The second annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards has awarded NUMB the First Prize in the Animation category. Directed by Dino Alberto and Dave Hughes, this eerily animated short takes you to a land of lost souls with a secret. The film can be viewed at PlanetOut.com, along with all the other winners. Taking home the audience prize for animation was PIKI AND POKO: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS! By Mark Ewert and David Cutler. This highly stylized digital animation follows two Japanese schoolgirls who have a very special bond. PIKI & POKO is syndicated around the Internet by Mondo Media.

The five nominees for the coveted Cartoon d'Or Prize have been announced. Florence Miailhe's AU PREMIER DIMANCHE D'AOÛT (France); Thomas Stellmach's CHICKEN KIEV (Germany); Michael Dudok de Wit's Oscar winning film, FATHER AND DAUGHTER (Netherlands/U.K.); Trylle Vilstrup's LOVEBIRDS; and Andreas Hykade's RING OF FIRE (Germany). The winner will be announced during the Cartoon Forum's closing event on September 22.

At the 22nd Banff Rockie Awards (June 10-15, 2001), YOHO AHOY: BUZZ WITH JONES, produced by The Consortium of Gentlemen for the BBC, UK, won the Animation Program Award. Every year, as a celebration of excellence, Canada’s Banff Television Festival administers the Banff Rockie Awards competition for the world’s best television programs and Webcasts. The competition recognizes excellence across 14 categories, including animation, with cash prizes totaling more than $100,000. For a complete list of the winners visit: www.banff2001.com.

POWERPUFF GIRLS captured three awards, including overall License of the Year, at the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) Annual Awards Gala, recognizing the brightest in the multi-billion dollar worldwide licensing industry in 2000. POWERPUFF GIRLS also captured two awards in the Entertainment/Character category, including License of the Year and Licensee of the Year/Soft Goods, for POWERPUFF GIRLS Apparel. Kellogg’s is marketing a POWERPUFF GIRLS breakfast cereal and Delta Airlines has the characters decorating the tailfins of its planes.

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved the final rules for the new Best Animated Feature Film award. According to an Academy Board press release, the new category will be governed as follows:

Presented by the National Cartoonists Society, the 55th Annual Reuben Awards have taken place in Boca Raton, Florida, the home of the International Museum of Cartoon Art. The three-day event climaxed on May 26, 2001 with the presentation of the Reuben Award to the outstanding cartoonist of the year. Jack Davis, best known for advertising illustration and work in MAD Magazine, is the winner of the 55th Annual Reuben Award, the highest honor in the cartooning profession. The Society also presented the Gold Key/Hall of Fame Award to Arnold Roth for fifty years of cartooning excellence.

The Oscar winner for best short animated film, FATHER AND DAUGHTER, has won the coveted grand prize at the International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy. In an elaborate and festive closing ceremony held on Saturday, June 9, 2001, the awards were handed out by the festival’s artistic director, Serge Bromberg.



The Short and Feature Fiction Films jury, made up of Ron Diamond, USA, Florence Miailhe, France, John
Dilworth, USA, Françoise Reymond, France and Oscar Grillo, Argentina has awarded:

"Annecy

PROTEST, created by S.D. Katz, won the 2001 Charles Samu Award, an animation award that recognizes quality work made on substantive issues. Charles Samu, who was a key player in creating the Zagreb Animation Festival in the ‘70s, was a builder of cultural bridges for friendship and understanding through the universal language of animation. The Leo Dratfield Endowment at International Film Seminars, in association with ASIFA-EAST, has honored his memory each year following his death in 1988.

In association with the International Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival, monsieurcinema.com awarded the first award for Best Web Film at Cannes 2001. The seven films in competition were: CUB by Steve Whitehouse, Canada; GOTCHAAA! by Eric Gosselet and Fabien Brandily, France; IN A GROVE by Hiroyuki Watanabe, Japan; LE SECRET MINCEUR by Stéphane Ricard, France; MARCELLE (episode “Les Plaisirs De La Route”) by Guillaume Joire, France; THE BIRTH OF STAINBOY by Tim Burton, USA; and THE SVUOTCHER by Flavio Della Rocca and Mattia Pasquini, Italy.

The 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were presented on May 18, 2001 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast nationally between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m.