For the second consecutive year, the Annie Awards are going virtual. Additionally, the award ceremony was pushed from February to March to give the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) the time to implement necessary changes, taken in the face of rising COVID-19 cases due to the global spread of the Omicron variant.

The ASIFA-Hollywood board announced the decision today, underlining how the 49th annual trophy will be exhibited for free through live streams. Commenting on the decision, ASIFA’s executive director Frank Gladstone said:

“When we announced that the Annies would be in-person this year on February 26, the Omicron variant was not even on the horizon. But now it is here and so highly infectious that, after much debate and discussion, ASIFA’s board of directors has decided, in an abundance of caution, to once again move to a virtual ceremony. We’ve also moved the date of the event by two weeks to give our production crew time to gather and edit the huge amount of additional material it takes to construct the virtual ceremony.”

The Annie Awards represent the highest awards event in animation across all genres, honoring productions from all around the globe. The 49th Annie Awards Best Feature nominees include Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto, which scored ten and nine nominations each, also disputing the prizes for Best FX – Feature, Best Character Animation, Best Music, and Best Storyboarding, among others. Disney also scored a nomination with a Pixar movie, Luca, nominated for seven other categories, including Best Character Animation and Best Direction. Closing out the five titles in the Best Feature category are Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. The Machines, which got seven more nominations, and Illumination’s Sing 2, nominated only in this category.

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Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

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The Annie Awards are not the only event announcing last-minute changes due to the new Omicron variant. All over Hollywood, television and film productions have been affected by positive tests of celebrities, including the Late Night’s Seth Meyers, Lupita Nyong’o, and Whoopi Goldberg. Other significant events that decided to go fully online include the Sundance Film Festival and the video game-focused E3 expo.

Instead of being held on February 26, the Annie Awards ceremony is now set to happen on March 12 at 7 p.m. PT/ 10 p.m. ET. As the ASIFA gives more details about how we can watch the ceremony, you can expect to read all about it here at Collider.