Walt Disney Animation’s Frozen takes top honors as Best Animated Feature at the 41st Annual Annie Awards held Saturday, February 1 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney Animation’s Frozen took top honors as Best Animated Feature at the 41st Annual Annie Awards held Saturday, February 1 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The Best Animated Special Production was awarded to Chipotle “Scarecrow” (Chipotle Creative Department, Moonbot Studios); Best Animated Short Subject ‘Get A Horse!’ (Walt Disney Animation Studios); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial Despicable Me 2 (Cinemark-Illumination Entertainment/Universal); Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Preschool Children Disney Sofia the First (Disney Television Animation); Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children’s Audience Adventure Time (Cartoon Network Studios); Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production Futurama (20th Century Fox Television); Best Animated Video Game The Last of Us (Naughty Dog); and Best Student Film Wedding Cake (Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg - Viola Baier, Iris Frisch).
Often a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 30 categories ranging from best feature, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting.
The ceremony was live-streamed again this year at www.annieawards.org/watch-it-live where animation enthusiasts and those who were unable to attend the event, could watch the show. A complete list of winners can be viewed at www.annieawards.org.
“Our industry waits all year for this event and it never disappoints, said ASIFA-Hollywood President, Frank Gladstone. “This was a terrific night with something for everyone. It was fun to take a look back at our history as well as celebrating and honoring what we have accomplished over the past year.”
Patrick Warburton, television, film and voice actor, lent his humor and talent as the ceremony’s Host. Joining him on stage were animation legend June Foray, voice actors Bill Farmer who portrayed animation great Winsor McCay, doing his animated ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’ vaudeville act, celebrating its 100th anniversary this month, Tom Kenny, Nancy Cartwright and actors Mariska Hargitay, Cloris Leachman, Josh Gad, Ariel Winter and director Rob Minkoff. Also providing presenter duties were Marion Ross, Max Charles, Tony Bancroft, Bob Bergen, Jim Meskimen and Mackenzie Foy.
Honored with the Winsor McCay award were Katsuhiro Otomo, Steven Spielberg, who made his video acceptance, and Phil Tippett. The Winsor McCay stands as one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation.
Alice Davis was honored with the June Foray award for her significant and benevolent contributions to the art and industry of animation; Dragonframe received the Ub Iwerks award for technical advancements that made a significant impact on the art or industry of animation; and the Special Achievement award was presented to the CTN Animation eXpo. The Certificate of Merit award was presented to the documentary I Know That Voice.
The full list of winners is shown below:
#1 - Best Animated Feature
Frozen - Walt Disney Animation Studios
#2 - Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production
Chipotle “Scarecrow” - Chipotle Creative Department, Moonbot Studios
# 3 - Best Animated Short Subject
Get A Horse! - Walt Disney Animation Studios
# 4 - Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial
Despicable Me 2 - Cinemark- Universal Pictures
#5 - Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
Disney Sofia the First - Disney Television Animation
#6 - Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children’s Audience
Adventure Time - Cartoon Network Studios
#7 - Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Futurama - 20th Century Fox Television
#8 - Best Animated Video Game
The Last of Us - Naughty Dog
#9 – Best Student Film
Wedding Cake - Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg - Viola Baier, Iris Frisch
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
#10 – Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Jeff Budsberg, Andre Le Blanc, Louis Flores, Jason Mayer - The Croods - DreamWorks Animation
#11 – Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Michael Balog, Ryan Hopkins, Patrick Conran, Florian Witzel - Pacific Rim - Industrial Light & Magic
#12 - Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Kureha Yokoo - Toy Story OF TERROR! - Pixar Animation Studios
#13 - Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Jakob Jensen - The Croods - DreamWorks Animation
#14 - Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Jeff Capogreco, Jedrzej Wojtowicz, Kevin Estey, Alessandro Bonora, Gino Acevedo - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Gollum- Weta Digital
#15 – Character Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Paul Rudish - Disney Mickey Mouse - Disney Television Animation
#16 – Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Carter Goodrich, Takao Noguchi, Shane Prigmore - The Croods - DreamWorks Animation
#17 – Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Angus MacLane - Toy Story OF TERROR! - Pixar Animation Studios
#18 – Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee - Frozen - Walt Disney Animation Studios
#19 – Music in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Christopher Willis - Disney Mickey Mouse - Disney Television Animation
#20 – Music in an Animated Feature Production
Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Christophe Beck - Frozen - Walt Disney Animation Studios
#21 – Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Angela Sung, William Niu, Christine Bian, Emily Tetri, Frederic Stewart - The Legend of Korra - Nickelodeon Animation Studio
#22 – Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Michael Giaimo, Lisa Keene, David Womersley - Frozen - Walt Disney Animation Studios
#23 – Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Daniel Chong - Toy Story of TERROR! - Pixar Animation Studios
#24 – Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Dean Kelly - Monsters University - Pixar Animation Studios
#25 – Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Tom Kenny as the voice of Ice King - Adventure Time - Cartoon Network Studios
#26 – Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Josh Gad as the voice of Olaf - Frozen - Walt Disney Animation Studios
#27 – Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Lewis Morton - Futurama - 20th Century Fox Television
#28 – Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Hayao Miyazaki - The Wind Rises - Studio Ghibli/Touchstone Pictures/The Walt Disney Studios
#29 – Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Illya Owens - Disney Mickey Mouse - Disney Television Animation
#30 – Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Greg Snyder, Gregory Amundson, Steve Bloom - Monsters University - Pixar Animation Studios
JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award - Katsuhiro Otomo, Steven Spielberg & Phil Tippett
June Foray - Alice Davis
Ub Iwerks - Dragonframe
Special Achievement - Creative Talent Network (CTN) Animation eXpo
Certificate of Merit - I Know That Voice (Documentary)
ASIFA-Hollywood is the world’s first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the Art of Animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, animation film preservation, special events, classes and screenings. Created in 1972 by veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for over the past four decades. For information on ASIFA-Hollywood, please visit www.asifa-hollywood.org. For information on the Annie Awards, please visit www.annieawards.org.
Source: ASIFA-Hollywood
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
