ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for its 36th Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year's best animated features, television productions, commercials, videogames and short subjects. DreamWorks Animation's KUNG FU PANDA leads the field with 17 nominations out of 27 overall for the studio, including Best Animated Feature, and individual nominations for character animation, character design, directing, music, production design, storyboarding, voice acting and writing.

Walt Disney Animation Studios' received nine nominations, including Best Animated Feature for BOLT, and Pixar Animation Studios received eight nominations, including Best Animated Feature for WALL-E. Completing the Best Animated Feature category is Sony Pictures Classics' WALTZ WITH BASHIR and Sherman Pictures/Lama Films' $9.99.

Nickelodeon leads the pack in television with 12 nominations, including two for Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children: AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER and THE MIGHTY B!. Other nominees in this category include FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS and UNDERFIST: HALLOWEEN BASH from Cartoon Network Studios and A MISER BROTHERS CHRISTMAS from Warner Bros. Animation.

Nominees for the Best Animated Television Production are PHINEAS AND FERB (Disney Television Animation), THE SIMPSONS (Gracie Films/Fox TV), KING OF THE HILL (20th Century Fox TV) and MORAL OREL and ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS EPISODE II, both from ShadowMachine.

Winners will be announced at the 36th Annual Annie Awards ceremony on Friday, January 30, 2009, at UCLA's Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, California.

Special juried awards honoring career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation will also be awarded: Winsor McCay recipients -- Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park for career contributions to the art of animation; June Foray award -- Bill Turner for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation; and Certificate of Merit award -- Amir Avini, Mike Fontanelli, Kathy Turner, Alex Vassilev.

The Annie Awards' black-tie ceremony will feature a lively mix of animation luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent to celebrate this year's best of the best. A pre-reception begins at 6 p.m. with the awards ceremony following at 8 p.m. A post-show celebration immediately follows at the Royce Hall. More than 1,500 entertainment industry insiders are expected to attend the annual Annie Awards. For tickets, advertising, sponsorship opportunities and up-to-the minute information on the 36th Annual Annie Awards, visit www.annieawards.org.

The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 24 categories ranging from production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music and voice acting. Entries submitted for consideration were from productions that originally aired, were exhibited in an animation festival or commercially released between January 1 and December 31, 2008.

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

BOLT -- Walt Disney Animation Studios
KUNG FU PANDA -- DreamWorks Animation
$9.99 -- Sherman Pictures/Lama Films
WALL-E -- Pixar Animation Studios
WALTZ WITH BASHIR -- Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D'ici, Razor Films

Best Animated Home Entertainment Production

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT -- Warner Bros. Animation
CHRISTMAS IS HERE AGAIN -- Easy To Dream Ent.
FUTURAMA: THE BEAST WITH A BILLION BACKS -- The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Ent.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER -- Warner Bros. Animation
THE LITTLE MERMAID: ARIEL'S BEGINNING -- DisneyToon Studios

Best Animated Short Subject

GLAGO'S GUEST -- Walt Disney Animation Studios
HOT DOG -- Bill Plympton Studio
PRESTO -- Pixar Animation Studios
SEBASTIAN'S VOODOO -- Joaquin Baldwin
WALLACE & GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH -- Aardman Animations

Best Animated Television Commercial

GIANT MONSTER -- Curious Pictures
LONG LEGS MR. HYDE -- Curious Pictures
ROTOFUGI: THE COLLECTORS -- Screen Novelties
SARAH -- Z Animation