Go vote for the 2020 Ursa Major Awards!
by Patch O'Furr
Cast your vote now for the 2020 Ursa Major Awards. Voting closes on March 31 for the 14 categories below. Every year, furry creators (and mainstream creations) are eligible for this popular vote. Which movies, art, books, news magazines, and more will the community choose as favorites?
When you’re done, please ask your friends to share and repost the link! It helps creations that deserve attention.
Since 2001, these awards have been run with hard work by volunteers. They would appreciate any support you can give to defray costs for a website, making and mailing awards, and more. (paypal@ursamajorawards.org)
The 2020 Nominees:
Best Motion Picture
Live-action or animated feature-length movies.
- Hayop Ka! (You Animal!) (Directed by Avid Liongoren, October 29) Mature Audiences.
- Onward (Directed by Dan Scanlon, March 6)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Directed by Jeff Fowler; January 25)
- Soul (Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers; December 25)
- Wolfwalkers (Directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart; October 26)
Best Dramatic Short Work
One-shots, advertisements or short videos.
- “Burrow” (Directed by Madeline Sharafian; December 25)
- “Mystery Skulls Animated – The Future” (Directed by Ben Mangum; October 31)
- “The Humiliation of Jinjur Maiham” by The Home Guardsmen (Created by K Garrison; December 30)
- “Trick Moon” (Directed/Storyboarded by Geneva Hodgson, July 21)
- ZooPhobia – “Bad Luck Jack” (Directed by Vivienne Medrano; September 30)
Best Dramatic Series
TV or YouTube series videos.
- Aggretsuko (Directed by Rarecho, Season 3 episode 1 – 10, August 27)
- Beastars (Directed by Shinichi Matsumi; Season 1 Episode 1 to 12) (USA Release, English Dub)
- BNA: Brand New Animal (Directed by Yoh Yoshinari; Season 1 Episode 1 to 12, June 30)
- Helluva Boss (Directed by Vivienne Medrano; Episodes “Murder Family” and “Loo Loo Land”, Oct 31 – Dec 9)
- Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Created by Radford Sechrist; January 14 – October 12)
Best Novel
Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.
- Disbanded by Frances Pauli. (Goal Publications; February 2020)
- Entanglement Bound (The Entangled Universe Book 1) by Mary E. Lowd (Aethon Books, December)
- On The Mark, by Bernard Doove and Jeff Hartt (Self; October 23)
- Spin the Bottle, by Dajan Tafari (Fenris Publishing) Strong adult material
- The City That Barks and Roars, by J.T. Bird (9781838047917, August 1)
Best Short Fiction
Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works.
- Familiar, by Linnea Capps (in Dog Pile, Bound Tales Press)
- Summer Strawberries, by Mary E. Lowd (in The Voice of Dog, April 23 )
- The Glow, by Linnea Capps (in The Electric Sewer, Bound Tales Press)
- Tittilating Trivia, by Linnea Capps (in Sensory De-tails, Bound Tales Press/Thurston Howl)
- What Makes a Witch, by Linnea Capps (Weasel Press, August 18)
Best Other Literary Work
Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and serialized online stories.
- Blacksad: The Collected Stories, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse, graphic collection, July 14)
- Bush Heroes, by Bush Heroes (many artists). (SFW Sexy Firefighters, art album, March 1)
- Difursity: Stories by Furries of Color, edited by Weasel (Thurston Howl productions, anthology, August 10)
- Selections of Anthropomorphic Regalements, Vol. 1, edited by KC Alpinus (Goal Publications, anthology, August 31)
- Tales of Hayven Celestia, edited by Rick Griffin and Gre7g Luterman (Self, anthology, January 4)
Best Non-Fiction Work
Includes documentaries, opinion pieces, and news articles.
- From Paw To Print: Essays About Writing in the Furry Fandom, compiled by Thurston Howl. (Thurston Howl productions, essay compilation, June 1)
- Furries Among Us 3, compiled by Thurston Howl. (Thurston Howl Publications, furry essays, 2020)
- The Best and Worst Anthro Movies Tier List, by Saberspark (YouTube, video, June 26)
- The Fandom: A Furry Documentary, directed by Ash Kreis & Eric Risher (You Tube, video, July 3)
- The Last Bronycon: A Fandom Autopsy, by Jenny Nicholson (YouTube, video, July 21)
Best Graphic Story
Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.
- A&H Club, by Rick Griffin (Internet, January 24 to December 12)
- Beastars, by Paru Itagaki (Viz Media and Weekly Shonen Champion, Volume 4 to 8)
- Found Retake, by Toddlergirl (Fur Affinity, September 18 to December 30)
- Oren’s Forge, by Tegan Gavet (Tapas, pages 112 to 161)
- Shine, by Babystar (Fur Affinity, January 4 to December 28) adult material
Best Comic Strip
Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.
- Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (Internet, January 1 to December 31)
- Doc Rat, by Jenner (Internet, January 6 to December 31)
- Freefall, by Mark Stanley (Internet, January 1 to December 30)
- Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Internet, January 1 to December 30)
- The Whiteboard, by Doc N. (Internet, January 1 to December 24)
Best Magazine
Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.
- Dogpatch Press, edited by Patch Packrat (January 6 to December 31)
- Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon (Internet; January 1 to December 31)
- Furry Writers’ Guild, edited by Literalgrill. (Internet, January to December ) (Monthly publication of the FWG, sponsors of the COYOTL awards)
- Pocari Roo, YouTube videos (January 11 to December 25)
- Zooscape, edited by Mary E. Lowd (Internet; Issue 6 – 9)
Best Published Illustration
Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.
- A_Blue_Deer, A Night At The Fair (FurAffinity, October 10)
- Ashley A. Adams, Sir Monty, The Good Boy (Artstation, August 11)
- BubbleWolf, Paintwork (Furaffinity, August 4)
- Foxer421, Take Off Your Headset!! (Twitter, November 28)
- Lofi, Cheers (Furaffinity, January 24)
Best Game
Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Developer and Publisher: Nintendo; March 20)
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (Developer: Toys for Bob, Publisher: Activision; October 2)
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Developer and Publisher: Moon Studios; March 11)
- Spiritfarer (Developer and Publisher: Thunder Lotus Games; August 17)
- Them’s Fightin’ Herds (Developer: Mane6, Publisher: Humble Games; April 30)
Best Website
Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.
- Fur Affinity, Furry art and stories
- Furry Life Online, online community
- Loona, Moonlight_howling_666, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss character (on Instagram)
- SoFurry, Furry art
- Stolas, daddy_hoothoot, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss character (on Instagram)
Best Anthropomorphic Costume (Fursuit)
- Cassidy Civet, Maker: Blue Wolf Studios, Owner/Wearer: Cassidy Civet, Photographed at VancouFur 2020, March 7.
- Inutami Luki the Saluki, Maker: Kotoori Works, Owner/Wearer: Inutami Luki, Displayed Online August 7.
- Toriel, Maker/Owner/Wearer: Nautilus20000, Displayed online on September 12.
- Xif, Maker/Owner/Wearer: lutamesta, Displayed on the Japan Fursuit Creators runway January 17.
- Zigc the Khajiit, Maker: Inerri Creatures, Owner/Wearer: Zigc The Khagiit, Displayed online July 3.
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