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The creators behind Hollywood’s latest and upcoming animated projects, including “Inside Out 2,” “Transformers One” and more, were celebrated at Variety‘s 10 Animators to Watch. The event and cocktail reception, presented by Nickelodeon, were held at The Aster in Hollywood on July 10.

Variety Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis kicked off the ceremony by introducing Josh Cooley, director of “Toy Story 4” and the upcoming “Transformers One,” who presented Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation President Ramsey Naito with the inaugural Executive Impact in Animation award.

“[Ramsey] understands the power of giving filmmakers the freedom to make creative decisions,” Cooley said. “Her no house style approach also allows creators to build distinct immersive visual worlds and allows us to take creative swings so we can all tell inspiring, meaningful and creative stories.”

Naito accepted her award and said she loves animation because of its unique challenges: limitless possibilities, the ability to...

Netflix unveiled the trailer for “Ultraman: Rising” (premiering at Annecy June 12 and streaming June 14), the animated feature from first-time director Shannon Tindle, who re-imagines the legendary anime franchise from Tsuburaya Productions as an action-packed, heartwarming ode to parenthood.

With Tokyo under siege from rising kaiju attacks, Dodgers baseball superstar Ken Sato (Christopher Sean) reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of rogue superhero Ultraman from his father (Gedde Watanabe) while signing with the Giants. But he has trouble balancing his passion for baseball and his family obligation to be Ultraman. Then, when forced to raise a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju girl, Sato must confront his huge ego to protect her and Japan from destruction.

Tindle first conceived of his film as an original parental superhero story (“Made in Japan”). That was back in 2001 when he was a character designer on “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.” He later developed it...

The Netflix film “Klaus” dominated the film categories at Saturday night’s Annie Awards, the main awards show devoted strictly to animation. The film, made by Spanish animator Sergio Pablos, was a surprise winner of seven awards in the 13 feature-film categories, including Best Animated Feature, along with prizes for directing, character animation, character design, production design, storyboarding and editorial.

While Disney’s “Frozen II” and Laika’s “Missing Link” led all films with eight nominations each, “Frozen” had to settle for wins in the animated effects and voice acting categories (for Josh Gad), while “Missing Link” was shut out completely.

Other top nominees that went unrewarded included DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” and Pixar’s “Toy Story 4.”

Also Read: 'Klaus' Film Review: Animated Santa Claus Origin Story Nails the Magic Better than the Comedy

The animated feature that finished with the second most wins was another Netflix film,...

The International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood, has announced the nominations for the 43rd Annual Annie Awards and "Inside Out" and "The Good Dinosaur," both Pixar movies, led the pack! "Inside Out" received fourteen nominations while "The Good Dinosaur" got nine.

My pick of the year for best animated feature is "Inside Out" but I love Charlie Kaufman's "Anomalisa" as well which picked five noms.

We'll find out the winners of the Annie Awards on February 6th!

Here is the full list of nominees in all categories of the 43rd Annie Awards:

Best Animated Feature

Anomalisa

Paramount Pictures

Inside Out

Pixar Animation Studios

Shaun the Sheep The Movie

Aardman Animations

The Good Dinosaur

Pixar Animation Studios

The Peanuts Movie

Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation

Best Animated Special Production

Elf: Buddy.s Musical Christmas

Warner Bros. Animation

He Named Me Malala

Parkes-MacDonald / Little Door

I Am A Witness

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