Awards

Toons That Grabbed Grammies. On Wednesday, February 23, 2000, the U.S. Recording Academy's premiere recording awards, the Grammies, were presented, and a few toon-related tunes took home golden statuettes. In the category Best Musical Album For Children: "The Adventures Of Elmo In Grounchland" beat out "A Bug's Life Song-Along" and Walt Disney's "Mannhein Steamroller Meet The Mouse." Tarzan won for Best Soundtrack Album over The Prince Of Egypt and The Matrix. Beating John Williams’ score for The Phantom Menace, the award for composers of an original composition written specifically for a motion picture, television or other visual media went to Randy Newman for his A Bug's Life score. The Best Short Form Video award went to the special effects laden video for Korn's "Freak On A Leash" video, directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris and Todd McFarlane. During the program we also saw the beginning of the advertising blitz for DreamWorks’ The Road To El Dorado, which features songs by Sir Elton John. Using John’s award for lifetime achievement as a tie-in, the studio took full advantage of the opportunity with multiple commercials and a sponsorship.

Brussels Bzzes With Winners. The Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival has announced their winners. Each year the festival programs the "crème de la crème" in international animation and serves as one of the top festivals on the international cartoon and computer generated images circuit. This year’s jury consisted of Canal +’s Servane Calmant, director Catherine Montondo, "RTBF" journalist Hugues Dayez, "Plateau" journalist Luc Joris and producer Steve Walsh. Brussels nominates four films for the prestigious Cartoon d’Or, the winner of which will be announced in September. Brussels’ selections this year are: Siri Melchoir’s Passport, Stèphane Blanquet and Stèphanie Michel’s Mon Placard, Benoît Fèroumont’s Bzz and Stefan Vermeulen’s Suburbanites. The prize winners at this year’s festival are:

French Community Grand Prize
Bzz by Benoît Fèroumont.

Flemish Community Grand Prize
Suburbanites by Stefan Vermeulen.

Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD) Prize
Pic Pic André Shoow Quarte Moins Un by Stèphane Aubier and Vincent Patar.

Canal + Prize
Bzz by Benoît Fèroumont.

SABAM Prize
Splitting Casanova by Judith Vanderlinden.

Vlaams Radio Televisie (VRT) Prize
Suburbanites by Stefan Vermeulen.

"Freeze Frame Animation" Prize
Bzz by Benoît Fèroumont.

Cinergie Prize from the Press Jury
Pic Pic André Shoow Quarte Moins Un by Stèphane Aubier and Vincent Patar.