2017 Ursa Major Awards vote is now open
The 2017 Ursa Major Awards vote has been opened! Send them your e-mail address, and you can vote for any of the nominations in 12 categories. Voting closes on Saturday, March 31. Please pass on this annoucement if you're on a furry message forum or social media site!
The winners will be announced at FurDU 2018 (May 4-6). And if you have the time to vote, why not also suggest furry creations for the 2018 Recommended Anthropomorphics List?
This year's nominees are...
Best Motion Picture
Live-action or animated feature-length movies.
- Ferdinand (Directed by Carlos Saldanha; December 15)
- Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (Directed by James Gunn; May 5)
- My Little Pony: The Movie (Directed by Jayson Thiessen; October 6)
- Rock Dog (Directed by Ash Brannon; February 24)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (Directed by Matt Reeves; July 14)
Best Dramatic Series or Short Work
TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos.
- Doodle Toons (Directed by Jack C; Pilot episode to "Deleted Scene: Fast Food Follies")
- Duck Tales [2017 reboot] (Directed by John Aoshima, Dana Terrace; Season 1, August 12 to December 2)
- Here's the Plan (Directed by Fernanda Frick; April 27)
- Kouka and Bibi (by Dan Variano; January 8)
- Mascot Fur Life (Directed by Jens Wernstedt; December 23)
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Directed by Jim Miller, Tim Stuby, Denny Lu, Mike Myhre; Season 7, episodes 1 to 26)
- OK KO! Let's Be Heroes (Directed by Hwang Ki-hoo, Chang-woo Shin, Sunjae Lee, Byungjae Oh, Eunyung Byun, Sunhung Kim; Season 1 Episode 1 to 42)
Best Novel
Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.
- Always Gray in Winter, by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications; August 10)
- Black Friday, by Jan Stryvant (CreateSpace; September 8)
- Kismet, by Watts Martin (Argyll Productions, FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
- Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd (FurPlanet Productions; June 30)
- The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)
Best Short Fiction
Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works.
- Behesht, by Dwale (in ROAR volume 8; June 30)
- Beyond the Great Divide, by S.H. Mansouri (in Cirsova Heroic Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine #5; Spring 2017)
- Lieutenant Kruger and the Mistress Jade Trophy Game, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (in The Cross Time Cafe; October 5)
- The Moon Like an Unhatched Egg, by Mary E. Lowd (in Symbol of a Nation; June 30)
- Rickety V, by Rechan (in Intimate Little Secrets; March 24)
Best Other Literary Work
Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and serialized online stories.
- Arcana: A Tarot Anthology, edited by Madison Scott-Clary (anthology; Thurston Howl Publications; November 9)
- Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
- Intimate Little Secrets, by Rechan (collection; FurPlanet Productions; March 24)
- ROAR volume 8, edited by Mary E. Lowd (anthology; Bad Dog Books; June 30)
- Symbol of a Nation, edited by Fred Patten (anthology; GoAL Publications; June 30)
Best Non-Fiction Work
Includes documentaries, opinion pieces, and news articles.
- Furries Among Us 2; More Essays On Furries By Furries, edited by Thurston Howl (Thurston Howl Productions; August 18)
- Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015, by Fred Patten (McFarland & Co.; January 3)
- Furry Nation, by Joe Strike (Cleis Press; October 10)
- The Shocking Furry Fandom Conversation. Yes, Really! (on YouTube, featuring Stefan Molyneux; October 16)
- 3 Ursa Major-ly Painful Victories, by Rooview (on YouTube; April 23)
Best Graphic Story
Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.
- A&H Club, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 7 to November 25)
- DreamKeepers, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 2 [#340] to December 18 [#385])
- Endtown, by Aaron Neathery (Internet; January 2 to December 25)
- Lackadaisy, by Tracy J. Butler (Internet; Lackadaisy Gimmickry to Lackadaisy Deliria)
- TwoKinds, by Tom Fischbach (Internet; January 5 to December 28)
Best Comic Strip
Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.
- Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg (Internet; January 1 to December 29)
- Doc Rat, by Jenner (Internet; January 4 to December 29)
- DreamKeepers Prelude, by David & Liz Lillie (Internet; January 6 [#350] to December 28 [#393])
- Freefall, by Mark Stanley (Internet; January 2 to December 29)
- Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Internet; January 2 to December 29)
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, ed. by Patch Packrat (Internet; January 5 to December 25)
- Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon (Internet; January 1 to December 30)
- FurryFandom.es, edited by Mike Retriever (Internet; February 19 to October 9)
- InFurNation, ed. by Rod O'Riley (Internet; January 1 to December 31)
- Typewriter Emergencies: A Journal of Furry Lit, edited by Weasel (Weasel Press; May)
Best Published Illustration
Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.
- Bone, cover for Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels (Thurston Howl Publications; August 10)
- Baron Engel, Prepare to Engage the Enemy, cover for A Different Perspective by Bernard Doove (June 8)
- Ashley Foy, Valentine's Gifts (February 14)
- Teagan Gavet, cover for Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten (FurPlanet Productions; January 12)
- Teagan Gavet, cover for ROAR vol. 8, edited by Mary E. Lowd (Bad Dog Books; June 30)
- Idess, cover for Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd (FurPlanet Productions,; June 30)
- David Lillie, cover for The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas (Corvus Publishing; May 9)
Best Game
Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.
- Cuphead (Developer and Publisher: StudioMDHR Entertainment; September 29)
- Night in the Woods (Developer: Infinite Fall, Publisher: Finji; February 21)
- Sonic Mania (Developer: PagodaWest Games and Headcannon, Publisher: Sega; August 15)
- Star Fox 2 (Developer: Nintendo and Argonaut Games, Publisher: Nintendo; September 29)
- Yooka-Laylee (Developers: Playtonic Games; April 11)
Best Website
Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.
- The Cross Time Cafe (forum for comic discussions, including many on the Recommended List)
- e621.net (art, discussions, etc.)
- Furry Writers' Guild (Supporting, informing, elevating, and promoting quality anthropomorphic fiction and its creators)
- Inkbunny (furry art community)
- WikiFur (furry fandom encyclopedia)
Good luck to everyone!
Comments
I didn't vote for Rock Dog in the nominations, but I was still counting it as a 2016 movie (the English language version, I'm assuming, is the one nominated as opposed to a Chinese language version released last year). The Nut Job 2 was my nominee vote that got shut out, so I'm okay with that.
I'm going to out on a limb here and guess MLP wins, though. I mean, that franchise is historically such an underdog at the Ursa Majors! I guess Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 could upset, though.
I just noticed that Spark didn't even make the Recommended List (not that I thought for a second it either would be or would deserve to be nominated). Ouch.
Also, major shut out for The Shape of Water here. Good thing Oscar voting ended Tuesday; this might have really impacted it's momentum come Sunday night.
My voting for 2017 Ursa Majors...
Motion Picture
1) My Little Pony: The Movie
Only one I've seen in the list but a lot of fun for fans even if the plot was generic and predictable. Also, and one can't say this enough, Tempest was awesome and perfect in every scene.
DRAMATIC SHORT WORK OR SERIES
1) My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
It's a great series and season 7 had some great episodes. With people trying to sow more and divisions in the fandom, it's messages of love and tolerance are needed now more than when it first began airing.
2) Mascot Fur Life
Admittedly I haven't watched it yet. I've been meaning to invite some furs over to see it but I have seen the trailers. It's great to see this sort of work being done and I hope it does well in the voting. I don't want to see another disaster like when Bitter Lake lost out on a furry award to a non-furry movie.
NOVEL
Did not vote.
SHORT FICTION
1) Rickety V
I loved this story and Missed which lead to it. They were my favourites from Intimate Little Secrets and after I leant the book to a friend she said it was probably her favourite as well.
OTHER LITERARY WORK
1) Intimate Little Secrets
You can see my review here: https://www.flayrah.com/7199/review-intimate-little-secrets-rechan
GRAPHIC STORY
Did not vote.
COMIC STRIP
1) Housepets!
Still love this comic and it's been getting really interesting again.
MAGAZINE
1) Flayrah
Obviously.
2) In-Fur-Nation
I mostly see it on the side of Flayrah but I know it has good pedigree.
3) FurryFandom.es
Seems fairly inactive lately but good to get diversity and it's not pursuing an agenda of chasing shadows and promoting hatred and division within the furry fandom.
PUBLISHED ILLUSTRATION
1) ROAR volume 8
Just a really nice illustration.
2) Dogs of War
Also well done but doesn't have the appeal or emotion of the ROAR cover.
3) The Wayward Astronomer
Really cool lighting with the contrasting red and blue.
GAME
Did not vote.
WEBSITE
1) Inkbunny
My secondary site. Probably one of the fastest to load and has the good sense to let users block what they don't want to see rather than trying
to remove content that some users disapprove of.
2) Wikifur
It's good to have a fandom reference work.
3) e621.com
I know this has many critics but I still use it for easy browsing of content and follow the source links.
NON-FICTION WORK
2) Furry Nation
I hope to shortly write a full review for this. While it is a good book overall there are a mix of excellent chapters and chapters with factual errors where author bias prevented giving an accurate account of things. It is a great achievement but I can't vote for it to be first.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Isn't it surprising how there are seven nominees in a few categories this year? Usually, there are 6 if there are too many.
Anyways, I really like that Doodle Toons and Kouka and Bibi are nominated. Both were created by artists who have been around on the internet for a while, and deserve some recognition.
Glad someone recognized why OK KO got it's nomination, but I think this clip makes it a bit more obvious than just the main characters turning into animals: https://youtu.be/Ce_9oic4k4Q?t=44s
Does anyone think their own Sonious is going to win?
Oh nice, thanks! I've updated the link. I had about five hours of sleep last night after putting the list together, what with searching for over 70 URLs. Didn't have time to figure out which was the best MLP episode of the season, or the most engaging movie trailers. OK KO was completely new to me, and there were a lot of clips on YouTube, so I scrolled around, skimmed through two or three, and took one that seemed thematically close, little realizing there was one that was super-appropriate.
I should also mention that even without that episode, there are a lot of great furry characters in OK KO. Heck, one of the main characters, Dendy, a turtle-like creature known as a kappa.
Looks like FurAffinity fell off the Website list, no nomination after 4 straight wins in a row. Yowch.
FurAffinity did get nominations, just not enough to place in the top five for the Best Website category. Send in those nominations, people!
Fred Patten
I don't think he's complaining, Fred.
Glad to see that Duck Tales made the cut, but I am actively amazed that Bojack Horseman did not get nominated. Critics have been going bananas for it -- and, from what I've seen, they really did have one heck of a season.
DuckTales is my favorite TV show!
Woo-oo!
Post new comment