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Visual Effects Society Awards: 'GoT', 'The Mandalorian', 'The Lion King' and 'Toy Story 4' lead nominations

The 18th Annual VES Awards announced their list of nominees for the awards show that will be held on January 29

It's fantasy vs. science fiction. White walkers vs. droids. Dragons...vs. Baby Yoda. 'The Mandalorian' and the final season of 'Game of Thrones' both took the lead in nominations for the 18th Annual VES Awards for visual effects in a television series.

The Visual Effects Society Awards is one of the most prestigious awards for visual effects in movies, television and video games. They have been recognizing outstanding visual effects achievement in entertainment for the past 18 years. The nominees' list for the awards was released earlier on January 8, across 25 categories.

In television, 'The Mandalorian' and 'Game of Thrones' lead the pack with five nominations each. In movies, 'Alita: Battle Angel', 'Toy Story 4' and Disney's 'The Lion King' are all in the lead with five nominations each.

The most prestigious TV award — Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode — pits 'Game of Thrones' episode 'The Bells' directly up against 'The Child' from 'The Mandalorian'. 'Stranger Things' has also been nominated in this category, and so have 'Lost in Space', 'Lady and the Tramp', and 'His Dark Materials'.

The category for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature will see the year's biggest movies go head to head against each other, with the nominees being 'Alita: Battle Angel', 'Avengers: Endgame', 'The Lion King', 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker', and 'Gemini Man'. 

For animated features, the Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature award nominees are 'Frozen 2', 'Klaus', 'Missing Link', 'The Lego Movie 2', and 'Toy Story 4'. 

The VES Awards will be held on January 29 at Beverly Hilton Hotel, hosted by the award-winning actor, comedian and writer Patton Oswalt. The awards will also present three special achievement awards: the VES Lifetime Achievement Award for Martin Scorsese, the VES Visionary Award for Roland Emmerich, and the VES Award for Creative Excellence for visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal.