Ratatouille Golden at Annie Awards

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgDuring a black-tie event at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, ASIFA-Hollywood handed out prizes at the 35th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year's best animation across film, television, commercials, videogames and short subjects. Host Tom Kenny entertained the crowd with his usual dose of manic humor, joking that HORTON HEARS A WHO was a Roger Daltrey fusion project about tinnitus.

So without further ado, the 2007 Annie Award winners are:

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature
RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Best Home Entertainment Production
FUTURAMA "BENDER'S BIG SCORE" -- The Curiosity Co. in association with 20th Century Fox Television

Best Animated Short Subject
YOUR FRIEND THE RAT -- Pixar Animation Studios

Best Animated Television Commercial
Power Shares "Escape Average" -- Acme Filmworks

Best Animated Television Production
CREATURE COMFORTS AMERICA -- Aardman Animations

Best Animated Television Production for Children
EL TIGRE -- Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game
RATATOUILLE -- THQ, Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects
Deborah Carlson -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation

Animation Production Artist
John Clark -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Michal Makarewicz -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Television Production
Eric Towner -- ROBOT CHICKEN -- ShadowMachine

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
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

Directing in an Animated Television Production
Seth Green -- ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS -- ShadowMachine

Music in an Animated Feature Production
Michael Giacchino -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Music in an Animated Television Production
Alf Clausen & Michael Price -- THE SIMPSONS "Yokel Chords" -- Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Harley Jessup -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Ted Mathot -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production
Steve Fonti -- FAMILY GUY "No Chris Left Behind" -- Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Prods.

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Ian Holm -- Voice of Skinner -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Eartha Kitt -- Voice of Yzma -- THE EMPEROR'S NEW SCHOOL "Emperor's New Musical" -- Walt Disney Television Animation

Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Brad Bird -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios

Writing in an Animated Television Production
Ian Maxtone-Graham & Billy Kimball -- THE SIMPSONS "24 Minutes" -- Gracie Films

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.