Irish animation Wolfwalkers leads 2021 Annie Awards with 10 Nominations
Posted: 3rd March 2021
Following its nomination at this year’s Golden Globe Awards last weekend, Ross Stewart and Tomm Moore’s Wolfwalkers has garnered 10 Annie Award nominations. The film, which has won widespread critical acclaim since its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, is nominated for Best Independent Animated Feature and Best Direction for Ross Stewart and Tomm Moore, amongst a host of other awards including:
- Best Writing (Will Collins)
- Best Music (Bruno Coulais, Kíla)
- Best Voice Acting (Eva Whittaker)
- Best Production Design (María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore)
- Best Character Design (Federico Pirovano)
- Best Character Animation (Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart)
- Best FX (Kim Kelly, Leena Lecklin, Frédéric Plumey, Almu Redondo, Nicole Storck)
- Best Storyboarding (Guillaume Lorin)
Wolfwalkers follows Robyn Goodfellowe, a young apprentice hunter who journeys to Ireland with her father in a time of superstition and magic to wipe out the last wolf pack. While exploring the forbidden lands outside the city walls, Robyn befriends a free-spirited girl, Mebh, a member of a mysterious tribe rumoured to have the ability to transform into wolves by night. As they search for Mebh’s missing mother, Robyn uncovers a secret that draws her further into the enchanted world of the Wolfwalkers and risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Dublin-based animation company Brown Bag Films also scored an Annie Award nomination for Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum: I Am Madam President in the Best TV/Media – Preschool category.
This is not the first time Irish animation or Cartoon Saloon has amassed a sweep of nominations at the Annie Awards, which are presented by the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association to recognise excellence in animation. Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner also garnered 10 nominations in 2018, where the film took home Best Independent Animated Feature, marking the first time a solo female director had won in the category.
Wolfwalkers is the third instalment of the animated Irish folklore trilogy from the internationally renowned animation studio Cartoon Saloon, based in Kilkenny. The Apple Original film was produced by Paul Young, Nora Twomey and Tomm Moore for Cartoon Saloon and by Stéphan Roelants for Melusine Productions.
Wolfwalkers is currently available to watch on Apple TV+.