^{Credit: Arcane (Netflix)}

Arcane won Outstanding Animated Program at the 77th Creative Arts Primetime Emmys for its series finale, “The Dirt Under Your Nails.” The Netflix series, based on the League of Legends game franchise, won this award three years earlier for “When These Walls Come Tumbling Down.” Consisting of only two seasons, Arcane is the first show to win in this category every year that it was nominated. Of course, not every animated show lasts as long as two of Arcane’s competitors, Bob’s Burgers and The Simpsons. Arcane went up against another Netflix show, Love, Death + Robots, which previously went undefeated in the discontinued Short Form Animated Program category. Arcane also beat newcomer Common Side Effects, which had an outside chance of an upset. As one of the century’s most beautifully crafted and brilliantly told shows, though, Arcane’s win here is no surprise.

It was surprising to see Julie Andrews win Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for playing Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton. Andrews beat Maya Rudolph, who has won this award almost every year she’s been nominated for Big Mouth. Her only loss up until this point was in 2022 when the late Chadwick Boseman won for What If...?. I was predicting an upset this year, although my nonexistent money was on Steven Yeun for Invincible. Rudolph already tied the record for the most wins in this category with Hank Azaria, Dan Castellaneta, and Seth MacFarlane. Had Rudolph won a fifth, she would’ve broken the record overall. 

Andrews’ win marks the first time that this particular voiceover award has gone to a live-action production. Back when the category was called Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, Lily Tomlinson won in 2013 for narrating the documentary An Apology to Elephants. After that, a separate category for Outstanding Narrator was created. Although Lady Whistledown is a character, Andrews is technically the show’s narrator. So, it might be time for the TV Academy to revise these rules again. 

Arcane additionally won the inaugural Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing in an Animated Program, beating Love, Death + Robots, Secret Level, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and What If...?. With two notices in Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation, Arcane went home with four Emmys tonight. Love, Death + Robots also scored four Emmys in the Individual Achievement category alone. Between Arcane, Robots, and Bridgeton, Netflix was the sole winner in all of the animation-related categories. That is, except for visual effects. Andor won Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie, while Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode went to The Penguin for "Bliss." As expected, Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music went to Cristobal Tapia de Veer, for The White Lotus, although Kamasi Washington could've made anime history if he had won for Lazarus. 

Recap of Winners Below:

Outstanding Animated Program:
Arcane: “The Dirt Under Your Nails”

Christian Linke & Alex Yee, Executive Producers/Written by
Marc Merrill, Brandon Beck, Shauna Spenley, Brian Wright, Melinda Wunsch Dilger, Hervé Dupont, Ken Basin & Jérôme Combe, Executive Producers
Pascal Charrue, Executive Producer/Supervising Director
Arnaud Delord, Executive Producer/Supervising Director/Directed By 
Christine Ponzevera & Amanda Overton, Co-Executive Producers
Bart Maunoury, Directed By
Amanda Wyatt, Voice Director

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance:

Julie Andrews as Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton: "Into The Light"

Outstanding Sound Editing for an Animated Program:

Arcane: "The Dirt Under Your Nails"

Brad Beaumont, MPSE, Co-Supervising Sound Editor
Eliot Connors, MPSE, Co-Supervising Sound Editor
Stephen P. Robinson, Sound Editor
Janet “PJ” Pascual, Foley Editor
Dan O’Connell, Foley Artist
John Cucci, Foley Artist

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie:

Andor 

Mohen Leo, Visual Effects Supervisor
TJ Falls, Visual Effects Producer
Luke Murphy, Special Effects Supervisor
Neal Scanlan, Special Creature Effects by
Scott Pritchard, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor
Joseph Kasparian, Hybride Visual Effects Supervisor
Sue Rowe, Scanline Visual Effects Supervisor
Paolo D’Arco, In-House VFX Supervisor
Jean-Clément Soret, Digital Colourist

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode:

The Penguin: "Bliss"

Johnny Han, Overall VFX Supervisor
Michelle Rose, Overall VFX Producer
Alexandre Prod’homme, On-Set VFX Supervisor
Erin Sullivan, VFX Editor
Goran Pavles, Vendor VFX Supervisor
Emanuel Fuchs, Vendor VFX Supervisor
Ed Bruce, Vendor VFX Supervisor
Nathaniel Larouche, Vendor VFX Supervisor
Adrien Saint Girons, Vendor VFX Supervisor

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation:

Arcane, "Dirt Under Your Nails" (Bruno Couchinho, Background Designer)
Arcane, "The Message Hidden Within the Pattern" (Faustine Dumontier, Colorscript and Color Keys Artist)
Love, Death + Robots, "400 Boys" (Darryl Graham, 2D Animation Supervisor)
Love, Death + Robots, "400 Boys" (Robert Valley, Character Design)
Love, Death + Robots, "How Zeke Got Religion" (Gigi Cavenago, Art Director)
Love, Death + Robots, "How Zeke Got Religion" (Edgar Martins, Storyboard Artist)

Looking ahead to next year, there are already several potential Emmy contenders for Outstanding Animated Program, including South Park, King of the Hill, and Long Story Short. Stay tuned on Cartoon Contender as we cover the race year-round. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!