^{Credit: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation), South Park (Comedy Central)}

KPop Demon Hunters and South Park were among the winners at the 76th American Cinema Editors Awards, aka the ACE Eddies. Nathan Schauf brought KPop Demon Hunters a win for Best Edited Animated Feature Film (Theatrical or Non-Theatrical). He beat out Jesse Averna for The Bad Guys 2 and Jeremy Milton for Zootopia 2. Since 2009, almost every ACE Eddie victor has gone on to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar. The only exceptions are The Lego Movie (which wasn't nominated for the Oscar), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Wild Robot. That said, ACE and Oscar haven't lined up the previous two years. Considering how KPop Demon Hunters has been on a streak throughout this awards season, though, ACE seems like another pitstop on its inevitable road to Oscar gold. 

Speaking of recent hot streaks, South Park has been a dominating force on the awards trail as of late. While it couldn't beat Common Side Effects at the Annie Awards, South Park did win the Critics' Choice Award for its latest season(s). Now South Park has picked up its first ACE Eddie win on its first nomination. David List and Nate Pellettieri won for the episode "Twisted Christian," which revolves around PC Principal trying to show Jesus what Christianity means in the 2020s. The other two nominees were past winners Bob's Burgers for the episode "Grand Pre Pre-Pre-Opening" (Stephanie Earley, Jeremy Reuben) and Love, Death + Robots for "Spider Rose" (Matt Mariska, Valerian Zamel).

It'll be interesting to see if South Park can maintain this momentum heading into Emmy season. The recent season(s), which were largely dedicated trolling Trump, have renewed interest in the long-running show, not just among fans, but awards groups as well. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!