Voting is open for the 2021 Ursa Major Awards
The vote for the 2021 Ursa Major Awards is happening this month! Send them your e-mail address, and you can vote for any of the nominations in 14 categories. Voting closes on Thursday, March 31.
Links to the content in question are provided, some may be for mature audiences. Ursa's Twitter Feed also provides a summary of each of the nominees for the categories.
Spread the word - Please re-post this announcement if you're on an active furry message forum or social media site!
This year's nominees are...
Best Motion Picture
Live-action or animated feature-length movies.
- Luca (Directed by Enrico Casarosa)
- My Little Pony: A New Generation (Directed by Robert Cullen and Jose Ucha)
- Raya and the Last Dragon (Directed by Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs and John Ripa)
- Sing 2 (Directed by Garth Jennings)
- Wish Dragon (Directed by Chris Appelhans)
Best Dramatic Short Work
One-shots, advertisements or short videos.
- Fossils (Directed by Piti Yindee)
- Fuelled (Directed by Michelle Hao and Fawn Chan)
- Katrina the Fuzzy Princess (Directed by Charles Brubaker)
- Nobody Does It Better, a musical interlude by Princess Katre from the comic strip Carry On (Video production by Frank Behring, artwork and concept by K. Garrison)
- The Mandrake (Directed by Quincy Baltes)
Best Dramatic Series
TV or YouTube series videos.
- Beastars, Season 2 (Directed by Shinichi Matsumi)
- Centaurworld (Created by Megan Nicole Dong)
- Chikn Nuggit (by Chikn Nuggit)
- Helluva Boss (Created by Vivienne Medrano) Mature Audiences.
- Odd Taxi (Directed by Mugi Kinoshita)
Best Novel
Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.
- Interesting Times, by George Cole and N.C. Shapero. (Jarlidium Press)
- Starwhal in Flight (The Entangled Universe, Book 3), by Mary E. Lowd. (Aethon Books)
- The Bee's Waltz: A Labyrinth of Souls Novel, by Mary E. Lowd. (Shadow Spinners Press)
- The Captain's Oath, by Rick Griffin. (Self-published)
- The Entropy Fountain (The Entangled Universe, Book 2), by Mary E. Lowd. (Aethon Books)
Best Short Fiction
Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works.
- "Crystal Fusion", by Mary E. Lowd (in The Voice of Dog)
- "Dance of Wood and Grace", by Marie Croke (in Zooscape)
- "The Arsenal of Obsolescence", by Mary E. Lowd (in The Voice of Dog)
- "Too Cuddly", by Mary E. Lowd (in Daily Science Fiction)
- "Where Have All The Mousies Gone", by Mary E. Lowd (in Daily Science Fiction)
Best Other Literary Work
Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and serialized online stories.
- Awoo!: Volume 1, by A.C. Stuart. (Fenris Publishing, comic strip collection)
- Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory, by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer, illustrated by Benjamin Dewey, lettering by Nate Piekos. (Dark Horse, trade paperback collection)
- Difursity Vol. 2, edited by Weasel. (Thurston Howl Publications, short story/article collection)
- Sam Digger: Beaver Detective, by Ian Madison Keller. (Rainbow Dog Press, anthology)
- Shark Week: An Ocean Anthology, edited by Ian Madison Keller. (Rainbow Dog Press, anthology)
Best Non-Fiction Work
Includes documentaries, opinion pieces, and news articles.
- Furry Fiction Is Everywhere: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Anthropomorphic Characters, by Ian Madison Keller & Mary E. Lowd. (Rainbow Dog Books, writing guide)
- How Furries Are Making Virtual Reality Worth Visiting, by Matt Baume. (Input, article)
- The otter who became an accidental VTuber star, by Patricia Hernandez. (Polygon, article)
- The Zoo Files, by Toad McKinley. (Youtube, video)
- This furry scientist won't let Twitter's COVID pessimists kill her vibe, by Chris Stokel-Walker. (Input, article)
Best Graphic Story
Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.
- 24/7, by Hladilnik. (Twitter)
- Blades of Furry, by Deya Muniz and Emily Erdos. (Webtoons)
- Found Retake, by Toddlergirl. (Fur Affinity)
- Isla Aukate, by Foxena. (Overlordcomic)
- Shine, by Babystar. (Fur Affinity) Adult material.
Best Comic Strip
Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.
- Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg. (Internet)
- Foxes in Love, by @foxes_in_love. (Twitter)
- Freefall, by Mark Stanley. (Internet)
- Friends You Are Stuck With, by Gabe Bold. (Internet)
- The Whiteboard, by Doc N. (Internet)
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.
- #ohmurr!, edited by Izzy Torres, aka Weasel. (Internet) Mature Audiences.
- Dogpatch Press, edited by Patch Packrat. (Internet)
- Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon. (Internet)
- InFurNation,, edited by Rod O'Riley. (Internet)
- Zooscape, edited by Mary E. Lowd. (Internet)
Best Published Illustration
Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.
- Caraid, "Beginnings". (Furaffinity)
- Caraid, "Ruxa, Patient Professor". (Magic the Gathering - Strixhaven: School of Mages Commander set, Artstation)
- Kathy Garrison Kellogg, "A World Of Our Own". (Crosstime Cafe)
- Lofi, "Oh, Well". (Furaffinity)
- Nomax, "Brothers". (Twitter)
Best Game
Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.
- Death's Door. (Developer: Acid Nerve. Publisher: Devolver Digital)
- Deltarune: Chapter 2. (Developer & Publisher: Toby Fox)
- Doodle Champion Island Games. (Developer & Publisher: Google)
- F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch. (Developer: TiGames. Publisher: Bilibili)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. (Developer & Publisher: Insomniac Games)
Best Website
Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.
- e621, Furry art. (Contains 18+ content)
- Fur Affinity, Furry art and stories. (Contains 18+ content)
- Fuzznet Music, World's biggest furry-centered professional music distribution collective.
- Wikifur, Furry wiki.
- Zootopia News Network, All things Zootopia.
Best Anthropomorphic Costume (Fursuit)
- Armored Lizardman - maker: Treasure Court; owner, wearer: xinghejieZLS.
- Bash the Piñata - maker: Kemonokapi; owner, wearer: @TransformARTive / @BashThePinata.
- Fifel - makers: feathersOkapi and ZettaNova; owner, wearer: GlacierClear.
- Rocket Raccoon (Endgame Version) - maker, owner, wearer: Akela Taka.
Good luck to everyone! And if you have the time to vote, why not also e-mail in suggestions for the 2022 Recommended Anthropomorphics List?
Comments
I am a bit surprised to see The Suicide Squad not get a nomination. I thought maybe it would squeeze in over one of the other movies, like Sing 2 or Wish Dragon. The former because I thought more people had problems with it, the latter because I thought less people knew about or watched that one. But boy, I was mistaken there, wasn't I?
I think there could be a few reasons why this happened though. Maybe the furries didn't take to characters like King Shark the same way they did to Rocket Raccoon. Maybe they didn't like how violent it got. Maybe James Gunn has become a bit of a pariah to some people. Whatever the case, the only disappointment for me is that now we don't an R rated movie competing, as I would've liked to have seen one get a win someday. But maybe it's this day. It really doesn't bother me that much, just would've been nice.
However, there is something I am a bit more unhappy about, and that is the nomination of Nobody Does It Better.
I don't have a problem with K. Garrison or her works. My problem is more that aspect of the animation. Compared to all the other shorts, this one looks like it has the least effort visually. Not saying it's easy to do, but the other ones look vastly more impressive by comparison. I understand that the music is supposed to be more of the draw than the visuals, but it'd be if Thriller or Take On Me only had picture frames rather than their iconic visuals. It's possible to do much better than this. It would make the song seem even more impressive. And I probably wouldn't mind so much if it didn't look like it'll end up winning. But last year, the last short like this was second to ZooPhobia, and none of these shorts have a big name like VivziePop attached. I just think that it would be embarrassing if the short with the least visual effort gets the win over the other shorts that appear to have much more work done.
*But maybe it’s not this day.
Forget to log in Crossie?
I am not Crossie. I loved The Suicide Squad. He hated it.
Yeah, actually, what the fuck, Sonious?
Well King Shark did rip an opponent in half, (EDIT: and he tried to eat Ratcatcher)
and Weasel's backstory (if i recall correctly) was he had killed some children ...
so neither probably had great appeal to furries.
moving on to Wish Dragon:
i had watched PART of Wish Dragon and enjoyed what i saw, so i may have included Wish Dragon is my Ursa nominations.
But now I've watched more of Wish Dragon and find the restaurant scene to be very painful. The scene where Long telling Din bad advice (After Li Na says she appreciated Din listening to her, but then Long says "ignore her"? Ouch!!! boo!)
I mean, the children I could forgive, but neither of them are cute enough to appeal. Plus Weasel seems more zoomorphic than anthropomorphic. Who licks prison cell bars?
I don't have much of a problem with K Garrison's works either. I just wish she wasn't so blatant on the self-promoting for nominations and votes. I saw her say once on Cross Time Cafe that she hoped to "win in every category" and I don't think she was joking. I suspect that the main reason these videos exist is less an organic extension to the comic and more just to win UMAs. IT just feels in bad form, especially form a person who's already won quite a bit.
*It just feels....from a person...
It's relatively easy to get nominated for an Ursa Major: you just have to be in the top-five motivated fan-bases (which can be as simple as asking people to nominate you). It's a lot harder to win, because you have to convince everyone else, not just the plurality of those interested enough to nominate someone in the first place.
The irony when it comes to things like the Ursa's is that though they are mainly intended for people to share the furry content with others, the award aspect of it can be a draw for others to create as well. I know in my younger days I pushed to write short fictions and things in hopes of maybe being rewarded for it, however I found that the three successes on getting published along side Ursa winning talent was good enough for me and as nonfiction took more of my time, I had to put away the fictional persuits.
In the end usually you can tell though when a person is creating from the heart and when they're doing so to win a competition. My works were not as good as the ones that won their Ursas in 2014 and 2015. I would need to push and learn more talents to go to that level.
In the end that means more furry content, even if some strange things get nominated every once in awhile. As long as if they lose the vote to win the main award they use it as an opportunity to self reflect instead of think it's some social political jury rigging, as has happened in the past as well with a few one time nominees.
The truth is that "awards bait" is often pretty good (I don't think, for instance, last year's movie winner, Wolfwalkers, would even exist without the Oscars), but also I'll agree Kellogg's nominations outside of comic strip are a little ... underwhelming.
Sorta funny that the same furries who lap up Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel will complain that The Suicide Squad is too dark and violent.
I would call those two things violent and adult. Not really all that "dark" though, pretty light hearted as far as content goes. Usually when I think of Dark I think more in the lines of Bojack Horsemen or shows with some sort of thread of hopelessness/nihilism.
I'm going to have to agree with the Anon again, Sonious. It is sorta funny.
And, seriously, my problem with The Suicide Squad wasn't it was dark and violent, though it sometimes seem a bit mean-spirited in the same way my real least-favorite James Gunn movie, Super also did (Helluva Boss has also never seemed that, just, mean). My main complaint is that it really just kind of seemed like James Gunn on autopilot.
As far as my thoughts on The Suicide Squad not being nominated, it is kind of surprising. I think it's kind of both a strong and weak year. I mean, lots of good movies, but none really the one (my feelings on Raya notwithstanding, even it doesn't feel like "the one" for the Ursas). It was a six horse race, I think, and it probably came down to a very few votes. And I have no idea what's winning.
Outside of furry, The Suicide Squad was in the top ten "Oscars Fan Favorite" poll; it was maybe one of the few that seemed legitimately there just because a lot of people liked it. Going the other way, Raya and the Last Dragon ended up being the Rotten Tomatoes's best reviewed animated movie, which is awesome to me, but really doesn't help it at either the Oscars or the Ursas.
If you'd ask me, a part of me wonders if maybe furries don't like things that are "too" realistic? I noticed that the recent Apes movies, Dawn and War, got a lower number of votes in the past, even with the praise people have given them. I think furries tend to like exaggerated things a lot more.
Realistic depictions often contain imperfections, and most furries don't seem to like those in their own characters, so perhaps the don't like them in heroes, either.
Relevant.
Okay, I'm kind of making this about awards in general, but The Mitchells vs. the Machines actually won the Annie Award for Best Feature, as well as the Critics Choice Awards Best Animated Feature. Which definitely puts it in a clear second place for the Oscar, if you're looking to take a long shot bet there in your office pool or whatever (do they even have those for the Oscars anymore, especially in March?). However, Encanto is still the clear front-runner for the Oscar (it did win the BAFTA, which is much more predictive of upsets), which means from a furry perspective the Oscars are kind of a wash, even if there is an upset. Heck, third is probably (also super not-furry) Flee (with it's Ghetto Category Hat Trick triple nomination of Animated, Documentary and International), with Luca fourth (if for no other reason this will be the first time an original Pixar movie has not won the award since 2006's Cars) and Raya in the "just an honor to be nominated" final slot (even though it did wind up being the best reviewed of the bunch).
Just started playing Chicory: A Colorful Tale on my channel, the game was released in 2021... how many great anthro games were released in 2021 anyway. Good lord, spread it out a bit XD
I voted! Found three picks in eleven categories. Hope everyone else got around to it. If not, you can still enjoy the nominees. Would've ranked Fuelled higher if she'd made the right choice. 👿
The thing that took away from Fuelled for me is that the premise doesn't make too much sense. While we at the audience may be able to see the protagonist in an emotional state to the point they forget to gas up, this is contradicted by the map they look at and how planned out everything is.
I am making the assumption that time had passed between when the protagonist's lover was killed and their plot on going out and getting revenge. This means they are not running hot, but cold and calculated. A person who is running cold and calculated does not forget to fill up on the day they enact their long thought out plot to get vengeance against the one who killed their lover.
Sadly that thought hung over my head while watching the rest of the story, which was all a result of this.
But she was broke. She didn't fill up because she forgot to. She didn't fill up earlier with gas because she couldn't.
If she tried to fill up earlier and realized she was broke, wouldn't she have realize she'd have enough gas to make it before she got stopped in the woods?
She didn't even know she was broke at the time she ran out of gas, because she had to check the wallet when she ran out of gas.
She's going out there to off someone, the last thing you want to do is run out of gas, especially after you kill the person. This is especially true if the target appears to be part of an organized crime syndicate and his boys give chase after you finish the job.
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