files/pictures/picture-35.jpgASIFA-Hollywood announced nominations today for the 35th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year's best animation across film, television, commercials, videogames and short subjects.
In the feature categories, Pixar's RATATOUILLE leads the field this year with 13 nominations including Best Animated Feature, as well as individual nominations for directing, writing, character animation, animated effects (two nominations), production design, storyboarding, character design, character animation, music and voice acting (three nominations). Sony Pictures Animation's SURF'S UP follows with 10 feature nominations for feature, animated effects, animation production artists, character animation (two nominations), character design, and directing.
Rounding out the Best Animated Feature category are DreamWorks Animation's BEE MOVIE, Sony Pictures Classics' PERSEPOLIS and Twentieth Century Fox's THE SIMPSONS MOVIE.
For television, Nickelodeon's EL TIGRE leads the pack with four nominations for Best Animated Television Production for Children, and individual nominations for character animation, character design, and music. The Best Animated Television Production nominees this year are CREATIVE COMFORTS AMERICA from Aardman Animations, JANE AND THE DRAGON from Weta Prods. Ltd. & Nelvana Limited, KIM POSSIBLE from Walt Disney Television Animation, as well as MORAL OREL and ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS from ShadowMachine.
Special juried awards honoring lifetime achievement and exceptional contributions to animation will also be awarded:
This year's Winsor McCay Award winners for career contributions to the art of animation, include:
John Canemaker - Animation historian, educator, Oscar winning filmmaker. Canemaker's tomes on Windsor McCay and Felix The Cat, his numerous books on Disney history (The Nine Old Men, Mary Blair, etc.) are esstential references. Canemaker is Chair of NYU's Animation Program and won an Academy Award for his animated short The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation.
Glen Keane - One of the leading lights in the current generation of Disney character animators, Keane's artistry has been the bedrock of many classic animated features since 1977. Most notably, Keane was lead animator of Ariel in THE LITTLE MERMAID, The Beast in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and animated the characters ALADDIN, TARZAN, POCAHONTAS in their respective Disney films. Aside from Disney he's worked on animated films of STAR TREK and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS.
John Kricfalusi - Notorious animator Kricfalusi created the influential REN & STIMPY SHOW in 1991. He restored an individual look to TV animation, pushing the envelope during the "creator-driven" movement of the 1990s. He also pioneered the use of artist-driven Flash animation. His animated films and design style currently influences a new generation of cartoonists, with which he communicates personally to through his blog.
The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation was bestowed on animation historian Jerry Beck.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement was given to Jonathan Gay, Gary Grossman and Robert Tatsumi -- the creators of Flash computer software.
Special Achievement Annie Award was awarded to Edward R. Leonard for promoting the Linux open system for animation in animation studios and gaming software development.
Certificate Of Merit have been announced for Marcus Adams, Jo Jo Batista, Steve Gattuso, Jon Reeves, Gemma Ross and Woodbury University.
The 2007 Annie Award nominations are:
PRODUCTION CATEGORIES
Best Animated Feature
BEE MOVIE -- DreamWorks Animation
PERSEPOLIS -- Sony Pictures Classics
RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE -- Twentieth Century Fox
Best Home Entertainment Production
DOCTOR STRANGE -- MLG Prods.
FUTURAMA "BENDER'S BIG SCORE" -- The Curiosity Co. in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Best Animated Short Subject
EVERYTHING WILL BE OK -- Bitter Films
HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER -- Walt Disney Feature Animation
SHORTY MCSHORTS' SHORTS "Mascot Prep" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
THE CHESTNUT TREE -- Picnic Pictures
YOUR FRIEND THE RAT -- Pixar Animation Studios
Best Animated Television Commercial
CVS "Watering Can" -- Acme Filmworks
Esurance "Homeowners" -- Wild Brain
Idaho Lottery "Twister" -- Acme Filmworks
Oregon Lottery "Alaska" -- Laika/house
Power Shares "Escape Average" -- Acme Filmworks
Best Animated Television Production
JANE AND THE DRAGON -- Weta Prods. Ltd. & Nelvana Ltd.
CREATIVE COMFORTS AMERICA -- Aardman Animations
MORAL OREL-- ShadowMachine
ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS -- ShadowMachine
KIM POSSIBLE -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Best Animated Television Production for Children
CHOWDER -- Cartoon Network Studios
EL TIGRE -- Nickelodeon
LITTLE EINSTEINS -- Disney Channel
PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD -- Discovery Kids
THE BACKYARDIGANS -- Nickelodeon
Best Animated Video Game
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER "THE BURNING EARTH" -- THQ, Inc.
BEE MOVIE GAME -- Activision
RATATOUILLE -- THQ, Inc.
TRANSFORMERS: THE GAME -- Blur Studios
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
Animated Effects
Gary Bruins -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Deborah Carlson -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Ryan Laney -- SPIDER-MAN 3 -- Sony Pictures Imageworks
James Mansfield -- HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER -- Walt Disney Feature Animation
Jon Reisch -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Animation Production Artist
John Clark -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Michael Isaak -- BEE MOVIE -- DreamWorks Animation
Hyun-Min Lee -- THE CHESTNUT TREE -- Picnic Pictures
Natasha Liberman -- GROWING UP CREEPIE "Creepie & The Candy Factory" -- Taffy Ent. LLC, Telegrael Teoranta, Discovery Communications Inc., SunWoo Ent., Peach Blossom Media
Jim Worthy -- MY GYM PARTNER'S A MONKEY "Meet the Spidermonkeys" -- Cartoon Network Studios
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Dave Hardin -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Alan Hawkins -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Michal Makarewicz -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Character Animation in a Television Production
Elizabeth Harvatine -- MORAL OREL "Nature 2" -- ShadowMachine
Monica Kennedy -- EL TIGRE -- Nickelodeon
Eric Towner -- ROBOT CHICKEN -- ShadowMachine
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Sylvain Deboissy -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Carter Goodrich -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Character Design in an Animated Television Production
Jorge R. Gutierrez -- EL TIGRE "Fistful of Collars" -- Nickelodeon
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Brad Bird -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Ash Brannon & Chris Buck -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Chris Miller & Raman Hui -- SHREK THE THIRD -- DreamWorks Animation
Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi -- PERSEPOLIS -- Sony Pictures Classics
David Silverman -- THE SIMPSONS MOVIE -- Twentieth Century Fox
Directing in an Animated Television Production
Seth Green -- ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS -- ShadowMachine
David Hartman -- TIGGER & POOH "Turtles Need for Speed" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Raymie Muzquiz -- SQUIRREL BOY "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral" -- Cartoon Network Studios
Howy Parkins -- THE EMPEROR'S NEW SCHOOL "Emperor's New Musical" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Gary Trousdale -- SHREK THE HALLS -- DreamWorks Animation
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Olivier Bernet -- PERSEPOLIS -- Sony Pictures Classics
Danny Elfman, Rufus Wainwright & Rob Thomas -- MEET THE ROBINSONS -- Walt Disney Feature Animation
Michael Giacchino -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Rupert Gregson-Williams -- BEE MOVIE -- DreamWorks Animation
Amy Powers, Russ DeSalvo & Jeff Danna -- DISNEY PRINCESS ENCHANTED TALES -- DisneyToon Studios/Walt Disney Video/Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Music in an Animated Television Production
Alf Clausen & Michael Price -- THE SIMPSONS "Yokel Chords" -- Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox
Evan Lurie, Robert Scull & Steven Bernstein -- THE BACKYARDIGANS "International Super Spy" -- Nickelodeon
Drew Neumann & Gregory Hinde -- BILLY & MANDY'S BIG BOOGEY ADVENTURE -- Cartoon Network Studios
Shawn Patterson -- EL TIGRE "Yellow Pantera" -- Nickelodeon
James L. Venable & Jennifer Kes Remington -- FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS "The Bloo Superdude and the Magic Potato Power" -- Cartoon Network Studios
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Doug Chiang -- BEOWULF -- Paramount Pictures
Harley Jessup -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Marcelo Vignali -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Production Design in an Animated Television Production
NONE
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Don Hall -- MEET THE ROBINSONS -- Walt Disney Feature Animation
Denise Koyama -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Ted Mathot -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Sean Song -- TMNT -- IMAGI Animation Studios
Nassos Vakalis -- BEE MOVIE -- DreamWorks Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production
Ben Balistreri -- DANNY PHANTOM "Torrent of Terror" -- Nickelodeon
Aldin Baroza -- THE REPLACEMENTS "London Calling" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Dave Bennett -- TOM AND JERRY TALES -- Warner Bros. Animation
Steve Fonti -- FAMILY GUY "No Chris Left Behind" -- Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Prods.
Roy Meurin -- MY FRIENDS TIGGER AND POOH "Good Night to Pooh" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Janeane Garofalo -- Voice of Collette -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Ian Holm -- Voice of Skinner -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Julie Kavner -- Voice of Marge Simpson -- THE SIMPSONS MOVIE -- Twentieth Century Fox
Patton Oswalt -- Voice of Remy -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Patrick Warburton -- Voice of Ken -- BEE MOVIE -- DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Scott Adsit -- Voice of Clay Puppington -- MORAL OREL -- ShadowMachine
Madison Davenport -- Voice of Sophianna -- CHRISTMAS IS HERE AGAIN! -- Easy To Dream Ent.
Tom Kenny -- Voice of SpongeBob -- SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS "Spy Buddies" -- Nickelodeon
Eartha Kitt -- Voice of Yzma -- THE EMPEROR'S NEW SCHOOL "Emperor's New Musical" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Eddie Murphy -- Voice of Donkey -- SHREK THE HALLS -- DreamWorks Animation
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Brad Bird -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, George Meyer, David, Mirkin, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder & Jon Vitti -- THE SIMPSONS MOVIE -- Twentieth Century Fox
Don Rhymer and Ash Brannon & Chris Buck & Christopher Jenkins -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud -- PERSEPOLIS -- Sony Pictures Classics
Writing in an Animated Television Production
C.H. Greenblatt & William Reiss -- CHOWDER "Burple Nurples" -- Cartoon Network Studios
Gene Grillo -- BACK AT THE BARNYARD "Cowman and Ratboy" -- Nickelodeon
Ian Maxtone-Graham & Billy Kimball -- THE SIMPSONS "24 Minutes" -- Gracie Films
Christopher Painter -- SQUIRREL BOY "I Only Have Eye For You" -- Cartoon Network Studios
Tom Sheppard -- MY GYM PARTNER'S A MONKEY "The Butt of the Jake" -- Cartoon Network Studios
The 35th Annual Annie Awards will be held Feb. 8, 2008 at UCLA's Royce Hall, in Los Angeles. The 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 5:00 pm with the awards ceremony following at 7:00 pm. 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. Tickets will be available to the general public online at
www.annieawards.org , after January 1, 2008, space permitting.
