"Avengers: Endgame," "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," and "Gemini Man" also compete for the top VFX prize.

Disney dominated the 18th annual VES Awards with five nominations apiece for Jon Favreau’s frontrunner “The Lion King” and Robert Rodriguez’s surprising “Alita: Battle Angel” (acquired from Fox). Joining them for the top photo-real prize were the Disney-led “Avengers: Endgame” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” along with Ang Lee’s “Gemini Man” (featuring Weta’s breakthrough CG human, via the young Will Smith clone). The VES Awards will be held January 29th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Competing for supporting VFX were Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” (boasting Industrial Light & Magic’s innovative de-aging of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci), Sam Mendes’ “1917,” (which stitched together the World War I thriller as one continuous shot and offered various enhancements), James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari,” Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” and “The Aeronauts.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth

In animation, Disney also fared well, with Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” (which grabbed five nominations) and “Frozen 2.” They were joined by Golden Globe nominee “Missing Link” from Laika, surprise nominee “Klaus” (the innovative 2D feature from Netflix and Spanish director Sergio Pablos), and, in a shocker, “The LEGO Movie 2,” beating out DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.”

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On the TV episodic side, Disney + entries, “The Mandalorian” (which collected six nominations) and “Lady and the Tramp” compete with HBO’s “Game of Thrones”(which also got six nominations) and “His Dark Materials,” and Netflix’s “Lost in Space 2” and “Stranger Things 3.”

“The Lion King,” supervised by three-time Oscar winner Rob Legato, touts a breakthrough virtual production workflow and a breathtaking faux live-action aesthetic, thanks to MPC Film’s accomplished photo-real animation. “Alita,” meanwhile, offers Weta Digital’s impressive humanoid cyborg (performance-captured by Rosa Salazar). Both movies also collected nominations for character animation (Scar and Alita), created environment (the Pridelands and Iron City), virtual cinematography (including legendary DP Caleb Deshanel on “The Lion King”), and effects simulations.

As previously announced, the VES Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Scorsese, the Visionary Award to Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”), and the Award for Creative excellence to VFX supervisor Sheena Duggal (“Contact,” “Agent Carter”).

The nominees for the 18th Annual VES Awards in 25 categories are as follow:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

“Alita: Battle Angel”

Richard Hollander

Kevin Sherwood

Eric Saindon

Richard Baneham

Bob Trevino

“Avengers: Endgame”

Daniel DeLeeuw

Jen Underdahl

Russell Earl

Matt Aitken

Daniel Sudick

“Gemini Man”

Bill Westenhofer

Karen Murphy-Mundell

Guy Williams

Sheldon Stopsack

Mark Hawker

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Roger Guyett

Stacy Bissell

Patrick Tubach

Neal Scanlan

Dominic Tuohy

“The Lion King”

Robert Legato

Tom Peitzman

Adam Valdez

Andrew R. Jones

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

“1917”

Guillaume Rocheron

Sona Pak

Greg Butler

Vijay Selvam

Dominic Tuohy

“Ford v Ferrari”

Olivier Dumont

Kathy Siegel

Dave Morley

Malte Sarnes

Mark Byers

“Joker”

Edwin Rivera

Brice Parker

Mathew Giampa

Bryan Godwin

Jeff Brink

“The Aeronauts”

Louis Morin

Annie Godin

Christian Kaestner

Ara Khanikian

Mike Dawson

“The Irishman”

Pablo Helman

Mitch Ferm

Jill Brooks

Leandro Estebecorena

Jeff Brink

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

“Frozen 2”

Steve Goldberg

Peter Del Vecho

Mark Hammel

Michael Giaimo

“Klaus”

Sergio Pablos

Matthew Teevan

Marcin Jakubowski

Szymon Biernacki

“Missing Link”

Brad Schiff

Travis KnightSteve Emerson

Benoit Dubuc

“The LEGO Movie 2”

David Burgess

Tim Smith

Mark Theriault

John Rix

“Toy Story 4”

Josh Cooley

Mark Nielsen

Bob Moyer

Gary Bruins

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

“Game of Thrones”; The Bells

Joe Bauer

Steve Kullback

Ted Rae

Mohsen Mousavi

Sam Conway

“His Dark Materials”; The Fight to the Death

Russell Dodgson

James Whitlam

Shawn Hillier

Robert Harrington

“Lady and the Tramp”

Robert Weaver

Christopher Raimo

Arslan Elver

Michael Cozens

Bruno Van Zeebroeck

“Lost in Space” – Episode: Ninety-Seven

Jabbar Raisani

Terron Pratt

Niklas Jacobson

Juri Stanossek

Paul Benjamin

“Stranger Things” – Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum

Paul Graff

Tom Ford

Michael Maher Jr.

Martin Pelletier

Andy Sowers

“The Mandalorian”; The Child

Richard Bluff

Abbigail Keller

Jason Porter

Hayden Jones

Roy Cancinon

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

“Chernobyl”; 1:23:45

Max Dennison

Lindsay McFarlane

Clare Cheetham

Paul Jones

Claudius Christian Rauch

“Living With Yourself”; Nice Knowing You

Jay Worth

Jacqueline VandenBussche

Chris Wright

Tristan Zerafa

“See”; Godflame

Adrian de Wet

Eve Fizzinoglia

Matthew Welford

Pedro Sabrosa

Tom Blacklock

“The Crown”; Aberfan

Ben Turner

Reece Ewing

David Fleet

Jonathan Wood

“Vikings”; What Happens in the Cave

Dominic Remane

Mike Borrett

Ovidiu Cinazan

Tom Morrison

Paul Byrne

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

“Call of Duty Modern Warfare”

Charles Chabert

Chris Parise

Attila Zalanyi

Patrick Hagar

“Control”

Janne Pulkkinen

Elmeri Raitanen

Matti Hämäläinen

James Tottman

“Gears 5”

Aryan Hanbeck

Laura Kippax

Greg Mitchell

Stu Maxwell

“Myth: A Frozen Tale”

Jeff Gipson

Nicholas Russell

Brittney Lee

Jose Luis Gomez Diaz

“Vader Immortal”: Episode I

Ben Snow

Mike Doran

Aaron McBride

Steve Henricks

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

“Anthem Conviction”

Viktor Muller

Lenka Likarova

Chris Harvey

Petr Marek

“BMW Legend”

Michael Gregory

Christian Downes

Tim Kafka

Toya Drechsler

“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds”

Carsten Keller

Selcuk Ergen

Kiril Mirkov

William Laban

“PlayStation: Feel The Power of Pro”

Sam Driscoll

Clare Melia

Gary Driver

Stefan Susemihl

“Purdey’s: Hummingbird”

Jules Janaud

Emma Cook

Matthew Thomas

Philip Child

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

“Avengers: Damage Control”

Michael Koperwas

Shereif Fattouh

Ian Bowie

Kishore Vijay

Curtis Hickman

“Jurassic World: The Ride”

Hayden Landis

Friend Wells

Heath Kraynak

Ellen Coss

“Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run”

Asa Kalama

Rob Huebner

Khatsho Orfali

Susan Greenhow

“Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance”

Jason Bayever

Patrick Kearney

Carol Norton

Bill George

“Universal Sphere”

James Healy

Morgan MacCuish

Ben West

Charlie Bayliss

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature

“Alita: Battle Angel”; Alita

Michael Cozens

Mark Haenga

Olivier Lesaint

Dejan Momcilovic

“Avengers: Endgame”; Smart Hulk

Kevin Martel

Ebrahim Jahromi

Sven Jensen

Robert Allman

“Gemini Man”; Junior

Paul Story

Stuart Adcock

Emiliano Padovani

Marco Revelant

“The Lion King”; Scar

Gabriel Arnold

James Hood

Julia Friedl

Daniel Fortheringham

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

“Frozen 2”; The Water Nøkk

Svetla Radivoeva

Marc Bryant

Richard E. Lehmann

Cameron Black

“Klaus”; Jesper

Yoshimishi Tamura

Alfredo Cassano

Maxime Delalande

Jason Schwartzman

“Missing Link”; Susan

Rachelle Lambden

Brenda Baumgarten

Morgan Hay

Benoit Dubuc

“Toy Story 4”; Bo Peep

Radford Hurn

Tanja Krampfert

George Nguyen

Becki Rocha Tower

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project

“Lady and the Tramp”; Tramp

Thiago Martins

Arslan Elver

Stanislas Paillereau

Martine Chartrand

“Stranger Things 3”; Tom/Bruce Monster

Joseph Dubé-Arsenault

Antoine Barthod

Frederick Gagnon

Xavier Lafarge

“The Mandalorian”; The Child; Mudhorn

Terry Bannon

Rudy Massar

Hugo Leygnac

“The Mandalorian”; Pilot; Pogo

Aidan Martin

Craig Young

Olivier Beierlein

Laurent Herveic

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial

“Apex Legends”; Meltdown; Mirage

Chris Bayol

John Fielding

Derrick Sesson

Nole Murphy

“Churchill”; Churchie

Martino Madeddu

Philippe Moine

Clement Granjon

Jon Wood

“Cyberpunk 2077”; Dex

Jonas Ekman

Jonas Skoog

Marek Madej

Grzegorz Chojnacki

“John Lewis; Excitable Edgar”; Edgar

Tim van Hussen

Diarmid Harrison-Murray

Amir Bazzazi

Michael Diprose

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

“Aladdin”; Agrabah

Daniel Schmid

Falk Boje

Stanislaw Marek

Kevin George

“Alita: Battle Angel”; Iron City

John Stevenson-Galvin

Ryan Arcus

Mathias Larserud

Mark Tait

“Motherless Brooklyn”; Penn Station

John Bair

Vance Miller

Sebastian Romero

Steve Sullivan

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”; Pasaana Desert

Daniele Bigi

Steve Hardy

John Seru

Steven Denyer

“The Lion King”; The Pridelands

Marco Rolandi

Luca Bonatti

Jules Bodenstein

Filippo Preti

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

“Frozen 2”; Giants’ Gorge

Samy Segura

Jay V. Jackson

Justin Cram

Scott Townsend

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”; The Hidden World

Chris Grun

Ronnie Cleland

Ariel Chisholm

Philippe Brochu

“Missing Link”; Passage to India Jungle

Oliver Jones

Phil Brotherton

Nick Mariana

Ralph Procida

“Toy Story 4”; Antiques Mall

Hosuk Chang

Andrew Finley

Alison Leaf

Philip Shoebottom

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

“Game of Thrones”; The Iron Throne; Red Keep Plaza

Carlos Patrick DeLeon

Alonso Bocanegra Martinez

Marcela Silva

Benjamin Ross

“Lost in Space”; Precipice; The Trench

Philip Engström

Benjamin Bernon

Martin Bergquist

Xuan Prada

“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance”; The Endless Forest

Sulé Bryan

Charles Chorein

Christian Waite

Martyn Hawkins

“The Mandalorian”; Nevarro Town

Alex Murtaza

Yanick Gaudreau

Marco Tremblay

Maryse Bouchard

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project

“Alita: Battle Angel”

Emile Ghorayeb

Simon Jung

Nick Epstein

Mike Perry

“The Lion King”

Robert Legato

Caleb Deschanel

Ben Grossmann

AJ Sciutto

“The Mandalorian”; The Prisoner; The Roost

Richard Bluff

Jason Porter

Landis Fields IV

Baz Idione

“Toy Story 4”

Jean-Claude Kalache

Patrick Lin

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

“Lost in Space” The Resolute

Xuan Prada

Jason Martin

Jonathan Vårdstedt

Eric Andersson

“Missing Link”; The Manchuria

Todd Alan Harvey

Dan Casey

Katy Hughes

“The Man in the High Castle”; Rocket Train

Neil Taylor

Casi Blume

Ben McDougal

Chris Kuhn

“The Mandalorian”; The Sin; The Razorcrest

Doug Chiang

Jay Machado

John Goodson

Landis Fields IV

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

“Dumbo”; Bubble Elephants

Sam Hancock

Victor Glushchenko

Andrew Savchenko

Arthur Moody

“Spider-Man: Far From Home”; Molten Man

Adam Gailey

Jacob Santamaria

Jacob Clark

Stephanie Molk

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Don Wong

Thibault Gauriau

Goncalo Cababca

Francois-Maxence Desplanques

“The Lion King”

David Schneider

Samantha Hiscock

Andy Feery

Kostas Strevlos

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

“Abominable”

Alex Timchenko

Domin Lee

Michael Losure

Eric Warren

“Frozen 2”

Erin V. Ramos

Scott Townsend

Thomas Wickes

Rattanin Sirinaruemarn

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”; Water and Waterfalls

Derek Cheung

Baptiste Van Opstal

Youxi Woo

Jason Mayer

“Toy Story 4”

Alexis Angelidis

Amit Baadkar

Lyon Liew

Michael Lorenzen

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

“Game of Thrones”; The Bells

Marcel Kern

Paul Fuller

Ryo Sakaguchi

Thomas Hartmann

“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds”

Selcuk Ergen

Radu Ciubotariu

Andreu Lucio

Vincent Ullmann

“Lost in Space”; Precipice; Water Planet

Juri Bryan

Hugo Medda

Kristian Olsson

John Perrigo

“Stranger Things 3”; Melting Tom/Bruce

Nathan Arbuckle

Christian Gaumond

James Dong

Aleksandr Starkov

“The Mandalorian”; The Child; Mudhorn

Xavier Martin Ramirez

Ian Baxter

Fabio Siino

Andrea Rosa

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature

“Alita: Battle Angel”

Adam Bradley

Carlo Scaduto

Hirofumi Takeda

Ben Roberts

“Avengers: Endgame”

Tim Walker

Blake Winder

Tobias Wiesner

Joerg Bruemmer

“Captain Marvel”; Young Nick Fury

Trent Claus

David Moreno Hernandez

Jeremiah Sweeney

Yuki Uehara

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Jeff Sutherland

John Galloway

Sam Bassett

Charles Lai

“The Irishman”

Nelson Sepulveda

Vincent Papaix

Benjamin O’Brien

Christopher Doerhoff

Outstanding Compositing in an Episode

“Game of Thrones”; The Bells

Sean Heuston

Scott Joseph

James Elster

Corinne Teo

“Game of Thrones”; The Long Night; Dragon Ground Battle

Mark Richardson

Darren Christie

Nathan Abbott

Owen Longstaff

“Stranger Things 3”; Starcourt Mall Battle

Simon Lehembre

Andrew Kowbell

Karim El-Masry

Miklos Mesterhazy

“Watchmen”; Pilot; Looking Glass

Nathaniel Larouche

Iyi Tubi

Perunika Yorgova

Mitchell Beaton

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial

“BMW Legend”

Toya Drechsler

Vivek Tekale

Guillaume Weiss

Alexander Kulikov

“Feeding America”; I Am Hunger in America

Dan Giraldo

Marcelo Pasqualino

Alexander Koester

“Hennessy; The Seven Worlds”

Rod Norman

Guillaume Weiss

Alexander Kulikov

Alessandro Granella

“PlayStation: Feel the Power of Pro”

Gary Driver

Stefan Susemihl

Greg Spencer

Theajo Dharan

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project

“Aladdin”; Magic Carpet

Mark Holt

Jay Mallet

Will Wyatt

Dickon Mitchell

“Game of Thrones”; The Bells

Sam Conway

Terry Palmer

Laurence Harvey

Alastair Vardy

“Terminator: Dark Fate”

Neil Corbould

David Brighton

Ray Ferguson

Keith Dawson

“The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance”; She Knows All the Secrets

Sean Mathiesen

Jon Savage

Toby Froud

Phil Harvey

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

“Downfall”

Matias Heker

Stephen Moroz

Bradley Cocksedge

“Love and Fifty Megatons”

Denis Krez

Josephine Roß

Paulo Scatena

Lukas Löffler

“Oeil Pour Oeil”

Alan Guimont

Thomas Boileau

Malcom Hunt

Robin Courtoise

“The Beauty”

Marc Angele

Aleksandra Todorovic

Pascal Schelbli

Noel Winzen

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