KPOP Demon Hunters Sweeps Annie Awards with 10 Wins, Including Best Feature and Voice Acting

KPop goes the Annies.

Netflix's KPop Demon Huntersclearly controlled the 53rd annualAnnie AwardsOn Saturday night, it won all 10 categories it was nominated for, including Beat Feature, Direction by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and Voice Acting by Arden Cho as Rumi. It appears to be a strong contender for the Animated Featured Oscar next month.

View the complete list of winners covering film, television, video games, and beyond below.

Netflix's top-grossing moviewon the night's first prize, for Production Design and then secured — in a clearnon-upset — Best Music. KPop Demon HuntersLater, Arden Cho was recognized for Best Voice Acting as lead Rumi, alongside awards for Best Writing, Character Design, Character Animation, FX, and editing. The film has been watched over 482 million times, and its soundtrack has been streamed approximately 11 billion times (with a capital B).

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As a result of the sweep, Disney/Pixar's Elio – which also received 10 Annie nominations – left empty-handed even though it was nominated in the category.KPop-Free Storyboarding category. That award was won by DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys. Walt Disney Studios'Zootopia 2, the highest-earning Hollywood animated film of all time, was also excluded Saturday night.

Since the Best Animated Feature Oscar category began in 2002, 14 out of the 23 winners of the Annies' top Best Feature award – and seven of the last 13 – have gone on to win the golden trophy. However, last year broke this pattern.Academy Award went to Flow over The Wild Robot, which dominated the 2025 Annies with seven nods. FlowHowever, it won the Annie Award for Best Independent Feature in February, as well as Best Writing.

Top Highlight – Independent reviewed Neon's science fiction/fantasy storyAcro, which debuted at Cannes and is nominated for the Animated Feature Oscar next month. It will compete againstK-Pop Demon Hunters, Zootopia 2, Elio andGkids' Little Amélie or the Nature of Rain; and Elio.

On the television side, the first two honors of the evening were awarded to Netflix’sLove, Death + Robots, and later introduced a third Annie – bringing the total to 11 in addition to 17 Emmy victories.Win or Lose,Pixar's inaugural full-length animated series, and Adult Swim'sCommon Side Effectshad three victories each. Other TV award winners included Fox’sBob Burgers voice actor Dan Mintz and Hulu'sThe Amazingly Odd World of Gumball Episode.

The first Juried Award of the evening, the June Foray Award, was given to Sandy Rabins, an animation and live-action producer and the creator of the AnimAID initiative, which provides help and support to individuals in the animation field impacted by the L.A. Wildfires. The organization has raised almost $700,000 to date. This award, named after the founder of the Annie Awards, is given to those who have had a beneficial influence on the animation industry.

The first of three Winsor McCay Awards for lifetime achievement was given to the highly accomplished Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Miller and Phil Lord of theSpider-Verse and Lego Moviefranchises and numerous other movies. The second one was awarded to Oscar-winning animator, writer, and director Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle, short film Father and Daughter) The last McCay Award went to Chris Sanders, a four-time Oscar-nominated animation expert and voice actor, who has received five Annie Awards throughout his career, including forThe Wild Robot last year. The honors were given by his peersLilo & Stitch actor Tea Carerre.

The Special Achievement Award from ASIFA-Hollywood was given to LightBox Expo, the yearly gathering that unites the creative animation community of filmmakers with animation students and enthusiasts.

Wacom, the company known for producing the Cintiq graphic tablet and other devices, was later honored with the Ub Iwerks Award for technical excellence.

The winners of the judged award are also listed below.

ASIFA-Hollywood has already announced the Animation Educators' Forum Hall of Fame Inductees for 2026. The inductees are Elmer Plummer, Doug Crane, Harry Love, Harold Whitaker, and Nancy Beiman.

Developed in 1972 by experienced voice actor June Foray, the Annie Awards honor the animation field's most skilled creators and narrators.

Here are the recipients of the 2026 Annie Awards:

BEST FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENT

Arco

Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma

BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans

BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA

Common Side Effects Episode: Cliff's Edge

Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions

Vincent Tsui

BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE

The Bad Guys 2

DreamWorks Animation

Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon

BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA

Love, Death + Robots Episode: How Zeke Found Faith Blur Studio for Netflix

Edgar Martins

TOP TELEVISION/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES

Win Or Lose

Episode: Episode 8: Home

Pixar Animation Studios

BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE

Common Side Effects Episode: Pilot

Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions

BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN

The Extraordinary Oddities of Gumball Episode: The Rewrite

Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe

BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL

Wow Lisa

Episode: Rainy Day

BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA

Common Side Effects Episode: Pilot

Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions

Joe Bennett, Steve Hely

BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE – FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Arden Cho (Character: Rumi)

BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE – TV/MEDIA

Bob's Burgers

Episode: Don't Worry, Be Happy

20th TV

Dan Mintz (Character: Tina Belcher)

BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE

K-Pop Demon Hunters Editorial Team

BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA

Common Side Effects Episode: Raid

Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions

Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim

BEST FX – FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Production Studio: Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

FX Studio: Sony Pictures Imageworks

Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Lewis, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chapelle

BEST FX – TV/MEDIA

Prehistoric Planet: Episode on the Ice Age: The Major Freeze

Production House: BBC Studios Natural History Unit

FX Production Company: Framestore

Edward Ferry, Kevin Christensen, Guy Shuleman, Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix

Ryusuke Furuya

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TELEVISION MEDIA

Win or Lose

Pixar Animation Studios

Alli Sadegiana

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION

How to Train Your Dragon

Production Company: DreamWorks Animation

FX Production Company: Framestore

Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - VIDEO GAME

South of Midnight

Compulsion Games

Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE FILM

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson

TOP CHARACTER VISUAL – TV/MEDIA

Love, Death + Robots Episode: 400 Boys

Blur Studio for Netflix

BEST MUSIC – FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

K-Pop Demon Hunters Music Group

BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA

Win Or Lose

Episode: Episode 6, Confusing Messages

Pixar Animation Studios

Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar

BEST SPONSORED

Olipop Yeti

Screen Novelties & Passion Films

BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION

Snoopy's Summer Musical Presentation

WildBrain Studios collaborating with Apple

BEST SET DESIGN – FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim

Best Set Design – Television/Media

Love, Death + Robots

Episode: How Zeke Found Faith

Blur Studio for Netflix

BEST SHORT SUBJECT

Snow Bear

The Craft of Aaron Blaise

BEST STUDENT FILM

A Sparrow's Song

Student director: Tobias Eckerlin

Student producer: Tobias Eckerlin

School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award

Michaël Dudok de Wit

Christopher Miller and Phil Lord

Chris Sanders

June Foray Award

Sandy Rabins

Ub Iwerks Award

Wacom

Special Achievement Award

LightBox Expo

ASIFA-Hollywood Merit Award

Jeffrey New

Haley Mirren Douthit

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