"Kung Fu Panda" Sweeps Annie Awards

The Annie Awards are supposed to be the biggest animation awards show out there, but they blew it tonight. Big time. Although I should have seen it coming when the nominations were announced, I didn't think they'd actually do it. Tonight "Kung Fu Panda" swept the awards including Best Picture and Pixar's "Wall-E" was shut out completely. I knew it was fishy when 'Panda' received a whopping 17 nominations and "Wall-E" received only 8, but to think that the nominations would reflect the winner so closely...I just don't get it. The only thing I can think of is that Pixar fatique is starting to sink in, and people are getting tired of giving them the awards every year. Of course, Pixar shouldn't be punished for raising the bar every year, but this shows that no matter how much praise you get, it doesn't garentee awards. See folks, there are other organizations then the Academy that get things wrong.

6th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2008)

Winners in bold*

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

• Bolt – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Kung Fu Panda – DreamWorks Animation*

• $9.99 – Sherman Pictures/Lama Films

• Wall·E – Pixar Animation Studios

• Waltz With Bashir – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films

Best Animated Home Entertainment Production

• Batman: Gotham Knight – Warner Bros. Animation

• Christmas Is Here Again – Easy To Dream Entertainment in association with Renegade Animation

• Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs – The Curiosity Company in association with 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment*

• Justice League: The New Frontier – Warner Bros. Animation

• The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – DisneyToon Studios

Best Animated Short Subject

• Glago’s Guest – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Hot Dog – Bill Plympton Studio

• Presto – Pixar Animation Studios

• Sebastian’s Voodoo – Joaquin Baldwin

• Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death – Aardman Animations Ltd.*

Best Animated Television Commercial

• Giant Monster – Curious Pictures

• Long Legs Mr. Hyde – Curious Pictures

• Rotofugi: The Collectors – Screen Novelties/RSA Films

• Sarah – Z Animation

• United Airlines “Heart” – Duck Studios*

Best Animated Television Production

• King of the Hill – 20^th Century Fox TV

• Moral Orel – ShadowMachine

• Phineas and Ferb – Disney Television Animation

• Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II - ShadowMachine*

• The Simpsons – Gracie Films/Fox TV

Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children

• A Miser Brothers Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation in association with ABC Family & Cuppa Coffee Studios

• Avatar: The Last Airbender – Nickelodeon*

• Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios

• The Mighty B! – Nickelodeon

• Underfist: Halloween Bash – Cartoon Network Studios

Best Animated Video Game

• Dead Space – Electronic Arts

• Kung Fu Panda – Activision*

• Wall·E – Heavy Iron Studios, a division of THQ, Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects

• Alen Lai “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• Li-Ming Lawrence Lee “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Fangwei Lee “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – DreamWorks Animation

• Kevin Lee “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Enrique Vila “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Feature Production

• James Baxter “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Jeff Gabor “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• Philippe Le Brun “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• Victor Navone “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• Dan Wagner “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Television Production or Short Form

• Sandro Cleuzo “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

• Joshua A. Jennings “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” - ShadowMachine

• Pierre Perifel “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

• Valerie Hadida “Igor” – Exodus Film Group

• Sang Jun Lee “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• Nico Marlet “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

Character Design in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Bryan Arnett – Mighty B! “Bat Mitzah Crashers” – Nickelodeon

• Ben Balistreri - Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Mondo Coco” – Cartoon Network Studios

• Sean Galloway “The Spectacular Spider-Man” – Sony Pictures Television

• Jorge Gutierrez – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “The Good, The Bad, The Tigre” – Nickelodeon

• Nico Marlet “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

• Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• Ari Folman “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films

• Tatia Rosenthal “9.99” – Sherman Pictures/ Lama Films

• John Stevenson & Mark Osborne “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Andrew Stanton “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Directing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Bob Anderson - The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XIX” – Gracie Films/Fox TV

• Joaquim Dos Santos – Avatar: The Last Airbender “Sozin’s Comet Pt. 3” – Nickelodeon*

• Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti - Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios

• Chris McKay – Moral Orel “Passing” – ShadowMachine

• Alan Smart - SpongeBob SquarePants “Penny Foolish” – Nickelodeon

Music in an Animated Feature Production

• Kevin Manthei – “Batman: Gotham Knight” – Warner Bros. Animation

• John Powell – “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• Max Richter – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films

• William Ross – “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

Music in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Carl Finch & Brave Combo - Click and Clack’s “As the Wrench Turns” – CTTV Productions

• Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Kevin Kiner – “Star Wars The Clone Wars: Rising Malevolence” – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.

• Guy Moon – Back at the Barnyard “Cowman: The Uddered Avenger” – Nickelodeon/Omation

• Guy Michelmore – “Growing Up Creepie: Rockabye Freakie” – Taffy Entertainment LLC

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

• Ralph Eggleston “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• Paul Felix “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Tang Heng “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Evgeni Tomov “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• Raymond Zibach “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Andy Harkness “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Tang Heng “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Seonna Hong – The Mighty B! “Bee Patients” – Nickelodeon

• Dan Krall – Chowder “The Heavy Sleeper” – Cartoon Network Studios

• Raymond Zibach “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

• Alessandro Carloni – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• Ronnie Del Carmen – “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• Joe Mateo “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Jen Yuh Nelson – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Rob Stevenhagen – “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Butch Hartman – Fairly OddParents “Mission: Responsible” – Nickelodeon

• Andy Kelly – Ni Hao, Kai-Lan “Twirly Whirly Flyers” – Nickelodeon Productions/Nelvana

• Andy Schuhler – “Secret of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

• Eddie Trigueros “The Mighty B! “Name Shame”– Nickelodeon

• Chris Williams “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios*

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

• Ben Burtt – Voice of Wall·E – “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• Dustin Hoffman – Voice of Shifu – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• James Hong – Voice of Mr. Ping – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• Ian McShane – Voice of Tai Lung – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• Mark Walton – Voice of Rhino – “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Ahmed Best – Voice of Jar Jar Binks – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” - ShadowMachine*

• Seth MacFarlane – Voice of Peter Griffin – Family Guy “I Dream of Jesus” – Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Productions

• Dwight Schultz – Voice of Mung Daal – Chowder “Apprentice Games” – Cartoon Network Studios

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

• Jon Aibel & Glenn Berger – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Etan Cohen and Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath – “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – DreamWorks Animation

• Ari Folman – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films

• Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio – “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

Writing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Joel H. Cohen – The Simpsons “The Debarted” – Gracie Films/Fox TV

• Scott Kreamer – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “Mustache Love” – Nickelodeon

• Paul McEvoy and Todd Berger – “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

• Tom Root, Douglas Goldstein, Hugh Davidson, Mike Fasolo, Seth Green, Dan Milano, Matthew Senreich, Kevin Shinick, Zeb Wells, Breckin Meyer – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine*

• Chris Williams – “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios