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2025 Emmys | Arcane & Love, Death + Robots Rule Individual Achievement in Animation
Credit: Love, Death + Robots, Arcane (Netflix)
Although the Creative Arts Emmys don't take place until September 6–7, a few juried awards are announced ahead of the ceremonies. Among them is Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. This year, the jury selected six artists from two shows, both under the Netflix umbrella. Arcane is expected to win Outstanding Animated Program for its final episode, "The Dirt Under Your Nails." Bruno Couchinho will receive an Emmy for his background design on the series finale. Couchinho was previously awarded for the Season 1 episode, "When These Walls Come Tumbling Down." Colorscript and color keys artist Faustine Dumontier will also be honored for the Arcane episode "The Message Hidden Within the Pattern."
No show has garnered more Emmys for Individual Achievement in Animation than Love, Death + Robots. It'll pick up four more this year, bringing its total to 13 in this category alone. The recipients are art director Gigi Cavenago and storyboard artist Edgar Martins for "How Zeke Got Religion," along with 2D animation supervisor Daryl Graham and character designer Robert Valley for "400 Boys." Known for his work on Æon Flux and Tron: Uprising, Valley previously won two Emmys for another Love, Death + Robots episode, "Ice." He also scored an Oscar nomination for his 2016 animated short, Pear Cider and Cigarettes.
Arcane and Love, Death + Robots are both distributed through Netflix. The last time all of this category's recipients had one network in common was in 1999, when three artists from HBO's Animated Epics: The Canterbury Tales – Leaving London were recognized. Of course, you could also argue the last time was in 2004, when the only winner was Seonna Hong for My Life as a Teenage Robot. In any case, the jury overlooked many other worthy artists. According to IndieWire, Crunchyroll submitted animator Yoshihiro Kanno and character designer Tomoko Sudo for Solo Leveling. Had either of them been singled out, it would've been the first Emmy for an anime since Shigemi Ikeda for Afro Samurai: Resurrection in 2009. Kamasi Washington could still bring anime an Emmy this year for his main theme on Lazarus.
While Arcane and Love, Death + Robots cleaned up, the jury didn't award every submitted artist from those shows. For Love, Death + Robots, Netflix also campaigned Allan Michaunt ("How Zeke Got Religion") and Dan Milligan ("The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur"). Arcane additionally submitted Stéphane Annette ("Blisters and Bedrock"), Kevin Phou ("Paint the Town Blue"), Victor Maury ("The Dirt Under Your Nails"), and Julien Georgel ("The Dirt Under Your Nails"). Georgel was recognized in this category three years ago, along with Anne-Laure To and Bruno Couchinho, for Arcane's first season. Arcane went on to win that year's Outstanding Animated Program Emmy. Love, Death + Robots won three times in the discontinued Outstanding Short Form Animated Program category.
Credit: Love, Death + Robots, Arcane (Netflix)
Its showing here suggests that Arcane will win Outstanding Animated Program again for "The Dirt Under Your Nail." There's also a case to be made for Love, Death + Robots with its four individual wins. That said, none of those wins were for "Spider Rose," the episode nominated in Outstanding Animated Program. Arcane and Love, Death + Robots could also split votes among Netflix's voting bloc, paving the way for Bob's Burgers ("They Slug Horses, Don't They?"), Common Side Effects ("Cliff's Edge"), or The Simpsons ("Bart's Birthday") to win. The last time a show won Outstanding Animated Program without any recognition from the juried awards was in 2020, when Rick and Morty won for "The Vat of Acid Episode." Common Side Effects may benefit the most from a vote split, being the trendy new show. Between sweeping the Annies earlier this year and nabbing two more Emmys, though, Arcane is hard to bet against.
In other animation news, Octopus! (Prime Video) will be awarded Outstanding Motion Design, and White Rabbit (Shibuya.film) will receive Outstanding Innovation in Emerging Media Programming. Be sure to check out my predictions for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.
Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!
