The biennial awards ceremony from Animation Ireland, which will take place virtually for the first time on Friday, May 21st, has announced its nominees for the 2021 Irish Animation Awards.
The awards will once again highlight the brilliance and talent of the Irish animation sector, with the 2021 Awards featuring four new categories, including Best Storyboarding, Best Editing, Best Student Film and Best New Irish IP.
Among the nominations in the 20 categories this year is Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated film Wolfwalkers, which was nominated in all seven available categories. Giant Animation’s Zog and the Flying Doctors, which aired on BBC One on Christmas Day, racked up four nominations.
For their preschool series, Chico Bon Bon; Monkey with a Tool Belt, Brown Bag Films picked up three nominations, while Vamperina, Dorg Van Dango, Ballybraddan, Bug Diaries and Pablo also picked up multiple nods.
According to Animation Ireland’s Chief Executive, Ronan McCabe, the awards this year highlight the continued growth and creativity in the sector; ‘’It has been an unprecedented year for Irish animation, but the quality of the work produced here in Ireland has once again been world class. It’s really heartening to see that the sector has continued to produce outstanding work and that the future remains bright for Irish animation. As with every other year, the 2021 Irish Animation Awards is a time to celebrate the strength and vibrancy of the sector.’’
Ronan went on to say; ‘’We have four new award categories this year, and one which I am really looking forward to is Best Student Film. Animation Ireland has been working hard over the past five years to develop education opportunities in animation and to encourage more students to get involved in a great career choice. Given the current situation, this year’s event will be virtual, but we’re still going to be putting on a great show.
“It will be a half-day event, with two industry panels, in partnership with Animation Skillnet, Screen Skills Ireland and Women in Animation, followed by the awards ceremony in the evening.’’
Winners of each category will receive a statuette designed by animator, filmmaker and teacher Eimhin McNamara. The statuette resembles a Phenakistoscope, which was an early animation device used to create an illusion of motion.
The Irish Animation Awards are sponsored this year by Screen Ireland, RTÉ, Northern Ireland Screen, BAI, Enterprise Ireland, Gorilla Post, Toon Boom Animation, Philip Lee, Brophy Gillespie, and Laztech.