2001 Annie Awards

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The Alex Theater's crowded courtyard. All photos courtesy of ASIFA-Hollywood unless otherwise noted. [1]

On November 10, 2001 at a gala ceremony hosted by voice actor Billy West, ASIFA-Hollywood's 29th Annual Annie Awards were presented. The big winner was Shrek, which took home eight Annie's including outstanding theatrical feature and outstanding directing for an animated feature. The Emperor's New Groove nabbed three awards, for female performer in an animated feature (Eartha Kitt as Yzma), best song and outstanding individual character animation. In television, once again The Simpsons took home the award for outstanding primetime show. Matt Groening's other creation, Futurama, took home awards for outstanding male performer in an animated television production and outstanding writing. Independent animation studio Wild Brain received awards for animated short subject and outstanding animated production for the Internet. Congratulations to everyone!

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Shrek co-directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, winners for Outstanding Individual Achievement For Directing In An Animated Feature Production. [2]

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Join us for a photo gallery [3] from the event.

The presenters kept the show moving at a fast and humorous clip. While last year's pre- and post- parties were dampened by an usually cold snap for California, this year the weather cooperated nicely and Glendale's Alex Theater was packed with a veritable who's who in the Los Angeles animation community. While 2001 has been a tough year for the industry, the atmosphere was surprisingly upbeat with plenty of networking being done in the courtyard. As usual, ASIFA-Hollywood presented a well-organized show, with plenty of time before and after to see old friends, make new ones and talk over a glass of champagne. The event presented a very nice opportunity for our community to gather and celebrate itself when it most needs it.

Around the Courtyard

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People came from far and wide to this year's Annie Award celebration. [4]

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Piet and Cecile Kroon. Piet just finished co-directing Warner Bros.' Osmosis Jones.© AWN, Inc. [5]

Gwynn Adik, independent animation consultant, Time Squad creator/director/executive producer Dave Wasson, Bobbi Schwartzendruber, production coordinator on Cartoon Network's Robot Jones, and Renegade Animation's Nate Pacheco, the TD who developed a way to use Flash to animate at 24 fps.

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ASIFA-Hollywood President Antran Manoogian with AMG's Julie Kane-Ritsch. [6]

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Leonard Maltin with June Foray. [7]

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Virtual Magic's Don Spielvogel and Jan Nagel, who is also president of Women in Animation. © AWN, Inc. [8]

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Leonard Maltin, Earl Kress and Jerry Beck — all looking very dapper indeed. [9]

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Pat and Tom Sito, with AWN contributor and Elmo Aardvark promoter Will Ryan. [10]

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Attorney Ken Dusick, Will Ryan, Margaret Kerry-Wilcox, the model for Tinkerbell, with Howard and Amy Boothe Green, authors of Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney. [11]

Inside the Alex

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Billy West, the evening's MC. [12]

Wild Brain's Phil Robinson with one of the two Annies that the studio took home.	Kathy Najimy won Outstanding Individual Achievement For Voice Acting By A Female Performer in an Animated Television Production for her Texas twanged Peggy Hill.

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Pepper Ann creator Sue Rose. [13]

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Batman Beyond gurus Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. [14]

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Voice actor Tom Kenny and his "river boat handler tie!" [15]

Outstanding Individual Achievement For Character Animation winner Dale Baer, who lent his expertise to The Emperor's New Groove [16].	Invader Zim [17]'s Steve Ressel won for Outstanding Individual Achievement For Storyboarding In An Animated Television Production.

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Ron Diamond and Holly Stone of Acme Filmworks, which won for Outstanding Achievement In An Animated Television Commercial. Ron is also the co-founder and co-publisher of Animation World Network. [18]

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Leonard Maltin won the June Foray Award for his contributions to animation. [19]

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Honored for preserving Disney's priceless legacy, Scott MacQueen was awarded a Special Achievement in Animation. [20]

Celebrating a Lifetime of Achievement

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Lifetime achievement Winsor McCay Award winners Bill Justice, Bob Givens and Pete Alvarado. [21]

Pete Alvarado began working in animation in the late 1930's and has contributed to almost every major studio including Disney Feature, Warner Bros., MGM and Hanna-Barbera. From theatricals to the first television shows, Pete was there from animation to layout to background painting and more.

Bill Justice spent over forty years at Disney, animating classic scenes like Bambi on ice, directing stop-motion sequences like the nursery scene in Mary Poppins, and finally contributing to television shows and Walt Disney Imagineering.	Over Bob Givens' sixty-five year career in animation he has called Warner Bros. home most frequently. From designing the rascally rabbit in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare to leading the background design staff on Chuck Jones' current Webcartoon TimberWolf, Bob's career has spanned many of the studio's firsts.

Please visit AWN's Headline News for a complete list of winners [22].