year that any other winner would be a shock. In the unlikely event that there is an upset, I’ll take a wild guess and say Boss Baby.
Tripp Burton: Disney and Pixar have done really well in recent years in this category, and with no real critical favorite to overtake it, I don’t see Coco losing this award.
Thomas LaTourette: It would be hard to imagine anything but Coco winning this award. It has the lion’s share of precursors, 31 to two for The Breadwinner, including the Golden Globe and the Producers Guild. It is a colorful and lively film, and has a much more interesting story than any of the other nominees.

Best Animated Feature – Independent

The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales
The Breadwinner (Tripp, Thomas, RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)
In This Corner of the World
Loving Vincent (Wesley, Peter, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Napping Princess

Wesley Lovell: While the more acclaimed The Breadwinner might seem like an obvious choice, Loving Vincent is far more of an artist’s type of film and I think it will ultimately win out.
Peter J. Patrick: Both Loving Vincent and The Breadwinner are contenders, but the uniqueness of Loving Vincent should take it.
Tripp Burton: This is only the third year of this award, but both other years it has gone to an Oscar nominee, so this is probably between The Breadwinner and Loving Vincent. The Breadwinner is a critical darling, but the visuals of Loving Vincent might play really well to this crowd.
Thomas LaTourette: This is a more difficult race to call. I think it will be between The Breadwinner and Loving Vincent as they have been the most talked about of the independent animated films. The Breadwinner seems to have been the critics favorite, but Loving Vincent has had impressive staying power in the theaters with its all-oil-painted animation. The Big Bad Fox does boast four styles of animation which could help it to a win, but I think the more popular films will knock it out of the running. I will go with The Breadwinner to win based on the critics reactions to it, but would not be surprised if it went to Loving Vincent.

Best Animated Short Subject

Dear Basketball (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Hedgehog’s Home
Negative Space (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Scavengers (RU:Peter)
Son of Jaguar

Wesley Lovell: Two of the Academy’s animated short films are on this list and I believe the race is between the two with the more widely seen Dear Basketball the most likely victor.
Peter J. Patrick: I have no idea what to expect in this category, which makes this one pure guesswork.
Tripp Burton: There are two Oscar nominees here, and one of them is an excuse to get Kobe Bryant on stage. I’m thinking that one wins.
Thomas LaTourette: I have only heard of the Oscar-nominated two, Dear Basketball and Negative Space, so I am guessing that it will come down to those two. Dear Basketball is said to be a charming film, and boasts the star power of Kobe Bryant backing it. I think it will easily win. Negative Space is a stop-motion film, which will have its adherents, but perhaps not enough to win.

Best Animated Special Production

Imaginary Friend Society “Feeling Sad” (Peter)
Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (Thomas, RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)
Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems
Revolting Rhymes (Wesley, Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Tangled Before Ever After (RU:Tripp)

Best Animated Effects

Avatar Flight of Passage (RU:Thomas)
Cars 3 (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)
Coco (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Despicable Me 3
Olaf’s Frozen Adventure

Best Character Animation, Animated Feature

The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales
The Boss Baby (Bryce McGovern)
The Boss Baby (Rani Naamani)
Coco (John Chun Chiu Lee) (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Coco (Allison Rutland) (Thomas, RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)

Best Character Animation, Live Action Feature

Game of Thrones S7 Ep. 6 Beyond the Wall (RU:Thomas)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong / Kong Skull Island (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
War for the Planet of the Apes (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)

Best Character Design

The Boss Baby (RU:Tripp)
The Breadwinner (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
Coco (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Despicable Me 3
Smurfs: The Lost Village

Best Directing

The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales – Benjamin Renner, Patrick Imbert
The Boss Baby – Tom McGrath
The Breadwinner – Nora Twomey (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter)
Coco – Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
The Lego Batman Movie – Chris McKay (RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)

Best Music

The Breadwinner – Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna (Thomas)
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie – Theodor Shapiro
Coco – Michael Giacchino, Kristin Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Germaine Franco, Adrian Molina (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Loving Vincent – Clint Mansell (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)
Olaf’s Frozen Adventure – Elyssa Samsel, Kate Anderson, Christophe Beck

Best Production Design

The Breadwinner (Thomas, RU:Wesley)
Coco (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Ferdinand (RU:Peter)
Leap! (RU:Tripp)
Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Best Storyboarding

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner (RU:Tripp)
Coco (Dean Kelly) (Peter, Tripp, Thomas, RU:Wesley)
Coco (Madeline Sharafian) (Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
The Star (Louie del Carmen)

Best Voice Acting

The Breadwinner – Saara Chaudry (Parvana) (Tripp)
The Breadwinner – Laara Sadiq (Fattema)
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie – Nick Kroll (Professor Poopypants) (Thomas)
Coco – Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel) (Wesley, Peter, RU:Tripp)
The Lego Batman Movie – Zach Galifianakis (Joker) (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)

Best Writing

The Breadwinner – Anita Doron (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Coco – Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich (Wesley, Tripp, Thomas, RU:Peter)
Loving Vincent – Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Jacek Dehnel (Peter)
Mary and the Witch’s Flower – Riko Sakaguchi, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, David Freedman, Lynda Freedman