The 48th Annie Awards ceremony will be held virtual this year. On March 3, 2021, all nominees were announced. Soul and Wolfwalkers earned the most nominations for the event (10). The event will take place on April 16, 2021 at the University of California, Los Angeles’s Royce Hall.

Annie Awards Best Animated Feature Film Nominees

Onward (Pixar)

Two teenage elf brothers living in a mythical world are on a quest to bring their father back from the dead for one day.

Their quest involves magical spells and unimaginable discoveries.

If you enjoy dungeons and dragons, watch this movie! It is also a movie great for the family.

Onward Fun Facts:

• On the kids menu of the Manticore’s Tavern, you can see “Kraken legs” are a food option.
  
• The Emperor’s New Groove tune can be heard playing at the birthday in the Manticores Tavern.
  
• The badges from UP (2009) can be seen on a bulletin board.

Soul (Pixar)

This newly animated Disney film will make you discover what it means to have a soul.

Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher must find his way back home from the afterlife. Without getting to philosophical for this film, I expect this movie to win the award at the Annies and take home a few more as well.

Soul Fun Facts:

• Joe Gardner is the first African American main protagonist in a Pixar movie.
  
• Tina Fey helped contribute to the screenplay.
  
• The character’s name “22” is a reference to the term a Catch-22.

The Croods: A New Age (DreamWorks Animation)

The Croods are on a new adventure to find a safer place to call home. What they find along the way is surprising to them, another family.

The Croods: A New Age Fun Facts:

• This is Joel Crawford’s (story artist of Kung Fu Panda, The Lego Movie 2 and Rise of the Guardians) directorial debut.

• Nicolas Cage’s 100th fim acting credit.

• The biggest box-office opening since the pandemic started.

The Willoughbys (Netflix / A BRON Animation Production in association with Creative Wealth Media)

The Willoughby children create a plan to send their selfish parents on vacation, so they can raise themselves. This adventure packed film displays the true meaning of family with oddball humor and relatable characters.

The Willoughbys Fun Facts:

• This film is loosely based on a book of the same name by Lois Lowry.
  
• Netflix’s second animated film to be rated PG, after Klaus (2019).
  
• Alessia Cara does her own singing in the film.

Trolls World Tour (DreamWorks Animation)

This jukebox movie intertwines funk ,country, techno, classical, pop and rock music. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch with their friends must unify the trolls.

If you enjoy listening to catchy songs similar to Eurovision, then this movie might be for you.

Trolls World Tour Fun Facts:

• Gathering the “six” strings can be a reference to Avengers: Infinity War.
  
• Chaz the smooth jazz troll is modeled after Kenny G.
  
• The DreamWorks Animation logo appears with a “Twenty-Five Years” commemoration at the beginning of the film.