Zootropolis wins big at 2017 Annie Awards

The annual awards ceremony dedicated to animation has named Disney’s ‘Zootropolis’ the best film of the past twelve months.

‘Zootropolis’ (or ‘Zootopia’ as it is known in most other territories; copyright issues forced the title change in the UK) was the big winner of the night at the International Animated Film Society’s 44th annual Annie Awards, picking up Best Animated Feature, Best Directing for Byron Howard and Rich Moore, and Best Writing for Jared Bush and Phil Johnston.

‘Zootropolis’ also picked up awards for character design and storyboarding, and was a tie in Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature, with actor Jason Bateman being named joint winner alongside ‘Moana’ actress Auli’i Cravalho.

Bit of a win-win for Disney, then; and unsurprisingly the time-honoured champions of animation had a big night overall, also picking up the Best Animated Effects in an Animated Feature award for ‘Moana,’ and Best Character Animation in a Live Action Feature for ‘The Jungle Book.’

Plus, Disney subsidiaries Pixar and Marvel Studios picked up a single win each: the Best Short award for ‘Piper,’ and Best Animated Effects in a Live Action Feature for ‘Doctor Strange’ respectively.

Still, Disney did not completely dominate proceedings, as the feature film character animation award instead went to LAIKA for ‘Kubo and the Two Strings,’ whilst Netflix/On Animation Studios’ ‘The Little Prince’ picked up best music.

Meanwhile, the revered Studio Ghibli picked up the Best Independent Animated Feature award for ‘The Red Turtle,’ and various TV category awards went to ‘Adventure Time,’ ‘Bob’s Burgers’ and ‘Trollhunters.’

Read the full list of nominees and winners at the official Annie Awards site.

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