The Annie Awards are a series of prestigious awards in the film industry that honor achievements in animation (for animated feature productions or animated TV Media) and the Marvel Studios movie Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings that premiered earlier this year has just received an Annie Award nomination for the 49th Annie Awards!
Walt Disney Animation Studio’s animated feature Encanto, Pixar Animation Studio’s animated movie Luca, and Walt Disney Animation Studio’s animated movie Raya and the Last Dragon are three animated feature productions that premiered this year and that have also been nominated for Annie Awards in several different categories. Walt Disney Television Animation has also gotten nominations for Amphibia (2019) and The Ghost and Molly McGee (2021).
The nomination that Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings has received is a nomination to win the Annie Award for Best Character Animation (Live Action). Since Shang-Chi is mainly a live-action Marvel movie, it’s not surprising that the superhero film has only been nominated for one Annie Award. There are certainly many thrilling special effects and fantasy elements in the movie, however, particularly during its martial arts fight scenes and all of the fights that take place in Ta Lo, the mystical birthplace of Shang’s mother!
Luca is a Pixar Animation Studios animated movie that has received eight nominations for the 49th annual Annie Awards, including the Best Character Design (Feature) Award, Best Direction Award, Best Character Animation Award, Best Editorial (Feature) Award, Best Writing (Feature) Award, Best Music (Feature) Award, Best Voice Acting (Feature) Award (Jack Dylan Grazer), and Best Feature Award.
Encanto is a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie that has been nominated for nine awards at the 49th annual Annie Awards, including the Best Direction Award, Best Character Animation Award, Best Editorial (Feature) Award, Best Music (Feature) Award, Best Storyboarding Award, Best Voice Acting (Feature) Award (John Leguizamo), Best Voice Acting (Feature) Award (Stephanie Beatriz), Best FX Award, and Best Feature Award.
Raya and the Last Dragon is the Walt Disney Animation Studios Disney princess adventure film that seems to be Walt Disney Animation Studios’ front-runner during this awards season, since the animated movie has been nominated for a whopping ten awards! This movie’s nominations for the 49th annual Annie Awards are the Best FX Award, Best Character Animation Award, Best Character Design Award, Best Editorial (Feature) Award, Best Music (Feature) Award, Best Storyboarding Award, Best Production Design Award, Best Writing Award, Best Voice Acting Award (Feature, Kelly Marie Tran), and Best Feature Award.
While Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings is certainly not breaking any Annie Award records in comparison to its Disney counterparts (although those three movies have the advantage in this animation awards season since they’re entirely animated), the Marvel movie’s nomination is still an achievement. There’s also less pressure for Shang-Chi, since it’s not competing for the Best Animated Feature Award like the other three movies are!
Encanto, Luca, and Raya and the Last Dragon (which coincidentally also stars Awkafina from Shang-Chi) are competing with each other for several Annie Awards. Luca and Raya and the Last Dragon are competing for the Best Writing Award and Best Character Design. All three movies are competing with each other for the Best Character Animation Award, the Best Music Award, the Best Voice Acting Award (with Kelly Marie Tran, Jack Dylan Grazer, Stephanie Beatriz, and John Leguizamo in the running), and the Best Editorial Award. Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon are also competing for the Best FX Award and the Best Storyboarding Award. The Best Direction Award is one that Encanto and Luca are nominated for as well. Another competitor for Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios is DreamWorks Animation, which has a few nominees in the running for the 49th Annie Awards, and Sony Pictures Animation is also a competitor with nominees.
On the TV side of things, Walt Disney Television Animation has gotten nominations for Amphibia for Best Direction, Best TV Media, and Best Editorial as well a nomination for The Ghost and Molly McGee for the Best Storyboarding Award. Animation awards aside, the positive reception for the Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings movie generally bodes well for Marvel Studios–and that’s something to be proud of!
