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2026 Saturn Awards | Animation Nominees
Credit: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Ketchup Entertainment), Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (Crunchyroll), Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (Crunchyroll), Ne Zha 2 (A24)
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has announced the nominations for the 53rd Annual Saturn Awards. Animation has been represented in the following categories:
Best Animated Film
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants
Best International Animated Film
Attack on Titan the Movie: The Last Attack
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
The Colors Within
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle
Best Animated Television Series or Event
Creature Commandos
Harley Quinn
Marvel Zombies
Solo Leveling Season 2 – Arise from the Shadow
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Best Superhero Television Series
Daredevil: Born Again
Gen V
Invincible
Iron Heart
Peacemaker
The Sandman
Best Visual/Special Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Eric Saindon)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Scott Stokdyk, Daniele Bigi, Lisa Marra)
How to Train Your Dragon (Christian Manz, Andy Kind, François Lambert, Glenn Melenhorst, Glen McIntosh)
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Alex Wuttke, Jeff Sutherland, Ian Lowe, Kristin Hall, Dave Newton)
Superman (Stephane Ceretti, Guy Williams, Enrico Damm, Stephane Nazé)
Wicked: For Good (Pablo Helman, Dale Newton)
Best Television Home Media Release
Chucky: The Complete Series
Creepshow Complete Series
The Huckleberry Hound Show
Knight Rider: The Complete Series
Peanuts 75th Ultimate TV Specials
The Penguin Season 1
Many of the usual suspects showed up here, including Oscar nominees KPop Demon Hunters, Zootopia 2, and Elio. This is the first year the Saturn Awards have split animated films into two groups, dedicating one category to U.S. releases and another to international releases. Notably missing from the latter is the Oscar-nominated Arco, which was not only one of the best animated films of the past year but also one of the best sci-fi films. Then again, Arco might not have been eligible, as the film only just commenced its nationwide theatrical rollout. This would also explain why Arco was eligible for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, but not Best Picture.
The Saturn Awards shined a spotlight on Ne Zha 2, the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Despite this milestone, Ne Zha 2 hasn’t shown up at many award shows this season. That’s partly because it wasn’t submitted for consideration at awards like the Oscars and Annies (it’s missing from the latter’s digital screening platform). It was also great to see the Saturns recognize The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. The Warner Bros. Animation film, which Ketchup Entertainment rescued, was eligible for Oscar consideration over a year ago. It went overlooked then, but its general theatrical release last March qualified the film for the Saturns this year.
Invincible stands out as the one current animated show that was represented in a non-animation-specific category. It was nominated for Best Superhero Television Series alongside five live-action shows. The Best Television Series Event Series are mostly of the superhero variety as well, the outliers being Predator: Killer of Killers, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, and Solo Leveling. Speaking of the latter, anime is well-represented here with nominations for Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man, The Colors Within, and Demon Slayer. Having been nominated at the Golden Globes and PGA, some predicted that the Demon Slayer movie might get an Oscar nomination. It couldn’t cross that threshold, but Infinity Castle just might end its awards run with a Saturn.
The 53rd Annual Saturn Awards will be held on March 8, 2026.
Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!
