77th Creative Arts Emmy Awards Unveil Winners in Animation & Emerging Media Categories

The Television Academy has announced the juried winners for the 77th Emmy Awards across four key fields: animation, costume design, emerging media programming, and motion design. The awards will be presented at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 6–7 at L.A. LIVE’s Peacock Theater, with a highlights special airing September 13 at 8 PM PT on FXX.

Animation Dominated by Streaming Giants

This year’s animation categories reaffirmed streaming platforms’ leadership in high-quality storytelling:

• Outstanding Animated Series:Castlevania: Nocturne (Netflix) – Final season
• Outstanding Animated Short: Prehistoric Planet: Special Episode (Apple TV+)
• Best Character Animation: Invincible S3 (Amazon Prime Video) – Atom Eve’s transformation sequence

Notably, Disney+’s Zootopia+ failed to clinch awards despite its debut nomination, signaling judges’ elevated expectations for innovation from legacy studios.

Costume Design & Emerging Media Breakthroughs

Technical awards highlighted cross-industry fusion:

• Outstanding Costume Design: House of the Dragon S2 (HBO) – Valyrian steel armor craftsmanship
• Outstanding Emerging Media Program:Stranger Things: The Upside Down VR (Netflix)
• Outstanding Motion Design: The Mandalorian S4 holographic title sequence (Disney+)

“A 40% YoY surge in emerging media submissions proves TV is rewriting narrative boundaries,” said Television Academy CEO Frank Scherma.

Ceremony Highlights

The two-night event will feature:

• Tech demos:Real-time rendering of winning animations
• Tribute: 20th-anniversary homage to Japanese auteur Satoshi Kon
• Metaverse access:VR-powered backstage tours

Chinese Animation Earns Spotlight

Tencent Video and bilibili’s Ling Cage: Incarnation Special scored a Best International Animation nomination, continuing Asia’s Emmy momentum. “This validates Chinese sci-fi animation’s visual language,” said producer Huang Chengxi.

Key Dates & Viewing

September 6: Animation/Costume Design ceremonies

September 7: Emerging Media/Tech awards

September 13: FXX highlights special (with exclusive backstage interviews)

Streaming: U.S. viewers via FXX/Hulu; global audiences via Emmy Awards’ official platform.

“When TV meets the metaverse, we’re witnessing narrative art’s fourth revolution.”
— Jasmine Ruiz, Emmy Emerging Media juror