Annie Awards 2026: Pixar’s ‘Elio’ and Disney’s ‘Zootopia 2’ Lead Nominees as ‘Snow Bear’ Warms Hearts. ASIFA-Hollywood just dropped the nominations for the 53rd Annie Awards, and it’s a big year for Disney and Pixar. Leading the pack are Pixar’s Elio and Sony’s KPop Demon Hunters, both picking up 10 nominations each.
Disney also saw a huge showing with Zootopia 2, grabbing seven nods, while the Disney+ series Win or Lose led the TV categories with six. Another standout to keep an eye on is Snow Bear, a short film by Disney veteran Aaron Blaise, which earned two nominations (including Best Short Subject). ‘Not Just a Goof‘ was released as part of the 30th Anniversary of Disney Animation’s A Goofy Movie.
The winners will be announced on February 21, 2026, at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
Best Animated Feature
- Elio – Pixar Animation Studios
- KPop Demon Hunters – Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, Distributed by GKIDS
- The Bad Guys 2 – DreamWorks Animation
- Zootopia 2 – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Animated Feature – Independent
- A Magnificent Life – Mediawan, What the Prod, and Bidibul productions
- Arco – Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma
- I’m Frankelda – Cinema Fantasma, Warner Bros. Discovery, Woo Films, Cine Vendaval
- Lost In Starlight – Netflix / Climax Studio
- Scarlet – Studio CHIZU
Best Special Production
- A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice – Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Jam Filled Entertainment
- Adult Swim’s The Elephant – Titmouse and Williams Street
- Not Just a Goof – Venturia Animation Studios for CNEK Films LLC
- Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical – WildBrain Studios in association with Apple
- The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland – Lupus Films and Universal Pictures Content Group
Best Short Subject
- Cardboard – Locksmith Animation
- Ovary-Acting – Klipp og Lim, Jante Films, Apparat Filmproduktion AB
- Pillowzzz – Animoshe
- Snow Bear – The Art of Aaron Blaise
- The Girl Who Cried Pearls – National Film Board of Canada
Best Sponsored Production
- Animated Short: “Trek” | Honkai: Star Rail – FLiiiP Design
- Fortnite x The Simpsons: Apocalypse D’Oh! – A Gracie Films Production; 20th Television Animation
- LouiMax Dreams of Being an Adult – Imagine Create Media Inc.; Maileg APS
- Olipop Yeti – Screen Novelties; Passion Pictures
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – The Animation – SEGA of America; GXS Productions
Best TV/Media – Preschool
- Eva The Owlet – Brown Bag Films; Scholastic Entertainment; Apple
- Kindergarten: The Musical! – Oddbot Entertainment; Disney Branded Television
- The Tiny Chef Show – Imagine Entertainment; Tiny Chef Productions; Nickelodeon
- Wow Lisa – Punkrobot
- Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum – 9 Story Media Group; Brown Bag Films
Best TV/Media – Children
- My Melody & Kuromi – Sanrio Company for Netflix
- Spice Frontier: Escape From Veltegar – Steamroller Animation
- Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
- The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball – Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
- Wylde Pak – Nickelodeon Animation Studios / Jam Filled Entertainment
Best TV/Media – Mature
- Bob’s Burgers – 20th Television Animation
- Common Side Effects – Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street
- Haha, You Clowns – Williams Street
- Il Baracchino – Luckyred, Megadrago
- South Park – Comedy Central LLC
Best TV/Media – Limited Series
- Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight – Netflix/Banijay Production France/Legende Films
- Eyes of Wakanda – Marvel Studios
- Marvel Zombies – Marvel Studios
- Star Wars: Visions – Volume 3 – david production
- Win Or Lose – Pixar Animation Studios
Best Student Film
- A Sparrow’s Song – Tobias Eckerlin
- Acrobats – Éloïse Alluyn, Hugo Danet, Anna Despinoy, Antonin Guerci, Alexandre Marzin, Shali Reddy
- Jour de vent – Adèle de Quatrebarbes
- The Undying Pain of Existence – Oscar Jacobson
- TRASH – Elena Chiodini
Best FX – Feature
- Elio
- In Your Dreams
- KPop Demon Hunters
- The Bad Guys 2
- Zootopia 2
Best Character Animation – Feature
- Elio (Jonah Sidhom)
- KPop Demon Hunters (Ryusuke Furuya)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Juliette Laurent)
- The Bad Guys 2 (Ludovic Bouancheau)
- Zootopia 2 (Tony Smeed)
Best Character Animation – Live Action
- A Minecraft Movie (Weta FX)
- Captain America: Brave New World (Weta FX)
- How to Train Your Dragon (Framestore)
- Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age (Framestore)
- Superman (Framestore)
Best Character Animation – Video Game
- Bye Sweet Carole
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Keeper
- South of Midnight
Best Direction – Feature
- Arco (Ugo Bienvenu, Adam Sillard, Anaëlle Saba)
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (Tatsuya Yoshihara)
- KPop Demon Hunters (Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han)
- Scarlet (Mamoru Hosoda)
Best Music – Feature
- Arco (Arnaud Toulon)
- Elio (Rob Simonsen)
- KPop Demon Hunters (KPop Demon Hunters Music Team)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Mari Fukuhara)
- Zootopia 2 (Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Blake Slatkin, Michael Giacchino)
Best Writing – Feature
- Elio (Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, Mike Jones)
- KPop Demon Hunters (Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Liane-Cho Han, Aude Py, Maïlys Vallade, Eddine Noël)
- Scarlet (Mamoru Hosoda)
- Zootopia 2 (Jared Bush)
Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
- Love, Death + Robots
- ParaNorman: The Thrifting
- Snow Bear
- Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Win Or Lose
Juried Awards
- Winsor McCay Award: Michaël Dudok de Wit, Christopher Miller & Phil Lord, and Chris Sanders.
- June Foray Award: Sandy Rabins.
- Ub Iwerks Award: Wacom.
- Special Achievement Award: LightBox Expo
For up-to-the minute details and information on the 53rd Annie Awards™, please visit www.annieawards.org
Annie Awards 2026: Pixar’s ‘Elio’ and Disney’s ‘Zootopia 2’ Lead Nominees as ‘Snow Bear’ Warms Hearts
