Mandalorian and Soul Mandalorian and Soul

The Visual Effects Society (VES) have announced the nominees for their 19th annual VES Awards, which recognize outstanding visual effects and artistry in film, television, commercials, and video games.

The Mandalorian has the most nominations of any single project, with 13 across seven categories (there are 25 categories in total). This more than doubles the number of nominations it had just last year. Overall, the Star Wars spin-off dominates the broadcast categories — something made possible in part by the absence of HBO’s Game of Thrones, which reigned supreme at the VES Awards for years, and competed for the last time in 2020.

Disney/Pixar’s Soul — which, like The Mandalorian, is a Disney+ exclusive — leads as the top animated film with five nominations. Warner Bros.’s The Witches and Netflix’s Project Power lead the live-action feature film nominations with three apiece.

Soul is joined in the visual effects in an animated feature category by Universal/Dreamworks Animation’s Trolls World Tour (which has four total nominations), Netflix’s Over the Moon (three), Pixar’s Onward (four), and Universal/Dreamworks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age (one). The effects simulations in an animated feature category was identical except for the substitution of Netflix’s The Willoughbys for The Croods.

The nominations were selected by VES members across 32 virtual nomination events held across the globe. The ceremony, which will be virtual, will be streamed worldwide April 6 or 7 depending on the time zone.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Brad Parker
Roma Van Den Bergh
Eric Guaglione
Carlos Monzon
Stefano Pepin

Project Power
Ivan Moran
Leslie Hough
Joao Sita
Matthew Twyford
Yves Debono

Tenet
Andrew Jackson
Mike Chambers
Andrew Lockley
David Lee
Scott Fisher

The Midnight Sky
Matt Kasmir
Greg Baxter
Chris Lawrence
Max Solomon
David Watkins

The Witches
Kevin Baillie
Sandra Scott
Sean Konrad
Glenn Melenhorst
Mark Holt

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Da 5 Bloods
Randall Balsmeyer
James Cooper
Watcharachai “Sam” Panichsuk

Extraction
Marko Forker
Lynzi Grant
Craig Wentworth
Olivier Sarda

Mank
Wei Zheng
Peter Mavromates
Simon Carr
James Pastorius

News of the World
Roni Rodrigues
Dayaliyah Lopez
Ian Fellows
Andrew Morley
Brandon K. McLaughlin

Welcome to Chechnya
Ryan Laney
Eugen Bräunig
Maxwell Anderson
Johnny Han
Piers Dennis

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Onward
Dan Scanlon
Kori Rae
Sanjay Bakshi
Vincent Serritella

Over the Moon
Glen Keane
Gennie Rim
Céline Desrumaux
David Alexander Smith

Soul
Pete Docter
Dana Murray
Michael Fong
Bill Watral

The Croods: A New Age
Joel Crawford
Mark Swift
Betsy Nofsinger
Jakob Hjort Jensen

Trolls World Tour
Walt Dohrn
Gina Shay
Kendal Cronkhite-Shaindlin
Matt Baer

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Lovecraft Country, “Jig-A-Bobo”
Kevin Blank
Robin Griffin
Pietro Ponti
Francois Dumoulin

Star Trek: Discovery “Su’Kal”
Jason Michael Zimmerman
Aleksandra Kochoska
Ante Dekovic
Ivan Kondrup Jensen

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal”
Joe Bauer
Abbigail Keller
Hal Hickel
Richard Bluff
Roy Cancino

Timmy Failure
Rich McBride
Leslie Lerman
Nicolas Chevallier
Anders Beer
Tony Lazarowich

Westworld, “Crisis Theory”
Jay Worth
Elizabeth Castro
Bruce Branit
Joe Wehmeyer
Mark Byers

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

I Know This Much Is True, “Episode 1”
Eric Pascarelli
Keith Kolder
Ariel Altman

Mrs. America, “Shirley”
Janelle Croshaw
Kaylie Whitcher
Leonardo Silva
Zena Bielewicz
Michael Innanen

Survive
Ariel Altman
Rae Welty
Caius Wong
Carl Fong

The Crown, “Gold Stick”
Ben Turner
Reece Ewing
Andrew Scrase
Jonathan Wood

Vikings, “Best Laid Plans”
Dominic Remane
Bill Halliday
Tom Morrison
Ovidiu Cinazan
Paul Byrne

Warrior, “Learn to Endure, Or Hire a Bodyguard”
Jonathan Alenskas
Leah Orsini
Nate Overstrom
David Eschrich

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Raphael Lacoste
Jean-Sebastien Guay
Virginie Cinq-Mars
Thierry Beaumont

Cyberpunk 2077
Jakub Knapik
Małgorzata Mitręga
Piotr Suchodolski
Krzysztof Krzyścin

Ghost of Tsushima
Jason Connell
Matt Vainio
Jasmin Patry
Joanna Wang

Spider-Man: Miles Morales; Reactor Finale
Gavin Goulden
Jess Reed
Bryanna Lindsey
Mike Yosh

The Last of Us Part II
Neil Druckmann
Eben Cook
Erick Pangilinan
John Sweeney

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Arm & Hammer, “Once Upon a Time”
Kiril Mirkov
Solomon Tiigah
Vanessa Duquesnay
Prashanth Paramasivam

Burberry, “Singin’ In The Rain”
Fabian Frank
Ryan Hancocks
Rob Richardson
Alex Lovejoy

Hornbach, “It Seems Impossible Until You Do It”
Ben Cronin
Tomek Zietkiewicz
Amir Bazzazi
Bruno Fukumothi

Playstation, “The Edge”
Diarmid Harrison-Murray
Tom Igglesden
Alex Gabucci
Tom Raynor

Walmart, “Famous Visitors”
Chris “Badger” Knight
Lori Talley
Yarin Mares
Matt Fuller

Xbox, “Us Dreamers”
Dan Seddon
Elexis Stearn
Fabian Frank
Zhenya Vladi

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Asteroid Hunters
Antoine Durr
Jini Durr
Bert Poole
Neishaw Ali

The Bourne Stuntacular
Salvador Zalvidea
Tracey Gibbons
George Allan
Matthías Bjarnason
Scott Smith

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Ryan Donoghue
Becky Train
Blaine Kennison
Nick da Silva
Corban Prim

The March
Aruna Inversin
Peter Nelson
Kevin Williams
Sean Kealey

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature

Die Känguru-Chroniken, Kangaroo
Claudius Urban
Sebastian Badea
Dorian Knapp
Ruth Wiegand

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Don Juan Diego
Eric Guaglione
Shuchi Singhal
Adrien Annesley
Mahmoud Ellithy

The One and Only Ivan, Ivan
Valentina Rosselli
Thomas Huizer
Andrea De Martis
William Bell

The Witches, Daisy
Jye Skinn
Sarah Fuller
Marco Iannaccone
Fredrik Sundqvist

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

Onward, Dad Pants
Kristopher Campbell
Jonas Jarvers
Rob Jensen
Jacob Kuenzel

Over the Moon, Chang’e
Siggi Orri Thorhannesson
Hyesook Kim
Javier Solsona
Alan Chen

Soul, Terry
Jonathan Hoffman
Jonathan Page
Peter Tieryas
Ron Zorman

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Spongebob
Jacques Daigle
Guillaume Dufief
Adrien Montero
Liam Hill

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project

The Crown, “The Balmoral Test,” Imperial Stag
Ahmed Gharraph
Ross Burgess
Gabriela Ruch Salmeron
Joel Best

The Mandalorian, “The Jedi,” The Child
John Rosengrant
Peter Clarke
Scott Patton
Hal Hickel

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal,” Krayt Dragon
Paul Kavanagh
Zaini Mohamed Jalani
Michal Kriukow
Nihal Friedel

Timmy Failure, “Mistakes Were Made,” Total
Maxime Masse
Hennadii Prykhodko
Luc Girard
Sophie Burie

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial

AFK Arena, “Toilet,” Uzgahk
Chloe Dawe
Brad Noble
Tim van Hussen
Simon Legrand

Arm & Hammer, “Once Upon a Time,” Tuxedo Tom
Shiny Rajan
Silvia Bartoli
Matias Heker
Tiago Dias Mota

Far Cry, “Legacy,” Anton
Maxime Luere
Leon Berelle
Rémi Kozyra
Dominique Boidin

Legends of Runeterra, “Breathe,” Darius
Maxime Luere
Leon Berelle
Rémi Kozyra
Dominique Boidin

TK Maxx, The Lil Goat
Kiril Mirkov
Silvia Bartoli
Chris Welsby
David Bryan

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Bloodshot, Neuralspace
Arnaud Brisebois
Patrick Bacon
Dawid Borkiewicz
Gérôme Viavant

Mulan, Imperial City
Jeremy Fort
Matt Fitzgerald
Ben Walker
Adrian Vercoe

The Eight Hundred, 1937 Shanghai Downtown
Stefano Cieri
Aaron Auty
Simon Carlile
Patrick Zentis

The Eight Hundred, Shanghai Warehouse District
Jamie Macdougall
Julian Hutchens
Mark Honer
David Pekarek

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

Onward, Swamp Gas
Eric Andraos
Laura Grieve
Nick Pitera
Michael Rutter

Soul, You Seminar
Hosuk Chang
Sungyeon Joh
Peter Roe
Frank Tai

Trolls World Tour, Techno Reef
Luke Heathcock
Zachary Glynn
Marina Ilic
Michael Trull

Trolls World Tour, Volcano Rock City
Brian LaFrance
Sara Cembalisty
Christopher Sprunger
Ruben Perez

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Brave New World, New London
Guy Williams
Justin Gros-Désir
Markus Sterner
Ryan Clarke

Cyberpunk 2077, Night City
Jakub Knapik
Lucjan Więcek

Lovecraft Country, Tulsa 1921
Patrice Poissant
Pauline Lavelle
Mohamed Abdou Elhakim
Alan Lam

The Mandalorian, “The Believer,” Morak Jungle
Enrico Damm
Johanes Kurnia
Phi Tran
Tong Tran

The Mandalorian, “The Siege,” Nevarro Canyon
Kevin George
Aaron Barr
Piotr Tatar
Abel Milanés Betancourt

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project

Ghost of Tsushima, “A Storm is Coming”
Aladino Debert
Matt Dougan
Eric Beaver
David Liu

Soul
Matt Aspbury
Ian Megibben

The Mandalorian, “The Believer”
Richard Bluff
Matt Jensen
Chris Williams
Landis Fields IV

The Mandalorian, “The Siege”
Dave Crispino
Kyle Winkelman
Paul Kavanagh
Jose Burgos

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

The Mandalorian, Boba Fett’s Ship
Jay Machado
Enrico Damm
Gerald Blaise
Ryan Church

The Mandalorian, The Rescue; Light Cruiser
John Knoll
John Goodson
Dan Patrascu
Rene Garcia

The Midnight Sky, Aether
Michael Balthazart
Jonathan Opgenhaffen
John-Peter Li
Simon Aluze

The Witches, Rollercoaster
Jared Michael
Peter Dominik
Sylvain Lesaint
Emily Tilson

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

Bloodshot
Omar Meradi
Jeremy Poupin
Sylvain Robert
Deak Ferrand

Greyhound
Mike Nixon
Nicholas Papworth
Jeremy Smith
Yashdeep Sawant

Monster Hunter
Vimal Mallireddy
Warren Lawtey
Tom O’Bready
Dominik Haase

Mulan
Theo Vandernoot
Sandra Balej
James Carson
Yuri Rudakov

Project Power
Yin Lai Jimmy Leung
Jonathan Edward Lyddon-Towl
Pierpaolo Navarini
Michelle Lee

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

Onward
Dave Hale
Jonah Blue Laird
Stephen Marshall
Ricardo Nadu

Over the Moon
Ian Farnsworth
Brian Casper
Reinhold Rittinger
Jennifer Lasrado

Soul
Alexis Angelidis
Keith Daniel Klohn
Aimei Kutt
Melissa Tseng

Trolls World Tour
Stephen Wood
Carl Hooper
Spencer Knapp
Nick Augello

The Willoughbys
Helén Ahlberg
Kyle McQueen
Russell Smith
Raehyeon Kim

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Lovecraft Country, “Strange Case,” Chrysalis
Federica Foresti
Johan Gabrielsson
Hugo Medda
Andreas Krieg

Playstation, “The Edge”
Tom Raynor
Andreu Lucio
Martin Aufinger
Platon Filimonov

Tales from the Loop, “Loretta’s House”
Dominik Kirouac
Gaël Chopin
Sylvain Nouveau
Laurent Pancaccini

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal,” Krayt Dragon
HuaiYuan Teh
Don Wong
Mathieu Chardonnet
Prashanth Bhagavan

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature

Greyhound
Chris Gooch
Tiago Santos
Stu Bruzek
Sneha Amin

Mulan
Christoph Salzmann
Beck Veitch
Joerg Bruemmer
Indah Maretha

Project Power
Russell Horth
Matthew Patience
Julien Rousseau

Underwater
Sreejith Venugopalan
Ruslan Borysov
Susil Sabat
Andreas Andersson

Outstanding Compositing in an Episode

Lovecraft Country, “Strange Case,” Chrysalis
Viktor Andersson
Linus Lindblom
Mattias Sandelius
Crawford Reilly

The Mandalorian, “The Believer”
Peter Demarest
Christopher Balog
Shawn Mason
David Wahlberg

The Mandalorian, “The Marshal”
Nicolas Caillier
Simon Rafin
SiangKee Poh
Simon Marinof

The Mandalorian, “The Passenger”
TC Harrison
Tami Carter
Jaume Creus Costabella
Shane Davidson

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial

Burberry, “Singin’ In the Rain”
Alex Lovejoy
Mithun Alex
David Filipe
Amresh Kumar

Perrier, “Heat”
Stéphane Pivron
Franck Lambertz
Harry Bardak
Christophe Courgeau

Playstation, “The Edge”
Alex Gabucci
Rebecca Clay
Alex Grey
Alex Kulikov

Walmart, “Famous Visitors”
Chris “Badger” Knight
Ben Smith
Jake Albers
Franz Kol

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Fear the Walking Dead, “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg”
Frank Iudica
Scott Roark
Daniel J. Yates

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Time’s Down
Valentin Soulard
François Brugalières
Nils Lemonnier
Yan Weitlauff

Aral
Cédric Moens de Hase
Benoit Paya
Charles Morhain
Mathilde Dallamaggiore

Strands of Mind
Adrian Meyer
Laura Messner

Migrants
Antoine Dupriez
Hugo Caby
Lucas Lermytte
Zoé Devise

Latest News from Cartoon Brew