Hayao Miyazaki's SEN TO CHIHIRO NO KAMIKAKUSHI (SPIRITED AWAY) was awarded The Golden Bear, the top prize at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival. SPIRITED AWAY shared the award with Paul Greengrass's live-action film BLOODY SUNDAY. Winning the coveted award, and acceptance of the film by Western audiences, may mean the film will finally be seen in the U.S. SPIRITED AWAY broke box office records in Japan, where it was the number one film of all time, earning 29.4 billion yen (US $221.5M). But as recently as summer 2001, Disney (who released Miyazaki’s PRINCESS MONONOKE in the U.S.

The nominees are:



Game of the Year



BLACK & WHITE (Lionhead Studios)

GRAND THEFT AUTO III (DMA Design/Rockstar Games)

HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (Bungie Studios)

ICO (Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.)

MAX PAYNE (Remedy Entertainment)



Rookie Studio of the Year



Adrenium Games for AZURIK: RISE OF PERATHIA

Bohemia Interactive Studio for OPERATION FLASHPOINT

Croteam for SERIOUS SAM

Pseudo Interactive for CEL DAMAGE

With categories like Best Animation on the Cutting-Edge, Best Music Video and Best Student Film, the British Animation Awards (BAA) honor all aspects of the U.K. animation scene, from student work to commercials, children's entertainment to short and experimental films. This year the BAA introduced two new award categories: International Award for Best Short, and an award for Best European Animated Feature.

Here is the full list of the nominees for the British Animation Awards (BAA).

Best Pre-School Children’s Series



BOB THE BUILDER: MUCKY MUCK Directed by Sarah Ball

BILL AND BEN:THE RAINBOW Directed by Tim Collings


64 ZOO LANE: KEVIN THE CROCODILE Directed by An Vrombaut




Best Children’s Series



THE CRAMP TWINS Directed by Becky Bristow, Produced by Cartoon Network

ALBIE Directed by Francis Vose,

Pixar Animation Studios will be honored with the Producers Guild of America’s (PGA) inaugural Vanguard Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in new media and technology. The PGA cited Pixar’s significant contributions in the field of computer graphic imaging (CGI) technology since its inception 15 years ago. Pixar created the first full-length computer animated feature film, 1995’s TOY STORY and their RenderMan software propelled computer graphics into mainstream movie-making by allowing computer generated images to blend in seamlessly with live-action scenes.

DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg was on hand January 22, 2002 to pick up SHREK’s Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) award for best animated feature, besting runner up MONSTERS, INC. The winners had been previously announced. SHREK has garnered virtually every critics award in the animated feature category so far this year, with the exception of the New York Film Critics Circle, who gave the nod to WAKING LIFE. LAFCA also presented a Career Achievement Award to Disney animation pioneer Joe Grant, who said, "I hope Mr.

Both THE LORD OF THE RINGS and SHREK scored a number of nominations at the British Academy Film and Television Awards (BAFTA), which were announced on Monday, January 28, 2002. With twelve nominations, THE LORD OF THE RINGS tied with MOULIN ROUGE for the highest honors, while SHREK was no slouch with six noms. Both LORD and SHREK were honored with best film and best visual effects nominations. Eddie Murphy received a supporting actor nod for his work as Donkey, and SHREK also picked up nominations in the Sound, Music and Adapted Screenplay categories.

Twenty-one Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievement will be presented on March 2, 2002 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Out of the 14 Technical Achievement Awards, presented as certificates, the following recipients will be honored for creating technology used in the field of animation and visual effects. The awards are presented based upon recommendations from the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee, chaired by Academy visual effects branch governor Richard Edlund.

The 17th Berlin International Short Film Festival took place November 6-11, 2001 and featured 70 screenings including six competitions and twenty special programs. HASTA LOS HUESOS by René Castillo took the prize for best animation, and Gabriele Pennacchioli's THE SHARK AND THE PIANO won first prize in the Children's Short Film Competition. All of the animated winners are listed below:

Best Animation:

HASTA LOS HUESOS by René Castillo,

Short Film Award

3rd Place: THE MAN WITH THE BEAUTIFUL EYES by Jonathan Hodgson

Zach Schlappi took home the grand prize "best in show" award at the first annual DirecTV — Level13.net animated film festival. The awards were presented on December 11, 2001. Zach won for his 3D animated film PASTA FOR WAR, which satirizes propaganda newsreels of the 1930s. He will receive a DirecTV system as well as $2,500. Winners were chosen in three categories: 2D, 3D and experimental animation. The panel of judges included DEXTER'S LABORATORY creator Genndy Tartakovsky, Emmy Award-winning animator Eric Radomski and co-editors of Mad Magazine, John Ficarra and Nick Meglin.