Today, the Visual Effects Society (VES) announced the winners of their annual award that celebrates VFX excellence across all platforms. The event gathered industry professionals and guests at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in a ceremony hosted by Patton Oswalt (The Sandman) — who has em-cee’d the event a whopping ten times. Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron also took the stage to present a Lifetime Achievement Award to acclaimed producer Gale Ann Hurd.

As you can imagine, Avatar: The Way of Water set the bar for special effects in 2022. That was made even more evident by the prizes it took home: the billion-dollar blockbuster was the victor in nine categories, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature and Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature. The event also singled out excellence in isolated elements from the movie, such as Kiri's (Sigourney Weaver) creation and the reef that we see in several parts of the adventure.

Not a Real Boy, But Very Real-Looking

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio was also celebrated in several categories. The movie mixes stop-motion animation and special effects to create a haunting and different environment from what we’ve seen the famous character inhabit previously. The movie tells the same story we know, but with added elements of grief, loss, and dark fantasy. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio was the winner in the Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature category, as well as Outstanding Character (Pinocchio itself) and Outstanding Created Environment.

Pinocchio touching Gepetto's nose in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Image via Netflix

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Lord of the Rings and The Last of Us Were Also Celebrated

It’s also no surprise that Prime Video blockbuster series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was also featured among the winners. Back when it premiered, the series became popular not only due to its story and characters, but also for the whopping visual effects that took TV-watching to another level. The series was the winner in three categories, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode.

In the video game area, The Last of Us Part I was the winner for the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-time Project. The game was re-released in 2022 with better graphics than the original 2013 edition, and this new version was greatly appreciated by fans. Other titles that also took home prizes were Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, Love, Death and Robots, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Five Days at Memorial.

You can check the full list of winners on the Visual Effects Society website.