Annie Awards: ‘Nimona’ leads with 9 nominations

Not surprisingly, our five leading contenders for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars also dominate the Annie Awards nominations announced on January 11. The predicted Oscar winner, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” reaped a lucky seven nominations (as did its closest rival in that race, “The Boy and the Heron”). However, it is another likely Oscar contender, “Nimona,” that topped the nominations chart with nine bids.

All three of these films contend for Best Studio Animated Feature as does six-time nominee “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.” We expect another six-time nominee, “Elemental” to reap an Oscar bid for Best Animated Feature even though it was snubbed in the top race by the Annies. That category is filled out here by “Suzume,” which earned seven nominations in all.

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The Best Independent Feature nominees are: “Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia,” “Four Souls of Coyote,” “Robot Dreams,” “The Inventor” and “White Plastic Sky.”

These precursor prizes are presented by the Hollywood chapter of the International Animated Film Association. The ceremony is set for February 17.

Eight of the last 12 Annie Awards champs have previewed the Oscar winner: “Rango” (2012), “Frozen” (2014), “Inside Out” (2016), “Zootopia” (2017), “Coco” (2018), “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2019), “Soul” (2021) and “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (2023).

In 2022, the Annies loved “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” while the Oscar went to “Encanto.” In 2020, “Klaus” was tops with the Annies but it was “Toy Story 4” that took home the top Oscar. In  2015, the Annies named “How to Train Your Dragon 2” as Best Animated Feature but the Oscar winner was “Big Hero 6.” In 2013, the Annies went with “Wreck-It-Ralph” while the academy adored “Brave. Back in 2011, “How to Train Your Dragon” won over the Annies while the academy embraced “Toy Story 3.”

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