International
Up wins top honour at 37th Annie Awards
MUMBAI: Disney/ Pixar’s animated film Up won the top awards – best film and best director (Pete Docter) – at the 37th annual Annie Awards.
Up, which is a film about an old man, a young boy and a floating house, is also nominated for multiple Oscars, including best picture and best animated feature.
Meanwhile, Laika‘s Coraline and Disney‘s The Princess and the Frog begged three awards each, while Wes Anderson‘s stop-motion toon Fantastic Mr. Fox won for the best writing.
The complete awards list follows:
Best animated feature
“Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
Best home entertainment production
“Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” — The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Best animated short subject
“Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5” — ShadowMachine
Best animated television commercial
Spanish Lottery “Deportees” — Acme Filmworks Inc.
Best animated television production
“Prep and Landing” — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best animated television production for children
“The Penguins of Madagascar” — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation
Animated effects
James DeValera Mansfield, “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Character animation in a television production
Phillip To, “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space” — DreamWorks Animation
Character animation in a feature production
Eric Goldberg, “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Character design in a television production
Bill Schwab, “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Character design in a feature production
Shane Prigmore, “Coraline” — Laika
Directing in a television production
Bret Haaland, “The Penguins of Madagascar — Launchtime” — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation
Directing in a feature production
Pete Docter, “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
Music in a television production
Guy Moon, “The Fairly OddParents: “Wishology — The Big Beginning” — Nickelodeon
Music in a feature production
Bruno Coulais, “Coraline” — Laika
Production design in a television production
Andy Harkness, “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Production design in a feature production
Tadahiro Uesugi, “Coraline — Laika
Storyboarding in a television production
Robert Koo, “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
Storyboarding in a feature production
Tom Owens, “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
Voice acting in a television production
Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob, “SpongeBob SquarePants — Truth or Square” — Nickelodeon
Voice acting in a feature production
Jen Cody, voice of Charlotte, “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Writing in a television production
Daniel Chun, “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XX” — Gracie Films
Writing in a feature production
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
