The Anime Awards, the highest animation-focused honor in the industry, were held over the weekend, with little in the way of surprises. Those who figured Arcane would sweep anything to do with television and The Wild Robot would sweep anything to do with movies were correct.
Wild Robot was the biggest winner of the evening with nine awards: Best FX (Feature), Best Character Animation (Feature), Best Character Design (Feature), Best Direction (Feature), Best Music (Feature), Best Production Design (Feature), Best Voice Acting (Feature), Best Editorial (Feature) and of course, Best Feature. Flow, its main Oscar competition, had nothing to fear as it had its own category to win, Best Independent Feature (and it did).
Arcane went into the competition with seven nominations and ended up winning all of them: Best FX (TV), Best Character Animation (TV), Best Direction (TV), Best Music (TV), Best Production Design (TV), Best Storyboarding (TV), and Best Editorial (TV). It couldn’t win Best TV Series because it didn’t have a nomination there; an episode of Bob’s Burgers took the prize instead.
Here’s the full list of Annie Awards nominees for 2025, with winners in bold.
BEST FEATURE
WINNER: The Wild Robot – DreamWorks Animation
Inside Out 2 – Pixar Animation Studios
Kung Fu Panda 4 – DreamWorks Animation
That Christmas – Locksmith Animation for Netflix
Ultraman: Rising – Netflix Presents in association with Tsuburaya Productions
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Aardman and Netflix
BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENT
WINNER: Flow – Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio
Chicken for Linda! – Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma. Distributed by GKIDS
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Paramount Pictures
Look Back – Studio Durian. Distributed by GKIDS
Mars Express – Everybody on Deck, Je Suis Bien Content, Distributed by GKIDS
Memoir of a Snail – Snails Pace Films / Arenamedia
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
WINNER: Orion and the Dark – DreamWorks Animation
A Bear Named Wojtek – The Illuminated Film Company and Filmograf
Mog’s Christmas – Lupus Films
Tabby McTat – Magic Light Pictures
Yuck! – Ikki Films & Iliade et Films
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
WINNER: Wander to Wonder – Circe Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo
Beautiful Men – Animal Tank, Miyu Productions & Ka-Ching Cartoons
In the Shadow of the Cypress – Barfak Animation Studio
Ruthless Blade – IDEOMOTOR Culture Media Co., Ltd.
The Swineherd – Fleng Entertainment and Tumblehead Productions
BEST SPONSORED
WINNER: Fuzzy Feelings (Apple) – Passion Pictures Hungry Man
feelslikeimfallinginlove (Coldplay) – Blinkink
Moonlit Bamboo Forest (Genshin Impact) – Passion Paris Production, HoYoFair
Natlan Impressions Trailer – “Blaze to Natlan” – BUCK
Welcome to the City of Love (BBC – Paris Olympics) – Nexus Studios
BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
WINNER: The Tiny Chef Show “Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular” – Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions
Disney Jr.’s Ariel “Crystal Cavern Caper”
– Wild Canary, Disney Branded Television
Gabby’s Dollhouse “Pandy’s Bad Day” – DreamWorks Animation
Jessica’s Big Little World “Jessica’s Picnic” – Cartoon Network Studios
Wonder Pets: In the City “Save Tate?”– A Nickelodeon Production in association with Apple
BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
WINNER: Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Molecular Level”– Flying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television
Gremlins: The Wild Batch “Never Use Double Negatives” – Warner Bros. Animation
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory “Batten Down the Hatches” – DreamWorks Animation
Primos “Summer of Tater Luna” – Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television
WondLa “Ruins” – Skydance Animation in association with Apple
