The United States won half of the 10 main Pulcinella Award statuettes, including those for the Best Program and the Best Character of the Year, at the 2003 edition of Cartoons On The Bay in Positano, Italy, on April 12, 2003. KIM POSSIBLE, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, has won the Pulcinella for the Best Program as well as for the Best TV Series for Children. HOME MOVIES, by Soup2Nuts won for Best Character as well as the award for the Best TV Series for Adolescents & Adults.

Attendees at the NAB2003 exhibition in Las Vegas voted for the first NAB Awards for Innovation in Media (AIMs), given to 15 products for technological innovations that best address current and upcoming issues in the electronic media industry. The top five products within each category were handed out during NAB's Technology Luncheon on April 9, 2003. Key industry editors are reviewing these selections to select an overall winner in each category for 2003 "Editors' Choice" awards be announced on April 17, 2003.

Turner Broadcasting's European channels received 14 PROMAX awards while the BBC channels took 20 at the PROMAX&BDA Europe: COLOGNE 03 competition in Germany April 3-4 2003.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced its nominations for the 2002 British Academy Television Craft Awards. Framestore CFC is competing against itself for the Visual Effects Award for its work on DINOTOPIA with Beechmoon Prods. for Sky One and THE GIANT CLAW – A WALKING WITH DINOSAURS SPECIAL, with Impossible Pictures for BBC1. Mike McGee, Michael Eames, Alec Knox are the nominated team for DINOTOPIA while Max Tyrie, Tim Greenwood, Jez Gibson Harris have been singled out for THE GIANT CLAW.

It seems the tastes of active Animation World Network viewers do not jive with the Academy voters according to the results now in for AWN's Oscar Reivew reader poll. For once AWN voters selected a different short film winner, picking THE CATHEDRAL over the Oscar-winning THE CHUBBCHUBBS, which just won the Oscar. An overwhelming 46% of all AWN voters predicted THE CATHEDRAL would take home the Oscar, while 18% voted for MIKE'S NEW CAR, followed by 14% for DAS RAD, 15% for MT. HEAD. THE CHUBBCHUBBBS finished last with 10%.

On March 23, 2003 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the winners of this year's Oscars. Hayao Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY (Walt Disney) was awarded the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, while visual effects stunner THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) took home the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Eric Armstrong's THE CHUBBCHUBBS (Sony Pictures Imageworks) won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

Students from New York University and Pasadena's Art Center School of Design took first place for animation in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's 24th Annual College Television Awards Competition. The winners, along with students in live-action categories, were flown in from all across the country to be honored at a special awards gala on March 16, 2003 at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles, during which they had the opportunity to meet with industry leaders at the invitation-only ceremony.

Animation writer Ken Keeler picked up the first ever Animation Award at the 55th Annual Writers Guild Awards bi-coastal ceremonies March 8, 2003 for his FUTURAMA teleplay "Godfellas." It was the first time all animated programs (long form original, long form adaptation, specials and episodic) competed in the new television animation category. Animation programming scripted by WGA members had previously been submitted under the appropriate category (i.e. 30-minute comedy, hour-long drama).

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG was the big winner again of four nominations, topping all other animated shows, at The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Award nominations announced on March 12, 2003. Almost exactly a year ago, on March 13, 2003, CLIFFORD led the animation pack with five noms. The PBS series is produced by Scholastic Productions and Mike Young Productions. Close behind was Nick’s DORA THE EXPLORER, nabbing three nominations, including one for Outstanding Children's Animated Program.

Anima 2003, the 22nd Animation Festival, concluded in Brussels on March 9, 2003 with an awards presentation and the announcement of four Cartoon d'Or nominations. Anima 2003 (formerly the Brussels Cartoon and Animation Festival) is one of the seven European partner festivals for the Cartoon d'Or, which will be awarded in Varese next September 2003.

Retro Studios of Austin, Texas was at the top of its game, winning Game of the Year and Excellence in Level of Design for its METROID PRIME, as well as Rookie Studio of the year honors March 6, 2003, at the 3rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards during the 2003 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, California. The Oscar-equivalent in the gaming world, the Choice Awards are true peer recognition honors, as all nominees and recipients are voted on free of charge, by professional game developers around the world.

It seems many of the winners at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2002 Scientific and Technical Awards are jumping onto other teams. The first Oscars of the season were given out, three weeks before the televised Oscar ceremony on Saturday, March 1, 2003 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), the international association of the leading Internet-based cinema journalists, has released its choices of the Top 100 Animated Features of All Time with TOY STORY placing first according to a vote of the 138 reviewers.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS picked up three BAFTA awards Sunday, February 23, 2003, during the Orange British Academy Film Awards held at the Odeon Leicester Square in the heart of London's West end. The VFX epic motion picture received Orange Film of the Year (voted by the public, whereas THE PIANIST won for Best Film, voted by members British Academy of Film and Television Arts). RINGS also won for Achievement in Special Visual Effects, singling out Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke for recognition.

Norah Jones may have won the giant awards at the 45th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 23, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, however MONSTERS, INC. – SCREAM FACTORY FAVORITES won for Best Musical Album For Children. Country western group Riders In The Sky performed the sing-along with Mike and Sulley for Walt Disney Records. The CD comes with a book and lyrics for family fun. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, won a Grammy from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc.

Upping the recognition and honors for visual effects professionals, the Visual Effects Society kicked off its first annual awards ceremony Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS led the night with eight film awards while DINOTOPIA garnered four for television. Character animation was highlighted with awards given in television, animated and live-action features.

The recipients will be announced at a ceremony on March 6, 2003, during the Game Developers Conference (GDC), March 4-8 in San Jose, Calif. Produced by the Gama Network, the GDC is the largest annual event exclusively for game development professionals. Nominations were free and open to all professional game developers, regardless of membership or affiliation, so that nominees reflect the international development community's opinions.

Five films were selected in the Best Animated Feature Film category by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that were announced this morning for the 75th Academy Awards. Three are Walt Disney releases, LILO & STITCH (Chris Sanders), SPIRITED AWAY (Hayao Miyazaki) and TREASURE PLANET (Ron Clements), which will vie against Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky's ICE AGE (Chris Wedge) and DreamWorks' SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (Jeffrey Katzenberg).

ICE AGE, LILO AND STITCH, THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE and SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON received nominations in both best sound editing and music in animated features from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, which will present its Golden Reel Awards at the Century Plaza Hotel March 22 during the group's 50th annual awards banquet. TV series CSI, FASTLANE, JOHN DOE and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS took two noms each as well.

And the nominees are…

Best Sound Editing In Domestic Features: Sound Effects/Foley