‘Arcane,’ ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ ‘Common Side Effects,’ ‘Love, Death + Robots,’ ‘The Simpsons’ Score Emmy Nods

The 2025 Emmy nominees in animation and visual effects include industry mainstays and a few notable newcomers.

In the Outstanding Animated Program category, Arcane’s second season earns another nomination with “The Dirt Under Your Nails.” This series, based on the League of Legends franchise, previously made headlines when its first season won in 2022, marking the first time a video game adaptation claimed the Emmy in this category. By contrast, The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers represent long-running Fox staples. While both shows have been nominated repeatedly over the past decade, neither has won in this category since 2019. Common Side Effects’ nomination is notable as it follows another Green Street production last year, Scavengers Reign. The indie studio has back-to-back cultural hits, while Common Side Effects’ nomination highlights Adult Swim’s ongoing influence in alternative adult animation, a space it has largely defined for the past two decades.

The visual effects categories show a familiar split: HBO and Disney projects dominate the long-form category, reflecting big-budget productions like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us, while single-episode nominees such as Black Mirror and Severance reflect a more stylistic, less spectacle-driven approach.