The NAACP recently held its annual Image Awards, honoring prominent media works featuring or created by African Americans. Below, I look at the 2026 animation and comic related nominees and winners.
A full list of winners is available here. Animation/comic related nominees are in italics; winners are in bold.
Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
- Sinners (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder: Season 3 (Music from the Series)
- Godfather of Harlem: Season 4 (Original Series Soundtrack)
- Highest 2 Lowest (Original Soundtrack)
- Wicked: For Good (The Soundtrack)
Outstanding Original Score for Television/Film
- Sinners (Original Motion Picture Score)
- Eyes of Wakanda Original Soundtrack
- Boots
- Marvel’s Ironheart: Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack)
- One of Them Days (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Outstanding Animated Motion Picture
- Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
- Elio (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
- KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
- Sneaks (Briarcliff Entertainment)
- The Bad Guys 2 (DreamWorks Animation)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Motion Picture
- Quinta Brunson – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
- Anthony Mackie – Sneaks (Briarcliff Entertainment)
- Craig Robinson – The Bad Guys 2 (DreamWorks Animation)
- Danielle Brooks – The Bad Guys 2 (DreamWorks Animation)
- Lil Rel Howery – Dog Man (DreamWorks Animation)
Outstanding Short Form (Animated)
- Wednesdays with Gramps (DreamWorks Animation)
- ASALI: Power of The Pollinators (Upenndo! Productions)
- Black Man, Black Man (Chainwheel Productions)
- Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II (Cutting Edge Animation)
- Jazzy Bells (Deep C Digital)
Outstanding Children’s Program
- Gracie’s Corner (YouTube TV)
- Eyes of Wakanda (Disney+)
- Iyanu (Cartoon Network)
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney+)
- Reading Rainbow (KidZuko)
Outstanding Animated Series
- Gracie’s Corner (YouTube TV)
- Disney Jr.’s Ariel (Disney Jr.)
- Iyanu (Cartoon Network)
- Lil Kev (BET+)
- Weather Hunters (PBS KIDS)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)
- Kyla Pratt – The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (Disney+)
- Anika Noni Rose – The Mighty Nein (Prime Video)
- Ayo Edebiri – Big Mouth (Netflix)
- Cedric the Entertainer – The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (Disney+)
- Graceyn Hollingsworth – Gracie’s Corner (YouTube TV)
Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie, Documentary or Special
- Aireka Muse – Friends & Lovers (Lifetime Movie Network)
- Roye Okupe and Brandon Easton – Iyanu: The Age of Wonders (Cartoon Network)
- Jas Summers – Stay (Hulu)
- Jerrod Carmichael – Jerrod Carmichael: Don’t Be Gay (HBO Max)
- Michael Elliot, Cory Tynan – Ruth & Boaz (Netflix)
Outstanding Literary Work – Graphic Novel
- Parable of the Talents a Graphic Novel Adaptation – Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damien Duffy, Illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts)
- Creaky Acres: A Graphic Novel – Calista Bril (Penguin Young Readers)
- Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls – Rob Edwards (Stranger Comics)
- One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel – Rita William-Garcia (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)
- They Choose Violence – Sheldon Allen (AWA Studios)
My thoughts
This year’s NAACP Image Awards are one area that “KPop Demon Hunters” didn’t dominate, instead being shut out of its only nominated category, for outstanding animated feature. “Zootopia 2” is this year’s animated feature winner, as well as winning for voice work in a feature film (Quinta Brunson, who voices Dr. Fuzzby).
Meanwhile, DreamWorks’ “Wednesdays with Gramps” is the winner for the animated short category. The short’s available to watch on YouTube.
On the TV/streaming side, like last year, the winner for the outstanding children’s program and animated series categories is “Gracie’s Corner,” a series of singalong shorts aimed at very young children. (Like “Cocomelon,” but actually good?) “Gracie’s Corner” is also reflective of current animation trends: a popular cartoon available on YouTube (kids’ favorite streaming service besides Netflix) and made by an independent outlet, not Disney (Disney Channel), Warner Bros. (Cartoon Network), or Paramount (Nickelodeon). Those three studios, while they have some hits (“Encanto,” etc.), aren’t exactly steering the ship lately, compared to the 1990s, 2000s, or 2010s.
On the comics side of things, this year’s graphic novel winner is an adaptation of the 1998 sci-fi dystopia novel “Parable of the Talents.” Which unfortunately seems appropriate, given current events.
Outside of animation and comics, “Sinners” dominates this year’s Image Awards, winning 13 categories, including outstanding motion picture.
Image: “Gracie’s Corner.” (Javoris Hollingsworth, Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth, and Graceyn Hollingsworth.)
