Annie Awards: ‘Wild Robot’ & ‘Arcane’ Dominating; Fire Alarm Delays Show For 15 Minutes – Updating Live

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It is shaping up to be a big night for The Wild Robot and Netflix’s now-wrapped series Arcane at the 52nd annual Annie Awards, which are being handed out tonight at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Deadline is posting the winners live as they are announced. See the list below.

The Universal/DreamWorks Animation film came into the ceremony with a leading 10 nominations from ASIFA-Hollywood, and it has won seven already: Best FX, Character Animation, Character Design, Production Design, Editorial, Music and Voice Acting for Lupita Nyong’o as lead character Roz. She was not there to accept.

Wild Robot‘s stunning run was interrupted when Flow won for Best Writing – Feature. The indie pic’s win is even more interesting in that it contain zero dialogue.

Arcane came in with a small-screen-leading seven noms — and it also is dominating, winning all six of its TV/Media categories — for Best Storyboarding, FX, Production Design, Editing, Music and Character Animation. The videogame-based series, which recently wrapped its second and final season, won nine Annies and an Animated Series Emmy for its 2021 first season.

The No. 1 movie of 2024, Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out, and Aardman’s stop-motion Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl are next with seven noms apiece. They and Wild Robot are vying in the marquee Best Feature Annie race against DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda and Netflix’s That Christmas and Ultraman: Rising.

Since the Best Animated Feature Oscar category was launched in 2002, 14 of the 22 winners of the Annies’ top feature prize – and seven of the past 12 – went on to claim the golden statuette. But last year bucked the trend as the Academy Award went to Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron over Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which dominated the 2024 Annies with seven nods.

Wander to Wonder took the Short Subject prize. The announcer noted that this was the pic’s 41st awards win already, and it also is in the running for the Oscar and BAFTA.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the 10th film in the 57-year-old franchise and the first of a planned trilogy, won for Best Character Animation – Live Action.

The TV Voice Acting award went to Paula Pell for voicing Paula Dream Productions. The Inside Out series set in the time between the two feature films later added Best TV/Media – Limited Series.

Bob’s Burgers took the Annie Best TV/Media – Mature, and The Tiny Chef Show won for Preschool Series.

For much of the night, Arcane and The Wild Robot were the only titles with multiple Annie Awards, but Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur now has two, for Best Children’s Series and Character Design. The latter was the second consecutive win in the category for Jose Lopez. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur won three Annies last year.

Later, Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman won Best Writing TV/Media for DreamWorks Animation’s Orion and the Dark. It is his first career Annie, and the award was accepted by series director Sean Charmatz.

At about 8:45 p.m., an alarm sounded, the ceremony and livestream were halted and Royce Hall was cleared. After a 15-minute delay that including two fire alarms, the audience returned to their seats, and the show continued. The Annies tweeted that the interruption was due to “a fire alarm emergency,” but no other explanation was given. The announcer called it “the Annies’ first-ever intermission,”

The show opened with a performance the Los Angeles County Firefighters’ Fife & Drum Band. The first presenter, Steve Buscemi, thanked, congratulated and honored the first responders who risked it all to help save lives, property and pets during last month’s devastating wildfires. Turns out Buscemi was an FDNY firefighter himself years ago, and a picture of him in uniform was shown. The now-actor, who is active in the voice-over community, said the photo might have been from when he “was auditioning for the Village People.”

The Annies doubled as a fundraiser for AnimAID, which was launched to raise and distribute funds for wildfire relief. A little more than halfway through the show, it was announced that more than $90,000 had been raise. You can scan the QCode here to donate:

The evening’s first Juried Award, The June Foray Award, went to Women in Animation. Named for the Annie Awards founder, the award is presented to people who have made a positive impact on the animation industry. Alberto Menache later received the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement, and ASIFA-Hollywood’s Special Achievement Award went to the book Directing at Disney: The Original Directors of Walt’s Animated Films.

The Winsor McCay Awards for lifetime achievement were presented to Aaron Blaise, Normand Roger
and the daughter and granddaughter of Eunice Macaulay, who died in 2013 at 90.

Late last month, ASIFA-Hollywood revealed the Animation Educators’ Forum Hall of Fame Class of 2025. They are Leonard Maltin, John Canemaker and Ivan Sutherland along with the late Howard Beckerman, Nelbertina “Nellie” Chouinar, Thornton “T” Hee, Edwin G. Lutz, Don Perro and Frank Terry.

Here are the winners announced so far at the 2025 Annie Awards, followed by the remaining nominees:

Winners

BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: Killing is a Cycle
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Joséphine Meis

BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES
Dream Productions
Episode: A Night to Remember
Pixar Animation Studios

BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: They Slug Horses, Don’t They?
20th Television Animation

BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode: The Molecular Level
Flying Bark Productions, Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television

BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
The Tiny Chef Show
Episode: Tiny Chef’s Spooky Stump Spectacular
Imagine Entertainment, Tiny Chef Productions and Nickelodeon Productions

BEST WRITING – FEATURE
Flow
Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio
Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža

BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA
Orion and the Dark
Special Production
DreamWorks Animation
Charlie Kaufman

BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Lupita Nyong’o (Character: Roz)

BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
Dream Productions Episode: Out of Body
Pixar Animation Studios
Paula Pell (Character: Paula)

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Mary Blee, Collin Erker, Orlando Duenas, Lucie Lyon, Brian Parker

BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: Pretend Like It’s the First Time
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Nazim Meslem, Gilad Carmel, Roberto Fernandez

BEST FX – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
FX Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, David Chow, Nyoung Kim, Steve Avoujageli

BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
Production Company: A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
FX Production Company: Fortiche Studio
Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Adam Bachiri, Guillaume Zaouche, Jérôme Dupré

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Fabio Lignini

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episodes: Killing Is A Cycle, Heavy Is the Crown, Finally Got the Name Right, The Message Hidden Within the Pattern, The Dirt Under Your Nails, Pretend Like It’s the First Time, Blisters and Bedrock
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Tom Gouill

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Production Company: 20th Century Studios
FX Production Company: Wētā FX
Christian Kickenweitz, Aidan Martin, Allison Orr, Radiya Alam, Howard Sly

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
Neva
Nomada Studio
Nomada Studio Animation Team

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Genevieve Tsai

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode: The Molecular Level
Disney Television Animation, Cinema Gypsy Productions
Jose Lopez

BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Kris Bowers

BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Ryan Jillian Santiago, Alexander Seaver, Simon Wilcox

BEST SPONSORED
Fuzzy Feelings
Passion Pictures Hungry Man

BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Orion and the Dark
DreamWorks Animation

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Raymond Zibach, Ritchie Sacilioc

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Arnaud-Loris Baudry, Julien Georgel, Faustine Dumontier, Charlotte O’Neil

BEST SHORT SUBJECT
Wander to Wonder
Circe Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo

BEST STUDENT FILM
Adiós
Student Director: José Prats
Student Producer: Bernardo Angeletti
School: National Film and Television School

Nominees

BEST FEATURE
Inside Out 2
Pixar Animation Studios

Kung Fu Panda 4
DreamWorks Animation

That Christmas
Locksmith Animation for Netflix

The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation

Ultraman: Rising
Netflix Presents in association with Tsuburaya Productions

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Aardman and Netflix

BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENT
Chicken for Linda!
Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma, Distributed by GKIDS

Flow
Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio

Kensuke’s Kingdom
Paramount Pictures

Look Back
Studio Durian Distributed by GKIDS

Mars Express
Everybody on Deck, Je Suis Bien Content Distributed by GKIDS

Memoir of a Snail
Snails Pace Films / Arenamedia

BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
Arcane
Episode: The Dirt Under Your Nails
A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix
Arnaud Delord, Pascal Charrue, Bart Maunoury

Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation
Television Movie
Disney Television Animation, Disney Branded Television
Anna O’Brian

Bob’s Burgers
Episode: They Slug Horses, Don’t They?
20th Television Animation
Bernard Derriman

Tabby McTat
Television Movie
Magic Light Pictures
Jac Hamman, Sarah Scrimgeour

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Episode: The Pearl
Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Point / Grey Pictures
Alan Wan, Colin Heck

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
Chicken for Linda!
Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma / Distributed by GKIDS
Chiara Malta, Sébastien Laudenbach

Flow
Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio
Gints Zilbalodis

That Christmas
Locksmith Animation for Netflix
Simon Otto

The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation
Chris Sanders

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Aardman and Netflix
Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham

BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
Despicable Me 4
Illumination
Habib Louati

Moana 2
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Ryan Green

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
Nickelodeon Animation
Piero Piluso

Spellbound
Netflix Presents / Skydance Animation Presents a Skydance Animation Film
Alex Relloso Horna, Carlos Zapater Oliva

That Christmas
Locksmith Animation for Netflix
Ashley Boddy, Lorenzo Fresta, Helen Schroeder

JURIED AWARDS

The Winsor McCay Awards
Aaron Blaise
Eunice Macaulay
Normand Roger

June Foray Award
Women in Animation