‘Lion King,’ ‘Mandalorian’ Crowned With Top Prizes at VES Awards

By Thomas J. McLean

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Disney’s “The Lion King,” Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” and Laika’s “Missing Link” scored top honors at the 18th Visual Effects Society Awards. The annual ceremony was held Wednesday at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

“” led the way among films with three prizes, while Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Disney’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and “Missing Link” each nabbed two. On the TV side, “” tied with “Game of Thrones” and “Stranger Things 3.” All three shows landed three trophies.

Kicking off the night, VES Executive director Eric Roth pitched to the wider industry a higher profile for the VFX artists who create the visuals essential to success in a market growing rapidly via the streaming boom. “Make sure they are not only compensated appropriately, but make sure they are recognized appropriately as well,” he said.

Comedian Patton Oswalt returned as host, gently ribbing the audience before the first of 28 awards presentations. He joked, “You might wanna take this chance to de-age yourself if you have that technology.”

While accepting the lifetime achievement award via video, Scorsese briefly outlined his own arc of VFX use, from “Kundun” to incorporating cutting-edge de-aging effects in “The Irishman.”

“We all realized the risk we were taking, and we knew it was the only way we could make the actual picture we needed to make the way we wanted to make it,” Scorsese said. “I want to thank all the artists I’ve worked with over the years, who’ve helped bring our stories to life — our fellow storytellers.”

The organization also presented its creative excellence award to VFX Supervisor Sheena Duggal and its visionary award to Roland Emmerich.

See the full winners list below:

Outstanding in a Photoreal Feature

“The Lion King”
Robert Legato

Tom Peitzman

Adam Valdez

Andrew R. Jones

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

“The Irishman”
Pablo Helman

Mitchell Ferm

Jill Brooks

Leandro Estebecorena

Jeff Brink

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

“Missing Link”
Brad Schiff

Travis Knight

Steve Emerson

Benoit Dubuc

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

“The Mandalorian” – The Child
Richard Bluff

Abbigail Keller

Jason Porter

Hayden Jones

Roy K. Cancino

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

“Chernobyl” — 1:23:45
Max Dennison

Lindsay McFarlane

Clare Cheetham

Paul Jones

Claudius Christian Rauch

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

“Control”
Janne Pulkkinen

Elmeri Raitanen

Matti Hämäläinen

James Tottman

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Hennessy: The Seven Worlds
Carsten Keller

Selçuk Ergen

Kiril Mirkov

William Laban

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

“Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance”
Jason Bayever

Patrick Kearney

Carol Norton

Bill George

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature

“Alita: Battle Angel” — Alita
Michael Cozens

Mark Haenga

Olivier Lesaint

Dejan Momcilovic

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

“Missing Link” — Susan
Rachelle Lambden

Brenda Baumgarten

Morgan Hay

Benoit Dubuc

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project

“Stranger Things 3” — Tom/Bruce Monster
Joseph Dubé-Arsenault

Antoine Barthod

Frederick Gagnon

Xavier Lafarge

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial

Cyberpunk 2077 — Dex
Jonas Ekman

Jonas Skoog

Marek Madej

Grzegorz Chojnacki

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

“The Lion King” — The Pridelands
Marco Rolandi

Luca Bonatti

Jules Bodenstein

Filippo Preti

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

“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

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project

“The Lion King”
Robert Legato

Caleb Deschanel

Ben Grossmann

AJ Sciutto

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

“The Mandalorian” — The Sin; The Razorcrest
Doug Chiang

Jay Machado

John Goodson

Landis Fields IV

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
Don Wong

Thibault Gauriau

Goncalo Cababca

François-Maxence Desplanques

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

“Frozen 2”
Erin V. Ramos
Scott Townsend
Thomas Wickes
Rattanin Sirinaruemarn

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

“Stranger Things” — Melting Tom/Bruce
Nathan Arbuckle

Christian Gaumond

James Dong

Aleksandr Starkov

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature

“The Irishman”
Nelson Sepulveda

Vincent Papaix

Benjamin O’Brien

Christopher Doerhoff

Outstanding Compositing in an Episode

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

Darren Christie

Nathan Abbott

Owen Longstaff

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial

“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds”
Rod Norman

Guillaume Weiss

Alexander Kulikov

Alessandro Granella

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

“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

“The Beauty”
Marc Angele

Aleksandra Todorovic

Pascal Schelbli

Noel Winzen