‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ ‘Elio’ Lead 53rd Annie Award Feature Nominations With 10 Nods Each

ASIFA-Hollywood has unveiled the nominees for the 53rd Annie Awards, offering the U.S.’s most expansive and respectful snapshot of animation’s global creative and industrial ecosystem.

Covering features, series, shorts, vfx, video games, and individual craft achievements, this year’s nominations reflect both the tremendous scale of studio-driven animation and the increasingly global, cross-disciplinary nature of the independent sector. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on February 21, 2026, in Los Angeles.

At the top of the feature race, two studio titles stand out as the most likely contenders, Disney’s Zootopia 2 and Netflix/Sony Pictures Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters, which have been omnipresent across this year’s awards season. The latter is also tied with Pixar’s Elio for the most nominations of the year, each with 10. Zootopia 2 and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain each scored seven.

The independent feature category shows off animation’s global reach, with films from France, Belgium, Mexico, South Korea, and Japan competing side by side.

From the TV competition, Pixar’s Win or Lose leads all series with six nominees, while Netflix’s Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight and Adult Swim’s Common Side Effects each scored five.

Below is the complete list of this year’s nominees across all categories.

BEST 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 FEATURE – INDEPENDENT

• A Magnificent Life — Mediawan; What the Prod; Bidibul Productions
• Arco — Remembers; MountainA France; France 3 Cinéma
• I Am 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; Jam Filled Entertainment
• Adult Swim’s The Elephant — Titmouse; Williams Street
• Not Just a Goof — Venturia Animation Studios for CNEK Films LLC
• Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — WildBrain Studios; Apple
• The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland — Lupus Films; 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

• 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 — Episode: “Welcome to Treetopington” — Brown Bag Films; Scholastic Entertainment; Apple
• Kindergarten: The Musical! — Episode: “Gotta Go!” — Oddbot Entertainment; Disney Branded Television
• The Tiny Chef Show — Episode: “Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular” — Imagine Entertainment; Tiny Chef Productions; Nickelodeon Productions
• Wow Lisa — Episode: “Rainy Day” — Punkrobot
• Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum — Episode: “I Am Jackie Robinson” — 9 Story Media Group; Brown Bag Films

BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN

• My Melody & Kuromi — Episode: “All for Our Best Friend” — Sanrio Company for Netflix
• Spice Frontier: Escape From Veltegar — Episode: 1 — Steamroller Animation
• Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Episode: “Rise of the Night Ninja” — Nickelodeon Animation Studios; PointGrey Pictures
• The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball — Episode: “The Rewrite” — Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
• Wylde Pak — Episode: “Sungandeul” — Nickelodeon Animation Studios; Jam Filled Entertainment

BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE

• Bob’s Burgers — Episode: “Grand Pre-Pre-Pre Opening” — 20th TV
• Common Side Effects — Episode: “Pilot” — Green Street Pictures; Bandera Entertainment; Williams Street Productions
• Haha, You Clowns — Episode: “107 — Duncan Holds a Baby” — Williams Street
• Il Baracchino — Episode: “Claudia entra in un caffè” — Luckyred; Megadrago
• South Park — Episode: “Sermon on the ’Mount” — Comedy Central LLC

BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES

• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight — Episode: Episode III — Netflix; Banijay Productions France; Légende Films
• Eyes of Wakanda — Episode: “Into the Lion’s Den” — Marvel Studios
• Marvel Zombies — Episode: 2 — Marvel Studios
• Star Wars: Visions — Volume 3 — Episode: “BLACK” — david production
• Win or Lose — Episode: “Episode 8: Home” — Pixar Animation Studios

BEST STUDENT FILM

• A Sparrow’s Song — Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH — Student director/producer: Tobias Eckerlin
• Acrobats — Gobelins — Student directors: Eloïse Alluyn; Hugo Danet; Anna Despinoy; Antonin Guerci; Alexandre Marzin; Shali Reddy
• Jour de vent — École des Nouvelles Images — Student directors: Martin Chailloux; Ai Kim Crespin; Elise Golfouse; Chloé Lab; Hugo Taillez; Camille Truding
• The Undying Pain of Existence — Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH — Student director: Oscar Jacobson; Student producers: Franz Rügamer; Nadiia Yunatska
• TRASH — ESMA — Student directors: Maxime Crançon; Alexis Le Ral; Student producers: Robin Delaporte; Romain Fleischer; Mattéo Durand

BEST FX – TV/MEDIA

• Marvel Zombies — Episode: Episode 4 — Production Company: Marvel Animation — FX: Stellar Creative Lab, Inc.
• Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — Episode: “The Big Freeze” — Production Company: BBC Studios Natural History Unit — FX: Framestore
• Spice Frontier — Episode: 1 — Production Company/FX: Steamroller Animation
• Star Wars: Visions — Volume 3 — Episode: “The Bird of Paradise” — Production Company/FX: Polygon Pictures
• WondLa — Episode: “Lost” — Production Company: Skydance Animation — FX: ICON Creative Studio

BEST FX – FEATURE

• Elio — Pixar Animation Studios — FX: Pixar Animation Studios
• In Your Dreams — Netflix; Kuku Studios — FX: Sony Pictures Imageworks
• KPop Demon Hunters — Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix — FX: Sony Pictures Imageworks
• The Bad Guys 2 — DreamWorks Animation — FX: DreamWorks Animation
• Zootopia 2 — Walt Disney Animation Studios — FX: Walt Disney Animation Studios

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA

• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight — Episode: Episode III — Floriane Caseiro
• Forevergreen — Special Production — Brendan Gottlieb
• Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — Special Production — Chris Derochie
• The Simpsons — Various Episodes — Nik Ranieri
• Win or Lose — Various Episodes — Alli Sadegiani

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 — Little Sewing Machine
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach — Kojima Productions
• Ghost of Yōtei — Sucker Punch Productions
• Keeper — Double Fine Productions
• South of Midnight — Compulsion Games

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight — Episode: Episode IV — Borja Montoro
• Bat-Fam — Episode: “A Knight at the Movies” — Benjamin Tong
• Love, Death + Robots — Episode: “400 Boys” — Robert Valley
• Wednesdays with Gramps — Short Film — Seth St. Pierre
• Win or Lose — Episode: “Episode 8: Home” — Lou Hamou-Lhadj

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE

• Elio — Matt Nolte; Yingzong Xin; James Woods; Kaleb Rice; Bob Pauley
• Fixed — Craig Kellman
• KPop Demon Hunters — Scott Watanabe; Ami Thompson
• The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants — Adam Paloian; Thaddeus Couldron; Alvi Ramirez
• The Twits — Kei Acedera; Tristan Poulain; Jules Rigolle; Fernando Peque; Remi Salmon

BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA

• Common Side Effects — Episode: “Cliff’s Edge” — Vincent Tsui
• DAN DA DAN — Episode: “Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot!” — Fuga Yamashiro; Abel Góngora
• Not a Box — Episode: “It’s a Boat” — Siri Melchior
• Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Episode: “Rise of the Night Ninja” — JJ Conway; Kevin Molina-Ortiz
• The Quinta’s Ghost — Short Film — James A. Castillo

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 – TV/MEDIA

• Common Side Effects — Episode: “Lakeshore Limited” — Nicolas Snyder
• Devil May Cry — Episode: “The First Circle” — Power Glove; Alex Seaver
• Éiru — Short Film — Leo Pearson; Ceara Conway
• Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — Special Production — Ben Folds; Jeff Morrow; Alan Zachary; Michael Weiner
• Win or Lose — Episode: “Episode 6: Mixed Signals” — Ramin Djawadi; Shane Eli; Johnny Pakfar

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 PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA

• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight — Episode: Episode II — Aurélien Prédal
• Forevergreen — Special Production — Jeremy Spears; Gregory Culp
• Love, Death + Robots — Episode: “How Zeke Got Religion” — Gigi Cavenago
• ParaNorman: The Thrifting — Special Production — LAIKA
• Wednesdays with Gramps — Short Film — Frederic Stewart

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE

• Elio — Harley Jessup; Ernesto Nemesio; Maria Lee; Kristian Norelius; Kyle Jones
• KPop Demon Hunters — Helen Chen; Dave Bleich; Wendell Dalit; Scott Watanabe; Celine Kim
• The Bad Guys 2 — Luc Desmarchelier; Floriane Marchix
• The Twits — Estefania Pantoja; Alexandre Diboine; Clement Dartigues; Fernando Peque; Remi Salmon
• Zootopia 2 — Cory Loftis; Limei Z. Hshieh

BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA

• Love, Death + Robots — Episode: “How Zeke Got Religion” — Edgar Martins
• ParaNorman: The Thrifting — Special Production — Coleton Palmer; Katherine Jay Myong; Heewon Jeong
• Snow Bear — Short Film — Aaron Blaise
• Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Episode: “Rise of the Night Ninja” — Richard Chi; Matthew Kim; Sheldon Vella; Lyndsay Simpson
• Win or Lose — Episode: “Episode 8: Home” — Esteban Bravo

BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE

• Arco — Ugo Bienvenu
• Elio — Tony Rosenast
• Little Amélie or the Character of Rain — Nicolas Pawlowski
• The Bad Guys 2 — Anthony Holden; Young Ki Yoon
• Zootopia 2 — Hikari Toriumi

BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA

• Bob’s Burgers — “Don’t Worry Be Hoopy” — Dan Mintz (Tina Belcher)
• Hazbin Hotel — “Behind Closed Doors” — Erika Henningsen (Charlie Morningstar)
• Long Story Short — “Shira Can’t Cook” — Abbi Jacobson (Shira Schwooper)
• Smiling Friends — “Shmaloogles” — Zach Hadel (Evil Wizard)
• The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball — “The Amadain” — Alkaio Thiele (Gumball Watterson)

BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE

• Dog Man — Lil Rey Howery (Chief)
• Elio — Remy Edgerly (Glordon)
• In Your Dreams — Craig Robinson (Baloney Tony)
• KPop Demon Hunters — Arden Cho (Rumi)
• The Twits — Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Beesha)

BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA

• #1 Happy Family USA — Episode 101: “NINE TEN” — Ramy Youssef; Pam Brady
• Adult Swim’s The Elephant — Special Production — Pendleton Ward; Ian Jones-Quartey; Rebecca Sugar; Patrick McHale
• Common Side Effects — “Pilot” — Joe Bennett; Steve Hely
• Lulu Is a Rhinoceros — Special Production — Allison Flom
• Win or Lose — Episode 4: “Pickle” — Carrie Hobson; Michael Yates

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 EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA

• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight — Episode: Episode III — David Boyadjian
• Common Side Effects — Episode: “Raid” — Tony Christopherson; Joie Lim
• Haunted Hotel — Episode: “The Acolytes of Abaddon” — Benjamin Morse; Benjamin Martian; Marshall Wetta
• Invincible S3 — “I Thought You’d Never Shut Up” — Luke Asa Guidici; Matt Michael; Lea Carosella; Liam Johnson
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch — Episode: “Up From the Grave” — Thomas Belair; Nicolas Bourgeois; Julien Perez

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE

• Arco — Nathan Jacquard
• Elio — Anna Wolitzky; Steve Bloom; Noah Newman; Greg Snyder; Ben Morris
• KPop Demon Hunters — KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team
• Little Amélie or the Character of Rain — Ludovic Versace
• Olivia & las Nubes — Tomás Pichardo Espaillat