On May 11, 2000, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences will hand out their top honors of the year with PC game AGE OF EMPIRES II leading the field with 7 nominations. Held in Los Angeles, this, the third edition, will be hosted by comedian Martin Short. Members of the Academy with expertise in each area formed review panels to vote for the winners. The award for game of the year, computer game of the year and console game of the year was voted on by all of the eligible members of the Academy. This year’s competition saw over 350 entries from 60 different companies.

On Sunday, April 9, 2000, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts bestowed the honor of best animated short on THE MAN WITH BEAUTIFUL EYES. The film was adapted from a Charles Bukowski poem where a group of boys make a hero of a deadbeat alcoholic. The film by Jonathan Hodgson beat out Oscar winner THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Alexander Petrov, the 1998 Oscar nominated JOLLY ROGER by Mark Baker and festival favorite THE PERI-WIG MAKER by Steffen Schaffler. As it did at the Oscars, THE MATRIX took home the awards for sound and special effects.

In the television competition at Cartoons on the Bay, Warner Bros.' beleaguered series MISSION HILL took home the prize for best over-all animation series. The 4th Cartoons On The Bay International Festival of Television Animation was held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy from April 14 - 18. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the world dedicated to television animation. The festival is an international event with awards, workshops, lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of television animation.

The Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film was celebrated March 16-21, marking its 20th year in existence. The biannual festival presented a wide ranging programme, giving prizes worth 142,000 German marks (70,000 euros or US dollars) and enjoying a growth of 25% in the number of spectators. With approximately 42,000 spectators and some 500 films in the programme, Stuttgart calls itself, "The second largest animated film event world wide," a definition which might well be true. A new competition category this year was for feature animations.

On Thursday, March 16, 2000, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced its nominations for the Daytime Emmy Awards. The 27th annual event highlights the best in daytime television where animation makes much of its home. Besides the specific categories for animation, animated TV series have a strong presence in various other areas of recognition. BLUE'S CLUES racked up nominations for Outstanding Directing In A Children's Series, Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series and Outstanding Writing In A Children's Series.

At the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Oscar Awards on Sunday, March 26, 2000, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Alexander Petrov won for best animated short film. "Having been nominated twice before, now I can look at this award without irony," Petrov said. "I'm very happy to have received the Oscar as it has given THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA and my earlier films recognition. And like any artist I wanted to be first. I'm happy that the Academy has the category of animated short film, because it gives a chance to independent artists to show their work.

On March 9, 2000, the winners of the British Animation Awards were announced to a packed audience at London's National Film Theatre. The big winner was ROBBIE THE REINDEER: HOOVES OF FIRE directed by Richard Goleszowski, which took home three awards. The half-hour TV special tells the story of the trainee reindeer, Robbie (son of Rudolph), and his bulbous nose. The film was a BBC Animation Unit/BBC Worldwide production in association with Comic Relief. Oscar short-listed films HUMDRUM and SILENCE both picked up awards. Below is a full list of winners in each category.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts have announced their nominees for the 2000 BAFTA Awards. The British Academy has one prize for animation in the Best Short category.

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.

The Tampere International Short Film Festival in Finland has always been a place for animation. This year was no exception. Animation is an integral part of the programme. The Tampere Festival, which celebrated its 30th edition March 8-12, 2000, is often regarded as one of the major short film festivals in Europe, even in the world. However, among the general short film festivals it has the clearest emphasis on animation. The festival enjoyed beautiful weather; the sun shone and the ground was completely covered with soft white snow.

The final adventure of MASTER OF MOSQUITON, THE VAMPIRE comes to video.

VOLUME 3 will fly into stores March 28, 2000. The teenaged tomb raider

Inaho and her undead partner Mosquiton face off against the sinister

Rasputin and Mosquiton's ex-wife, the dreaded Carmilla! The adventure will

hit stores at the price of US$19.98.

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

When the day broke on February 15, 2000, an old man wasn't humdrum about

joining a list of Oscar nominees that included three misses and my

grandmother who irons shirts! The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and

Sciences has released its list of nominations for this year's Oscar

competition. In the category of animated short films the nominees are:

Aardman Animations' Peter Peaks' HUMDRUM; Torril Cove's MY GRANDMOTHER

IRONED THE KING'S SHIRTS; Alexander Petrov's oil paint on glass in IMAX

Walt Disney and Pixar have yet another trophy on their mantle, this time

it's the grand prix at Imagina 2000. The computer conference and festival,

which started in Monaco on January 31 and then continued in Paris on

February 2, finishing Friday, February 4, is often referred to as the

European equivalent to SIGGRAPH. The events in Monaco included the "Prix

Pixel-INA" awards competition, the Innovation Space, and various

conferences and panel discussions such as "2D/3D Animation," a discussion

AMPAS announced on Wednesday, January 26, 2000, its short list of ten films

to be considered for the coveted Oscar nomination for best animated short

film. Three to five of these films will be selected as nominees and

announced at 5:30 am PST on February 15, 2000. The 10 animated short films

making the list this year are: Aardman Animations' Peter Peaks' HUMDRUM;

Character Builders' Oscar Moore has two short listed films with THE

INDESCRIBABLE NTH and THE PHOX, THE BOX AND THE LOX, which screened earlier

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globes Awards shocked the

world by naming TOY STORY 2 the best comedy or musical picture of 1999. The Woody and Buzz Lightyear feature beat out heavy-weight live-action films like: favored best flick, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH; Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal's ANALYZE THIS; the Andy Kaufman bio-pic, MAN ON THE MOON; and mega-hit Julia Roberts-vehicle, NOTTING HILL. However, even though TOY

STORY 2 took home the honors, the television broadcast producers didn't

The U.S. Recording Academy's premiere recording awards, the Grammies, have

put out their list of nominees and many toon-related tunes have made an

appearance. Nominations in the category Best Musical Album For Children

were: "The Adventures Of Elmo In Grounchland," "A Bug's Life Song-Along"

and Walt Disney's "Mannhein Steamroller Meet The Mouse." Best Spoken Word

Album For Children nominees include "A Bug's Life Read-Along" and Sesame

Street's "Let's Eat!" THE PRINCE OF EGYPT and TARZAN were included in the

On November 18, 1999, LEAF, the London Effects & Animation Festival,
bestowed their award for best effects in a feature film on STAR WARS:
PHANTOM MENACE. Over 700 industry personalities watched LEAF's finale, an
hour long visual effects smorgasbord from around the world. Rob Coleman was
on hand to except the award for Industrial Light & Magic's work on the
PHANTOM MENACE. Other winners included: AKA Pizazz's "Megalomaniac" for
best commercial animation; Jason Shulman's HOLLOW for best student film;

Cinanima '99 finished its week-long run on November 14, 1999. The Espinho,
Portugal festival highlights the best in animation from around the globe.
This year, the International Jury gave their Grand Prize to Alexander
Petrov's film THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. The Canadian and Japanese produced
film also won the RTP Prize, an award given by the Portuguese State
Channel's special jury, and the Best Soundtrack Prize. The
Canadian-produced film by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove entitled

Linda Simensky, Cartoon Network's VP of original animation, received one of
Girls Inc.'s four 1999 honors. With over 50 years of service, Girls Inc.
has been dedicated to helping American girls become strong, smart and bold
through educational programs. Each year the organization honors industry
execs who have helped challenge and inspire young girls across America.
Along with CBS pres. Nancy Tellem, Lifetime VP Kelly Goode Abugov, and
Entertainment VP at WB Jordan Levin, Simensky was recognized for her work