Annie Award for Best Animated Feature – Independent

The Annie Award for Best Animated Feature – Independent is an Annie Award introduced in 2015, awarded annually.^[1]

Annie Award for Best Animated Feature — Independent
Awarded for	Excellence in independent animated films
Country	United States
Presented by	ASIFA-Hollywood
First awarded	Boy and the World (2015)
Currently held by	Robot Dreams (2023)
Website	annieawards.org

Recognition

The category was created to recognize full-length films that did not get a wide release in the United States, such as the work of independent animators and international studios.^[2]

Statistics

Cartoon Saloon, the Irish animation studio responsible for The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers, have the most wins in this category with two. The French animation studio Folivari^[3] have the most nominations with four (winning for co-producing the aforementioned Wolfwalkers). GKIDS is the distributor with the most wins in this category with four.

Every winner in this category since its inception has gone on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Winners and nominees

2010s

Year	Film	Studios
2015 (43rd) [4][5]
	Boy and the World	Filme de Papel, GKIDS
	Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet	Ventanarosa
	The Boy and the Beast	Studio Chizu
	When Marnie Was There	Studio Ghibli
2016 (44th) [6][7]
	The Red Turtle	Studio Ghibli, Prima Linea Productions, Why Not Productions
	Long Way North	Sacrebleu Productions, Maybe Movies, France 3 Cinéma
	Miss Hokusai	Production I.G
	My Life as a Zucchini	Rita Productions, Blue Spirit Productions, Gebeka Films
	Your Name	CoMix Wave Films
2017 (45th) [8][9][10]
	The Breadwinner	Cartoon Saloon, Aircraft Pictures, Melusine Productions,GKIDS
	The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales	Folivari, Panique!, StudioCanal, GKIDS
	In This Corner of the World	MAPPA
	Loving Vincent	BreakThru Films
	Napping Princess	Nippon TV, Production I.G, GKIDS
2018 (46th) [11][12]
	Mirai	Studio Chizu, GKIDS
	MFKZ	Ankama, Studio 4°C, GKIDS
	Ruben Brandt, Collector	Hungarian National Film Fund
	This Magnificent Cake!	Beast Animation, Vivement Lundi!, Pedri Animation
	Tito and the Birds	Bits Productions, Split Studio
2019 (47th) [13][14]
	I Lost My Body	Xilam
	Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles	Hampa Animation Studio
	Okko's Inn	Madhouse Studios
	Promare	Studio Trigger, XFLAG
	Weathering with You	CoMix Wave Films

2020s

Year	Film	Studios
2020 (48th) [15][16]
	Wolfwalkers	Apple TV+, GKIDS, Folivari, Cartoon Saloon
	A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon	StudioCanal, Aardman Animations, Anton Capital Entertainment, Netflix
	Calamity Jane	Maybe Movies
	On-Gaku: Our Sound	Rock'n Roll Mountain, Tip Top
	Ride Your Wave	Science SARU
2021 (49th) [17][18]
	Flee	Final Cut for Real, Sun Creature, Vivement Lundi, MostFilm, Mer Film, VICE, Left HandFilms, Participant, NEON
	Belle	Studio Chizu, GKIDS
	Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko	Studio 4°C, GKIDS
	Pompo the Cinephile	CLAP Animation Studio, GKIDS
	The Summit of the Gods	Julianne Films, Folivari, Mélusine Productions, France 3 Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Wild Bunch, Palatine Etoile 17, Cinémage 14, Indéfilms 8, Netflix
2022 (50th) [19]
	Marcel the Shell with Shoes On	Marcel the Movie LLC, A24
	Charlotte	January Films, Ltd., Balthazar Productions, Walking the Dog
	Inu-Oh	Science SARU, GKIDS
	Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be	On Classics (Mediawan), Bidibul Productions
	My Father's Dragon	Cartoon Saloon, Netflix
2023 (51st) [20][21]
	Robot Dreams	Arcadia Motion Pictures, Wild Bunch, NEON
	Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia	Folivari, Mélusine Productions, StudioCanal, GKIDS
	Four Souls of Coyote	Cinemon Entertainment
	The Inventor	Curiosity Studios
	White Plastic Sky	SALTO Films & Artichoke
2024 (52nd) [22]
	Chicken for Linda!	Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma
	Flow	Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio, Janus Films
	Kensuke’s Kingdom	Mélusine Productions
	Look Back	Studio Durian
	Mars Express	Everybody on Deck, Je Suis Bien Content
	Memoir of a Snail	Snails Pace Films / Arenamedia, IFC Films

Multiple wins and nominations by studio

Wins by studio

Wins	Studio
2	Cartoon Saloon

Nominations by studio

Nominations	Studio
4	Folivari
	Mélusine Productions
3	Studio Chizu
	Cartoon Saloon
	StudioCanal
2	Studio Ghibli
	CoMix Wave Films
	Maybe Movies
	Production I.G
	Studio 4°C
	Science SARU
	Wild Bunch
	Sacrebleu Productions

See also

• Annecy Crystal for a Feature Film
• Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film
• Annie Award for Best Animated Feature
• Producers Guild of America Award for Best Animated Motion Picture
• BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film
• European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film

References

1. Best Independent Feature Category Added to Annie Awards
2. "43rd Annie Award Nominations Announced". Annie Awards.com. December 1, 2015.
3. About|Folivari
4. D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 1, 2015). "Annie Awards Noms: 'Inside Out', 'Anomalisa', 'Shaun The Sheep', 'Good Dinosaur' & 'Peanuts ' Up For Best Feature". Deadline. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
5. Coggan, Devan (February 7, 2016). "Annie Awards 2016 winners list: Inside Out takes top prizes". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
6. Hipes, Patrick (November 28, 2016). "'Zootopia' Leads Annie Awards Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
7. "'The Red Turtle' wins big at the 44th Annie Awards". SBS PopAsia. February 6, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
8. Flores, Terry (December 4, 2017). "'Coco' Tops 2018 Annie Awards Nominations With 13". Variety. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
9. Donnelly, Matt; Pond, Steve (February 3, 2018). "'Coco' Takes Annie Award for Best Animated Feature". TheWrap. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
10. "Nora Twomey's, The Breadwinner, Wins Independent Animated Feature, at the Annie Awards". Screen Ireland. February 6, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
11. Giardina, Carolyn (December 3, 2018). "Annie Awards: 'Incredibles 2,' 'Ralph' Lead Feature Nominees; 'Mary Poppins Returns' Also Nominated". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
12. "Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai Film Wins Annie Award for Best Animated Independent Feature". Anime News Network. February 3, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
13. Giardina, Carolyn (December 2, 2019). "Annie Awards: 'Frozen 2,' 'Missing Link' Lead Year of Surprises and Snubs". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
14. Desowitz, Bill (January 26, 2020). "Netflix's 'Klaus' and 'I Lost My Body' Win Big". IndieWire. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
15. Desowitz, Bill (March 3, 2021). "'Soul' and 'Wolfwalkers' Lead 48th Annie Awards with 10 Nominations". IndieWire. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
16. Flores, Terry (April 16, 2021). "'Soul' and 'Wolfwalkers' Take Top Honors at Annie Awards". Variety. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
17. Hazelton, John (December 22, 2021). "'Raya And The Last Dragon' and 'Belle' among Annie nominees". Screen Daily International. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
18. Hipes, Patrick (March 12, 2022). "Annie Awards: 'The Mitchells Vs. The Machines', 'Arcane' Dominate; 'Flee' Takes Best Indie Film – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
19. Pedersen, Erik (January 17, 2023). "Annie Awards Nominations: 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' & 'Marcel The Shell' Lead Field". Deadline. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
20. 'Nimona' Leads Annie Awards Animated Feature Competition' 'Wish' Snubbed - The Hollywood Reporter
21. Lewis, Hilary (February 17, 2024). "Annie Awards: 'Spider-Man: Across the 'Spider Verse' Leads With 7 Wins, Including Best Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
22. Annie Awards Nominees: ‘The Wild Robot’ Leads with 10 Nods|Animation Magazine

External links