Established in 1972, the recently held Annie Awards has been one of the oldest and most esteemed of its kind dedicated to animation. While the 47th event has been in some respects unsurprising (with Anglo-American productions like Frozen 2 still largely predominating) and astonishing in others (as works produced by relative newcomer Netflix such as Klaus and I lost My Body demonstrated), just as impressive is the solid showing of Japanese anime throughout the affair.
The late Satoshi Kon, in particular, was posthumously awarded the Winsor McCay Award for his long, storied career in the industry, with a remastered version of Tokyo Godfathers (2003) returning to theaters this coming March. Meanwhile, Madhouse’s Okko’s Inn, Studio TRIGGER’s Promare, Production IG’s Ultraman, and most notably, Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You among others were nominated for various entries, ranging from “Best Indie Feature” to “Best Direction.” Although none of them won and were, in some respects, overshadowed by the amazing upset brought about by Netflix beating Disney, that they even made it in at all is no easy feat. If anything, this demonstrates just how increasingly influential anime has become, even in Hollywood.
What was even more surprising, however, happened during the “In Memorial” section of the proceedings. As among the names mentioned were 36 Kyoto Animation staff who lost their lives during the tragic arson in 2019. While, sadly, none of KyoAni’s works were nominated, it’s still telling (and touching) how the studio and those lost to the fire were honored at such an event.
