The Secret of Kells?

Surprised to see "The Secret of Kells" nominated for Best Animated Feature over "Ponyo" at the Annie Awards?  Yeah, me too.  Ever hear of this film?  Me neither.  Thankfully one Bing search showed me this trailer for the film:

I must admit that I'm intrigued.  Now the only question is why does it qualify for the Annie's this year and not next year when it's supposed to open?

37th Annie Award Nominations

And here are the nominations for the Annie Awards (this isn't looking good for "Ponyo"):

Best Animated Feature

• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
• Coraline — Laika
• Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
• The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
• Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Best Home Entertainment Production

• Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas — Universal Animation Studios
• Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder — The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
  
• Green Latern: First Flight — Warner Bros. Animation
  
• Open Season 2 — Sony Pictures Animation
  
• SpongeBob vs. The Big One — Nickelodeon

Best Animated Short Subject

• Pups of Liberty — Picnic Pictures
• Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5 — ShadowMachine
• Santa, The Fascist Years — Plymptoons
• The Rooster, The Crocodile and The Night Sky — Barley Films
• The Story of Walls — Badmash Animation Studios

Best Animated Television Commercial

• Goldfish: In The Dark — Blur Studios, Inc.
• Idaho Lottery “Twiceland” — Acme Filmworks, Inc.
• McDonald's Nutty Trade — Blue Sky Studios
• Spanish Lottery “Deportees” — Acme Filmworks, Inc.
• The Spooning — Screen Novelties /Acne Media

Best Animated Television Production

• Glenn Martin, DDS — Tornante, Cuppa Coffee Studios & Rogers Communications
• Merry Madagascar — DreamWorks Animation
• Prep and Landing — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios
• The Simpsons — Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production for Children

• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse — Disney Television Animation
• SpongeBob SquarePants — Nickelodeon
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack — Cartoon Network Studios
• The Mighty B! — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
• The Penguins of Madagascar — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES___________________

Animated Effects

• Scott Cegielski “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
• Alexander Feigin “9” — 9 L.L.C.
• Eric Froemling “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Tom Kluyskens “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
• James Mansfield “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Television Production

• Mark Donald “B.O.B.'s Big Break” — DreamWorks Animation
• Mark Mitchell “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Kevan Shorey “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Tony Smeed “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Phillip To “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space” — DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production

• Andreas Deja “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Eric Goldberg “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Travis Knight “Coraline” — Laika
• Daniel Nguyen “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Bruce Smith “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Television Production

• Bryan Arnett “The Mighty B! - Catatonic” — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
• Ben Balistreri “Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Craig Kellman “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Bill Schwab “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Feature Production

• Daniel Lopez Munoz “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Shane Prigmore “Coraline” — Laika
• Shannon Tindle “Coraline” — Laika

Directing in a Television Production

• Pam Cooke & Jansen Yee “American Dad: Brains, Brains & Automobiles” — 20th Century Fox/Fuzzy Door/Underdog
• Rob Fendler “Popzilla” — Animax
• John Infantino, J.G. Quintel “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Candy Casanova” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Bret Haaland “The Penguins of Madagascar - Launchtime” — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation
• Jennifer Oxley “The Wonder Pets: Help The Monster” — Nickelodeon/Little Airplane Productions

Directing in a Feature Production

• Wes Anderson “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
• Pete Docter “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Christopher Miller, Phil Lord “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
• Hayao Miyazaki “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
• Henry Selick “Coraline” — Laika

Music in a Television Production

• Michael Giacchino “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Kevin Kiner “Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Weapons Factory” — Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
• Guy Moon “The Fairly OddParents: “Wishology-The Big Beginning” — Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production

• Bruno Coulais “Coraline” — Laika
• Michael Giacchino “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Joe Hisaishi “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
• John Powell “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” — Blue Sky Studios

Production Design in a Television Production

• Mac George “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Andy Harkness “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Janice Kubo “Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends” — Cartoon Network Studios

Production Design in a Feature Production

• Christopher Appelhans “Coraline” — Laika
• Ian Gooding “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Tadahiro Uesugi “Coraline” — Laika
• Christophe Vacher “9” — 9 L.L.C.

Storyboarding in a Television Production

• Sunil Hall “The Mighty B!: Catatonic” — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper
• Robert Koo “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Brandon Kruse “The Fairly OddParents: Fly Boy” — Nickelodeon
• Joe Mateo “Prep and Landing” — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios Kite Productions
• Adam Van Wyk “The Spectacular Spider-Man: Final Curtain” — Culver Entertainment

Storyboarding in a Feature Production

• Sharon Bridgeman “Astro Boy” — Imagi Studios
• Chris Butler “Coraline” — Laika
• Ronnie Del Carmen “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Tom Owens “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
• Peter Sohn “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in a Television Production

• Danny Jacobs - Voice of King Julien - “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Nicky Jones - Voice of Chowder - “Chowder: The Dinner Theatre” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Tom Kenny - Voice of SpongeBob - “SpongeBob SquarePants — Truth or Square” — Nickelodeon
• Dwight Schultz - Voice of Mung Daal - “Chowder:The Party Cruise” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Willow Smith - Voice of Abby - “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production

• Jen Cody - Voice of Charlotte - “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Dawn French - Voice of Miss Forcible - “Coraline” — Laika
• Hugh Laurie - Voice of Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. - “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
• John Leguizamo - Voice of Sid - “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur” — Blue Sky Studios
• Jenifer Lewis - Voice of Mama Odie - “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Writing in a Television Production

• Daniel Chun - “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XX” — Gracie Films
• Kevin Deters, Stevie Wermers-Skelton - “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Valentina L. Garza - “The Simpsons: Four Great Women and a Manicure” — Gracie Films
• Billy Kimball and Ian Maxtone-Graham - “The Simpsons: Gone Maggie Gone” — Gracie Films
• Billy Lopez - “The Wonder Pets - Save the Honey Bears” — Nickelodeon Productions/Little Airplane Productions

Writing in a Feature Production

• Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach - “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
• Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy - “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers - “Astro Boy” — Imagi Studios
• Christopher Miller and Phil Lord - “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation

JURIED AWARDS__________________________________

Winsor McCay Award — Tim Burton, Bruce Timm, Jeffrey Katzenberg

June Foray — Tom Sito

Ub Iwerks Award — William T. Reeves

Special Achievement — Martin Meunier and Brian McLean

Certificate of Merit — Myles Mikulic, Danny Young and Michael Woodside