The Oscar-frontrunning Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was the big winner at Asifa-Hollywood’s 51st Annie Awards (held February 17 at UCLA’s Royce Hall), grabbing seven awards, topped by best animated feature. As a 66 percent Oscar predictor, the Annie win bodes well for Sony and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The other “Spider-Verse” awards were for FX, character design, direction, music, production design, and editorial.
The Oscar-nominated dark horse, “Robot Dreams” (Neon), from Pablo Berger, won best independent feature, and “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko” (ElectroLeague) took best short. The prestige short got a boost in its race for the Oscar. It’s directed by Pixar alum Dave Mullins and executive produced by Sean Ono Lennon, in partnership with Peter Jackson and his Wētā FX Limited animation team.
Hayao Miyazaki’s summary film, “The Boy and the Heron“ (Studio Ghibli-GKids), won two Annies for Takeshi Honda...
The other “Spider-Verse” awards were for FX, character design, direction, music, production design, and editorial.
The Oscar-nominated dark horse, “Robot Dreams” (Neon), from Pablo Berger, won best independent feature, and “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko” (ElectroLeague) took best short. The prestige short got a boost in its race for the Oscar. It’s directed by Pixar alum Dave Mullins and executive produced by Sean Ono Lennon, in partnership with Peter Jackson and his Wētā FX Limited animation team.
Hayao Miyazaki’s summary film, “The Boy and the Heron“ (Studio Ghibli-GKids), won two Annies for Takeshi Honda...
- 2/18/2024
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
[This story contains major spoilers for Nimona.]
Nimona voice actress Chloë Grace Moretz “loves” that pink is the sole color embraced by the titular shapeshifting hero behind the Netflix animated film.
“When I was younger, I shirked pink like crazy. I remember being like, ‘Pink’s not cool. I’m going to wear everything other than pink,'” she recalled on the pink carpet of the movie’s New York screening. “Then I grew up, and I was like, ‘I can wear pink. I can do this.’ Those colors were gender-neutral for many years until like the 1940s. It’s a color that I think we should gain more ownership over and be able to wear it whenever we want it, however we want it, in all its different shades.”
In America, pink is a color that has spanned the gender spectrum at various points in history. Having spent decades not being associated with any particular gender,...
Nimona voice actress Chloë Grace Moretz “loves” that pink is the sole color embraced by the titular shapeshifting hero behind the Netflix animated film.
“When I was younger, I shirked pink like crazy. I remember being like, ‘Pink’s not cool. I’m going to wear everything other than pink,'” she recalled on the pink carpet of the movie’s New York screening. “Then I grew up, and I was like, ‘I can wear pink. I can do this.’ Those colors were gender-neutral for many years until like the 1940s. It’s a color that I think we should gain more ownership over and be able to wear it whenever we want it, however we want it, in all its different shades.”
In America, pink is a color that has spanned the gender spectrum at various points in history. Having spent decades not being associated with any particular gender,...
- 7/4/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
[Editor’s note: The following interview contains spoilers for “Nimona.”]
Netflix’s “Nimona” (now streaming) represents the latest post “Spider-Verse” animated breakthrough in handmade-looking 2D stylization. The twist here was creating a futuristic medieval fantasy that mixes “Sleeping Beauty” with “Blade Runner.” Fortunately, Dneg Animation (“Entergalactic”) answered the Sos after the trouble-plagued adaptation of Nd Stevenson’s queer graphic novel about the titular teen shapeshifter (Chloë Grace Moretz) came back from the dead. That’s because Annapurna Animation and the streamer rescued the Blue Sky feature after Disney shuttered the Fox-owned animation studio in 2021.
“We obviously followed it really closely, what happened to Blue Sky,” Dneg VFX supervisor Archie Donato told IndieWire. “We knew that they were shutting down. It was all over media and everything, so it was incredibly heartbreaking because we had many, many friends working there. We actually hired a lot of their animators and people in lighting and compositing and other departments. So we managed...
Netflix’s “Nimona” (now streaming) represents the latest post “Spider-Verse” animated breakthrough in handmade-looking 2D stylization. The twist here was creating a futuristic medieval fantasy that mixes “Sleeping Beauty” with “Blade Runner.” Fortunately, Dneg Animation (“Entergalactic”) answered the Sos after the trouble-plagued adaptation of Nd Stevenson’s queer graphic novel about the titular teen shapeshifter (Chloë Grace Moretz) came back from the dead. That’s because Annapurna Animation and the streamer rescued the Blue Sky feature after Disney shuttered the Fox-owned animation studio in 2021.
“We obviously followed it really closely, what happened to Blue Sky,” Dneg VFX supervisor Archie Donato told IndieWire. “We knew that they were shutting down. It was all over media and everything, so it was incredibly heartbreaking because we had many, many friends working there. We actually hired a lot of their animators and people in lighting and compositing and other departments. So we managed...
- 6/30/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Netflix’s “Nimona” marks an LGBTQ breakthrough for a mainstream animated film. Based on Nd Stevenson’s best-selling queer graphic novel about the titular teen shapeshifter (Chloë Grace Moretz) in a futuristic medieval world, “Nimona” explores timely issues of identity and xenophobia. It additionally pushes 2D stylization into 3D with a uniquely illustrated look.
“Nimona” is also a minor miracle. It was rescued from the dead by Annapurna Animation and Netflix after Disney halted production in 2021 when they shuttered Fox-owned Blue Sky Studios, where the project originated. As it was, the film’s LGBTQ themes were watered down and a same-sex kiss between bestie knights (voiced by Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang) was a cause of concern at Disney.
But former Blue Sky co-presidents Andrew Millstein and Robert Baird refused to let “Nimona” die in 2021. Together with producer Julie Zackary and directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (“Spies in Disguise...
“Nimona” is also a minor miracle. It was rescued from the dead by Annapurna Animation and Netflix after Disney halted production in 2021 when they shuttered Fox-owned Blue Sky Studios, where the project originated. As it was, the film’s LGBTQ themes were watered down and a same-sex kiss between bestie knights (voiced by Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang) was a cause of concern at Disney.
But former Blue Sky co-presidents Andrew Millstein and Robert Baird refused to let “Nimona” die in 2021. Together with producer Julie Zackary and directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (“Spies in Disguise...
- 6/14/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
As part of Netflix’s appearance this week at the Annecy International Animation Festival, the streaming service hosted a sneak peek at upcoming work and the world premiere of Nimona, the anticipated adaptation of Nd Stevenson’s graphic novel coming to the platform on June 30. Additionally, the studio announced that Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Aardman Animations’ anticipated sequel to 2000’s Chicken Run — will get a Dec. 15 release.
In a new clip from the sequel to Chicken Run — from the Oscar-winning studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shawn the Sheep — the Annecy audience was introduced to Molly (Bella Ramsey), the daughter of Chicken Run‘s Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi). Molly is among those captured and placed in a truck carting chickens to a new fortress-like farm. After a classic Aardman chase — with Ginger, Rocky and others in hot pursuit of the truck — they begin to devise a rescue plan.
In a new clip from the sequel to Chicken Run — from the Oscar-winning studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shawn the Sheep — the Annecy audience was introduced to Molly (Bella Ramsey), the daughter of Chicken Run‘s Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi). Molly is among those captured and placed in a truck carting chickens to a new fortress-like farm. After a classic Aardman chase — with Ginger, Rocky and others in hot pursuit of the truck — they begin to devise a rescue plan.
- 6/14/2023
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Following the streaming services’ first best animated feature Oscar win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Netflix is heading to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June to preview a string of upcoming projects and to host an advance screening of summer release Nimona, based on Nd Stevenson’s graphic novel.
Nimona directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Stevenson, producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary, and production designer Aidan Sugano will be on hand at the festival. Along with the screening, a making-of session is on the agenda.
Another panel will examine Aardman’s eagerly awaited Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the sequel to its 2000 stop-motion animated feature Chicken Run, which remains the highest-growled stop motion animated feature of all time. Speaking at Annecy will be director Sam Fell, producer Leyla Hobart, and exec producer and Aardman founder Peter Lord.
The creative team behind Blue Eye Samurai — creators...
Nimona directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Stevenson, producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary, and production designer Aidan Sugano will be on hand at the festival. Along with the screening, a making-of session is on the agenda.
Another panel will examine Aardman’s eagerly awaited Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the sequel to its 2000 stop-motion animated feature Chicken Run, which remains the highest-growled stop motion animated feature of all time. Speaking at Annecy will be director Sam Fell, producer Leyla Hobart, and exec producer and Aardman founder Peter Lord.
The creative team behind Blue Eye Samurai — creators...
- 4/24/2023
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This year Netflix is returning to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival as newly crowned kings, having just secured the Oscar for Best Animated Feature for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio.” Not that they have any intention of slowing down, as this year they are bringing a slate of potential commercial and artistic triumphs to the rolling hills of the French countryside – from Annapurna’s “Nimona” to Aardman’s highly anticipated “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” and much, much more.
On Wednesday, June 14, Annecy will present an exclusive screening of their absolutely fabulous new feature film “Nimona” at the Theater Bonlieu at 6 p.m. which will include appearances from directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, creator Nd Stevenson (whose graphic novel is the basis for the film), producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary and production designer Aidan Sugano. The team will reconvene for a “Making Of” session on Thursday,...
On Wednesday, June 14, Annecy will present an exclusive screening of their absolutely fabulous new feature film “Nimona” at the Theater Bonlieu at 6 p.m. which will include appearances from directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, creator Nd Stevenson (whose graphic novel is the basis for the film), producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary and production designer Aidan Sugano. The team will reconvene for a “Making Of” session on Thursday,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Netflix has unveiled a packed line-up of animated feature films and series that it will be taking to France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.
Riding high on the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and the Primetime Emmy for Arcane, the platform is gearing up for one of its biggest outings to the lakeside festival to date.
Topping its Annecy slate is an exclusive screening of Nimona, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang in the voice cast.
The fantasy tale, set in a techno-medieval world, follows the adventures of a shapeshifting teen, tackling ideas of labels and acceptance at the same time.
It is the first production to come out of Annapurna’s new animation division which was launched at the end of 2022 and helped save the film with Netflix after Disney dropped the project.
Directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane,...
Riding high on the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and the Primetime Emmy for Arcane, the platform is gearing up for one of its biggest outings to the lakeside festival to date.
Topping its Annecy slate is an exclusive screening of Nimona, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang in the voice cast.
The fantasy tale, set in a techno-medieval world, follows the adventures of a shapeshifting teen, tackling ideas of labels and acceptance at the same time.
It is the first production to come out of Annapurna’s new animation division which was launched at the end of 2022 and helped save the film with Netflix after Disney dropped the project.
Directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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