Oscar frontrunner “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” won a leading five races at the Annie Awards on Feb. 25, including Best Studio Animated Feature over three of its Oscar rivals — “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” “The Sea Beast” and “Turning Red” — plus “Wendell & Wild.” The fifth Oscar contender, “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” won Best Independent Feature nominees over “Charlotte,” “Inu-Oh,” “Little Nicholas” and “My Father’s Dragon.”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” went five for nine with wins also for director, character work, production design and original score. “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” won three of its four bids including writing and voice acting (Jenny Slate). And “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” went two for six with wins for editorial and storyboarding.
Two of the five Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short also featured at these awards. Frontrunner “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” won three of its seven races: special production, director and character animation. “Ice Merchants” won its sole bid — short subject — over, among others, another Oscar nominee “The Flying Sailor.”
Seven of the last 12 Annie Awards champs for feature have previewed the Oscar winner: “Rango” (2012), “Frozen” (2014), “Inside Out” (2016), “Zootopia” (2017), “Coco” (2018), “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2019) and “Soul” (2021).
Last year, 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. Back in 2011, “How to Train Your Dragon” won over the Annies while the academy embraced “Toy Story 3.” In 2013, the Annies went with “Wreck-It-Ralph” while the academy adored “Brave” and in 2015, the Annies named “How to Train Your Dragon 2” as Best Animated Feature but the Oscar winner was “Big Hero 6.”
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