It was a big night for Cartoon Saloon’s My Father’s Dragon (pictured) at the fifth edition of the Irish Animation Awards on Saturday night. 

The 2022 Netflix pic took home five awards, including Best Music, Best Storyboarding and Best Irish Feature. This 2D-animated fantasy-adventure is based on Ruth Stiles Gannett’s 1948 book of the same name, following a boy’s mission to rescue a young dragon. 

Held in Galway, the awards ceremony celebrated 53 nominated Irish productions. 

Odo (Sixteen South), Tales from Dún Draíochta (Igloo Animation) and The Cuphead Show! (Lighthouse Studios) each won twice. Little Moon Animation’s Fia’s Fairies topped the Kids Choice Preschool category, while the award for Best Animated Preschool Series went to Circle Square from Kavaleer Productions and Wyndley Animation.

This year’s ceremony also included a first-ever Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award, which went to former deputy CEO of Screen Ireland Teresa McGrane. 

Animation Ireland established the biennial Irish Animation Awards in 2015 to honor the best of the country’s work in animation, VFX and gaming. 

Here is a full list of the 2023 winners:

Best Animated Preschool Series: Circle Square (Kavaleer Productions, Wyndley Animation)

Best Animated Kids Series 6+: Tales From Dún Draíochta (Igloo Animations, Trevor Courtney)

Kids Choice Preschool: Fia’s Fairies (Little Moon Animation, Vanessa Robinson, Eoghan Garvey)

Kids Choice 6+: The Cuphead Show! (Lighthouse Studios, Ruchi Shah, Paul Madden, Cormac Slevin)

Best Animated Short Film: Soul Office (TAUNT)

Best International Short Film: The Stranger (Jihye Jung, Jusuk Lee, Hyunju Kim)

Best Writer for Preschool Animation: Odo—Doodle Song (Ishai Ravid)

Best Writer for an Animated Series: Tales from Dún Draíochta—Lusmore and the Rapping Fairy (Trevor Courtney)

Best Animation for Apps, Games and Interactive: Waggle (Katie McNeice, Maeve MacNamara, Jim Pipe)

Best Art Direction and Design: Bardo (Aisling Conroy, Alan Holly, Cora McKenna)

Best Director of an Animated Series: Karma’s World (Bronagh O’Hanlon, Pete McEvoy, Brian O’Brien)

Best Animation Sequence: The Cuphead Show! (Julius Mingi, Dindo Santos, Gian Carla Atienza)

Best Music: My Father’s Dragon (Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna)

Best Sound Design: Memento Mori (Ed Costello, Ryan Quinn)

Best Irish Feature or Special: My Father’s Dragon (Cartoon Saloon)

Best Innovation in Animation: Face2Face—Charles & Camilla (Retinize & Flickerpix)

Best Irish IP: Odo—Reggie (Colin Williams)

Best Student Film: Small Makings of a Storm (Avery Angle)

Best Editing: My Father’s Dragon (Richie Cody, Darren Holmes)

Best Storyboarding: My Father’s Dragon (Giovanna Ferrari)

Best VFX: My Father’s Dragon (Cartoon Saloon)

Outstanding Contribution to the Industry: Teresa McGrane

Image Courtesy of Netflix