“Nimona,” Netflix‘s sci-fi fantasy about a disgraced knight and a shape-shifting teenager, led the features category of the 51st Annie Awards nominations with nine, including best feature, director, character animation, character design, production design, storyboarding, voice acting, writing and editorial.

In the feature race, “Nimona,” produced by Annapurna Animation for Netflix, will go up against critical darling “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” from Sony Pictures Animation, Japanese fantasy-adventure “Suzume” from CoMix Wave Films and Story and distributed by Crunchyroll/Sony Pictures, Paramount and Nickelodeon’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and newly minted Golden Globe winner “The Boy and the Heron,” the first feature from auteur Hayao Miyazaki in a decade, out of Studio Ghibli and distributed by GKIDS.

“Blue Eye Samurai,” also a Netflix project, topped the field in the TV/media categories, picking up seven noms. It was followed closely by Disney TV Animation’s “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” and Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Visions” with six each, “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” (Triggerfish Animation for Disney+) with five, and Disney+ series “What If…” and Max’s “Scavengers Reign” with four each.

Overall, Netflix movies and series dominated the animation awards with 28 nominations. The nearest competitors were Disney with eight, Pixar and Lucasfilm with seven each and DreamWorks Animation and Apple with five apiece.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has led many critics’ lists and has been considered a favorite to win top prizes during awards season, but “The Boy and the Heron” shook things up with its victory at the Golden Globes. Each picked up seven Annie nominations, along with “Suzume,” just behind “Nimona’s” nine. “TMNT: Mutant Mayhem” and Pixar’s “Elemental” followed with six each and “Robot Dreams,” a contender in the best feature-independent category, scored five.

Joining Arcadia Motion Pictures’ “Robot Dreams” in the feature-independent race are “Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia” from Folivari, Mélusine Productions, Studio Canal and distributed by GKIDS; Cinemon Entertainment’s “Four Souls of Coyote”; Curiosity Studios’ “The Inventor” and “White Plastic Sky” from Salto Films & Artichoke.

In the TV categories, the best TV/media – preschool nominees are “Batwheels,” “Ghee Happy,” “Playdate With Winnie the Pool,” “StoryBots: Answer Time” and “The Creature Cases.” Competing in the TV/media – children category are “CURSES!,” “Hilda,” “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” “My Dad the Bounty Hunter” and “Shape Island.” And in the TV/media – mature category, the nominees are “Big Mouth,” “Blue Eye Samurai,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Scavengers Reign” and “Tomato Kitchen.”

In addition to the competitive awards, ASIFA-Hollywood, the organization behind the Annies, will hand out juried awards honoring exemplary contributions to the animation industry. The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime or career achievement will go to the late animator and director Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger; longtime Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi, who is nominated for his score for “The Boy and the Heron”; and National Film Board animator and producer Marcy Page. The BRIC Foundation, co-founded by Alison Mann and Nicole Hendrix, will receive the June Foray Award for charitable impact for its work to boost representation across the entertainment, gaming, media and tech industries. The late animation pioneer John Oxberry will receive the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement and a Special Achievement Award will be presented to the artists of Walt Disney Animation. The Special Achievement Award is given to honor unique and outstanding work not recognized within the existing award category structure.

The 51st annual Annie Awards will be held on Saturday, Feb. 17, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. A pre-show reception will begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 7 p.m.

A complete list of nominees follows:

BEST FEATURE

Nimona, Annapurna Animation for Netflix

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation

Suzume, CoMix Wave Films Inc. and STORY Inc./Distributed by Crunchyroll/Sony Pictures

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies

The Boy and the Heron, Studio Ghibli/Distributed by GKIDS

BEST FEATURE-INDEPENDENT

Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, Folivari, Mélusine Productions, Studio Canal/Distributed by GKIDS

Four Souls of Coyote, Cinemon Entertainment

Robot Dreams, Arcadia Motion Pictures

The Inventor, Curiosity Studios

Check out the full list of nominees here

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