About the 47th Annie Awards

The 47th Annual Annie Award ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 25, 2020.  The event will take place at the University of California, Los Angeles Royce Hall. The nominations were announced in early December where Frozen 2 was nominated for 8 awards.

Annie Award for Best Animated Feature

Frozen 2 – Walt Disney Animation Studios

I’m beginning to think this is the year of the sequels for animation. Frozen 2 is a sequel to the 2013 film, Frozen and features many of the original actors, actresses, and composers from the first film.

Set three years after the sequel this film follows Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven who journey outside of their hometown Arrendelle in hopes to find the origin of Elsa’s powers.

Frozen 2 has received high recognition from its effects, storytelling and music. It has been named the highest all-time worldwide opening for an animated film and has grossed over $1.1 billion at the box office.

I enjoyed the film overall as well as it’s messaging. Even though I like the first film better than the second one, there are many aspects of the film that make it fun to watch. I expect this film to win the category for this year.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon is a sequel to the popular, How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and loosely based on a book series.

The film follows Hiccup seeking the hidden world of dragons where he meets new friends and foes.  The film has received praise for its musical score and animation. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the first Dreamworks Animation film to be distributed by Universal Pictures. I’m hoping to see more films in the near future that add new elements of animation from lighting. Hopefully, dragons are still included.

Klaus – Netflix Presents A Production of The Spa Studios and Atresmedia Care

Who would have thought Netflix would have distributed an animated movie with beautiful hand-drawn animation!

Klaus was directed by Sergio Plabos which stars the voices of Jason Schwarzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones and more. Similar to the story of Santa Claus, the movie follows a postman who becomes friends with a toymaker.  Klaus is expected to make a run for an Oscar for this year.

Missing Link – Laika, LLC

Another film created by the Laika team! This stop-motion film follows a sasquatch’s adventure with the help of his human friends in search of his family.  The film has received positive reviews, but suffered a major setback with its bombing at the box office.  As a Laika fan, I wish this film received much more attention.

Toy Story 4 – Pixar Animation Studios

The fourth and hopefully the final installment (totally kidding) of the Toy Story series, this film follows Buzz Lightyear, Sherrif Woody, and their toy friends on an epic adventure with an annoying existential toy fork.

Toy Story 4 received positive reviews and to be honest, the animation of this movie is probably one of my favorite films in this category. Even though I did not like the story of this film, as well as the characters, I applaud the animation team who put their work into this film.