Celebrating the Art, Craft and Business of Animation https://www.awn.com/ en-US 15 Tue, 16 Dec 2025 11:56:43 -0800 Tue, 16 Dec 2025 11:59:14 -0800 https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-98th-oscars VFX category narrowed down to 10 films, animated shorts to 15; voting for nominations runs next month, January 12-16, with nomination announcements set for January 22, 2026. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-98th-oscars Tue, 16 Dec 2025 11:56:43 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/academy-sets-2025-dates-rule-changes-ai-guidelines-and-expands-animated-short-voting For 98th Oscars, members must now watch all nominated films in a category in order to vote in final award round; each branch will judge films based on the ‘degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship.’ Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/academy-sets-2025-dates-rule-changes-ai-guidelines-and-expands-animated-short-voting Mon, 21 Apr 2025 11:47:37 PDT On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/road-97th-oscars-animated-features-nominees Take a deeper look at ‘Flow,’ ‘Inside Out 2,’ ‘Memoir of a Snail,’ ‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,’ and ‘The Wild Robot,’ all vying for the Best Animated Feature Oscar on March 2, 2025. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/road-97th-oscars-animated-features-nominees Tue, 25 Feb 2025 16:23:34 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-shadow-cypress Iranian filmmakers Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani talk about their hand-drawn, deeply personal film, created under extreme political and financial hardship, about a captain suffering from PTSD who lives with his daughter, wants to be a caring father, but struggles with a harsh life.   Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-shadow-cypress Tue, 18 Feb 2025 12:57:02 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-yuck Director Loïc Espuche and producer Juliette Marquet discuss their 2D animated short about a group of kids on vacation and how they react with disgust as they spy people kissing on the mouth… although for one young boy and girl, the idea may not be so awful. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-yuck Mon, 17 Feb 2025 16:46:48 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-magic-candies Producer Takashi Washio shares insights on his collaboration with director Daisuke Nishio and their efforts to understand Korean culture in order to faithfully adapt Heena Baek’s picture book, which follows a boy who struggles to connect with others until he discovers a pack of magical candies. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-magic-candies Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:55:07 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-beautiful-men Nicolas Keppens discusses his stop-motion film about the vulnerable journey of 3 balding brothers who travel to Istanbul for hair transplants. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-beautiful-men Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:13:51 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-wander-wonder Nina Gantz discusses her stop-motion film about 3 tiny humans, stars of a kids’ TV series, whose creator dies, leaving them alone in the studio to somehow survive and continue making episodes. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/spotlight-oscar-nominated-shorts-wander-wonder Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:08:47 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/road-97th-oscars-visual-effects-nominees Take a deeper look at ‘Alien: Romulus,’ ‘Better Man,’ ‘Dune: Part Two,’ ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,’ and ‘Wicked,’ all vying for the Best Visual Effects Oscar on March 2, 2025. Trevor Hogg https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/road-97th-oscars-visual-effects-nominees Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:05:13 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/academy-issues-97th-oscars-update Nominations voting period extended due to the ongoing Los Angeles fires and their impact; AMPAS has changed some key dates and events on its awards season schedule. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/academy-issues-97th-oscars-update Mon, 13 Jan 2025 10:42:49 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/michael-moore-joins-ground-zero-executive-producer The shortlisted Oscars entry, a collection of short films by 22 Palestinian filmmakers living in Gaza that blends animation, documentary, and fiction, hits U.S. theaters on January 3. L'Wren Alexa https://www.awn.com/news/michael-moore-joins-ground-zero-executive-producer Tue, 31 Dec 2024 10:12:10 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-97th-oscars VFX category narrowed down to 10 films, animated shorts to 15; voting for nominations runs next month, January 8-12, with nomination announcements set for January 17, 2025. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-97th-oscars Tue, 17 Dec 2024 11:38:48 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/road-96th-oscars-animated-shorts-nominees Take a deeper look at ‘Letter to a Pig,’ ‘Ninety-Five Senses,’ ‘Our Uniform,’ ‘Pachyderme,’ and ‘War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko,’ all vying for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar at the 96th Academy Awards coming March 10, 2024. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/road-96th-oscars-animated-shorts-nominees Tue, 27 Feb 2024 7:30:28 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/road-96th-oscars-visual-effects-nominees Take a deeper look at ‘The Creator,’ ‘Godzilla Minus One,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,’ and ‘Napoleon,’ all vying for the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 96th Academy Awards coming March 10, 2024. Trevor Hogg https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/road-96th-oscars-visual-effects-nominees Mon, 26 Feb 2024 18:11:06 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/road-96th-oscars-animated-feature-nominees Take a deeper look at ‘The Boy and the Heron,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘Nimona,’ ‘Robot Dreams,’ and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,’ all vying for the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the 96th Academy Awards coming March 10, 2024. Victoria Davis https://www.awn.com/animationworld/road-96th-oscars-animated-feature-nominees Sun, 25 Feb 2024 12:08:49 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/watch-oscar-shortlisted-letter-pig The award-winning animated short uses live-action and hand-drawn animation to tackle the complex story of a Holocaust survivor who addresses a classroom full of students and one young schoolgirl’s reaction; streams on YouTube for 2-days only – beginning January 4. Debbie Diamond Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/watch-oscar-shortlisted-letter-pig Thu, 04 Jan 2024 9:42:25 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-96th-oscars VFX category narrowed down to 10 films; voting for nominations runs next month, January 11-16, with nomination announcements set for January 23. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-96th-oscars Thu, 21 Dec 2023 11:44:27 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/puss-boots-last-wish-heading-peacock The Oscar-nominated and Annie Award-winning 3DCG animated comedy adventure, a follow-up to the studio’s 2011 hit, ‘Puss in Boots,’ hits the streamer exclusively on March 10. Whitney Whitener https://www.awn.com/news/puss-boots-last-wish-heading-peacock Thu, 09 Mar 2023 10:40:56 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/exclusive-behind-legend-goldis-wish-breakdown-reel-puss-boots-last-wish Director Joel Crawford, producer Mark Swift, and head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert talk about the emotion and heart they put into the arc of Goldilocks, who heads the Three Bears Crime Family, and the real meaning of her true wish, in DreamWorks Animation’s Oscar-nominated action adventure. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/exclusive-behind-legend-goldis-wish-breakdown-reel-puss-boots-last-wish Tue, 07 Mar 2023 14:15:56 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/she-moves-shoed-shells-wee-floor Animation director Kirsten Lepore discusses the herculean challenges of working with a miniscule mollusk in the Oscar-nominated, Annie Award-winning Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, now in theaters and streaming on Showtime. Jon Hofferman https://www.awn.com/animationworld/she-moves-shoed-shells-wee-floor Tue, 07 Mar 2023 7:23:41 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/all-world-stop-motion-animation-just-ask-ostrich Filmmaker Lachlan Pendragon talks about his extremely meta Oscar-nominated short film, ‘An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It.’ Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/animationworld/all-world-stop-motion-animation-just-ask-ostrich Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:43:13 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/blog/quick-look-boy-mole-fox-and-horse Charlie Mackesy and Peter Baynton’s Annie Award-winning and Oscar-nominated feel-good short film, about the unlikely friendship between a boy, a mole, a fox, and a horse as they explore the meaning of kindness, courage and compassion, brims with comforting, heartwarming messages of hope. Sharon Katz https://www.awn.com/blog/quick-look-boy-mole-fox-and-horse Fri, 03 Mar 2023 9:16:09 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/animationworld/oscar-shortlisted-save-ralph-delivers-emotional-punch-about-animal-testing Spencer Susser’s stop-motion short, featuring the voice talents of Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, and Zac Efron, features a compelling and relatable bunny who delivers a genuinely impactful performance, part of the Humane Society International’s global campaign to ban animal testing for cosmetics. Debbie Diamond Sarto https://www.awn.com/animationworld/oscar-shortlisted-save-ralph-delivers-emotional-punch-about-animal-testing Tue, 10 Jan 2023 16:03:54 PST On the Road to the Oscars https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-95th-oscars VFX category narrowed down to 10 films, while animated short category narrowed to 15; voting for nominations runs next month, January 12-17, with nomination announcements set for January 24. Dan Sarto https://www.awn.com/news/academy-announces-shortlists-10-categories-95th-oscars Wed, 21 Dec 2022 12:27:47 PST On the Road to the Oscars