01/06/2023 - Nora Twomey’s animated flick has scooped five statuettes, whilst the series Tales from Dún Draíochta, The Cuphead Show! and Odo bagged two awards each

My Father’s Dragon director Nora Twomey with one of her awards (© Andrew Downes/xposure)

The 2023 edition of the Irish Animation Awards was held in Galway on Saturday 27 May. This year saw the triumph of My Father’s Dragon [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which came out on top with five wins – Best Irish Feature, Best Editing, Best Music, Best VFX and Best Storyboarding.

Directed by Nora Twomey (who served as a producer on Wolfwalkers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and directed The Breadwinner [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) and based on the 1948 children’s novel of the same name by Ruth Stiles Gannett, the animated flick is a US-Irish co-production staged by Netflix Animation, Mockingbird Pictures and Cartoon Saloon.

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Meanwhile, Igloo Animation’s children’s series Tales from Dún Draíochta (Ireland), produced for RTÉjr, scooped two prizes, including Best Animated Kids’ Series. Sixteen South’s preschool series Odo (Ireland) and Lighthouse Studios’ The Cuphead Show! (USA/Canada/Ireland) also bagged two awards apiece.

Other projects in receipt of prizes included Little Moon Animation’s Fia's Fairies (Ireland, Kids’ Choice Preschool), Aisling Conroy's Bardo (Ireland, Best Art Direction and Design), Brown Bag Films’ Karma's World (Ireland, Best Director of an Animated Series for Bronagh O’Hanlon, Pete McEvoy and Brian O’Brien) and Boulder Media's Memento Mori (Ireland, Best Sound Design for Ed Costello and Ryan Quinn).

All of the winners received a statuette designed by animator, filmmaker and teacher Eimhín McNamara, resembling a phenakistoscope, an early animation device used to create the illusion of motion.

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

Best Animated Preschool Series
Circle Square - Greg McLeod (Ireland/UK)

Best Animated Kids’ Series 6+
Tales from Dún Draíochta - Trevor Courtney (Ireland)

Kids’ Choice Preschool
Fia's Fairies - Eoghan Garvey (Ireland)

Kids’ Choice 6+
The Cuphead Show! - Adam Paloian (USA/Canada/Ireland)

Best Animated Short Film
Soul Office – Ryan Loughran (UK)

Best International Short Film
The Stranger – Jihye Jung, Jusuk Lee, Hyunju Kim (South Korea)

Best Writer for Preschool Animation
Ishai Ravid – Odo (episode: Doodle Song) (Ireland)

Best Writer for an Animated Series
Trevor Courtney – Tales from Dún Draíochta (episode: Lusmore and the Rapping Fairy)

Best Animation for Apps, Games and Interactive
Katie McNeice, Maeve MacNamara, Jim Pipe – Waggle (Ireland)

Best Art Direction and Design
Aisling Conroy, Alan Holly, Cora McKenna – Bardo (Ireland)

Best Director of an Animated Series
Bronagh O’Hanlon, Pete McEvoy, Brian O’Brien – Karma's World (Ireland)

Best Animation Sequence
Julius Mingi, Dindo Santos, Gian Carla Atienza – The Cuphead Show!

Best Music
Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna – My Father's Dragon [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (USA/Ireland)

Best Sound Design
Ed Costello, Ryan Quinn – Memento Mori (Ireland)

Best Irish Feature or Special
My Father's Dragon - Nora Twomey

Best Innovation in Animation
Retinize & Flickerpix – Face2Face – Charles & Camilla

Best Irish IP
Colin Williams – Odo (episode: Reggie)

Best Student Film
Small Makings of a Storm – Avery Angle (Ireland)

Best Editing
Richie Cody, Darren Holmes – My Father's Dragon

Best Storyboarding
Giovanna Ferrari – My Father's Dragon

Best VFX
My Father's Dragon - Nora Twomey

Outstanding Contribution to the Industry
Teresa McGrane