2016 British Animation Award Winners Revealed

LONDON: The winners have been unveiled for this year’s British Animation Awards (BAA), where the holiday film Stick Man and hit series The Amazing World of Gumball scored two wins each.

Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) won the best voice performance award for his role in the Christmas-themed movie Stick Man, which also picked up the award for best use of sound. The best children’s series and children’s choice awards went to The Amazing World of Gumball: The Shell. Shaun the Sheep: The Movie was selected as best long-form animation.

Other award winners include Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Goodbye Seabird (best preschool series), James: Moving On (best music video), HIAS: For the Refugees (best commissioned animation: promotional), Animated Minds: Stories of Postnatal Depression (best commissioned animation: documentary), Teeth (best short film), Little Elephant (best animation in a commercial), The Power of Privacy (best film/TV graphics), Man Up You (best student film: undergraduate) and Small People with Hats (best student film: postgraduate). The public choice award for favorite music video was won by Benjamin Scheuer: Cookie-tin Banjo, while favorite film went to Mend and Make Do by Bexie Bush and BlueBarry by TwinTrash.

The 2016 BAA, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, were held at London’s BFI Southbank on March 10. The ceremony was hosted by voiceover artists, actors and impressionists Duncan Wisbey and Jess Robinson. The awards are meant to honor all forms of animation produced in the U.K.

BAA Director Jayne Pilling commented: “It’s 20 years since these awards began and we never cease to be bowled over by the sheer creativity and innovation in the British animation industry. The incredibly difficult decisions that our panels had to make to choose the winners prove that the animation industry is in better health than it’s ever been!”