Know What's My Favorite Animated Number: 5!

Well folks, there are eighteen films up for Best Animated Feature, which means there will be five nominations.  Yay!  I always like five more than three, it's just a shame that five seems like a stretch this year.  For the record, here's what's up for consideration:

“The Adventures of Tintin”
“Alois Nebel”
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked”
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2″
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Gnomeo & Juliet”
“Happy Feet Two”
“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Mars Needs Moms”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
“Rio”
“The Smurfs”
“Winnie the Pooh”
“Wrinkles”

Looking over that list, conventional wisdom goes that the Academy will go in this direction:

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Happy Feet Two
Rango
Winnie The Pooh

However, if the voting is done correctly, and based purely on quality and does not let popularity effect the voting at all, then this will be our five nominees:

The Adventures of Tintin
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung fu Panda 2
Rango

Yes, I fully expect "Cars 2" to sit this one out.  If it gets in, it will be because Pixar is loved by the Academy, but it has no serious chance of winning.  Of course there are some eyebrow raisers in there (wasn't the whole selling point of "The Smurfs" that it was a LIVE ACTION movie of the cartoon?!), but not a bad list. What's frustrating is that if "How To Train Your Dragon" was released this year, then there is no doubt in my mind it would have won.  Most of these films seem second nature to that one (although, in all fairness, "Toy Story 3" wasn't as good as "The Illusionist" either).  It will be interesting to see whether or not the Academy goes for the popular films, the smaller films that are of stunning quality, or a little of both.

And keep in mind folks, this category has made major mistakes in the past, just like every other award in this show.  In 2004 the list of nominees were "The Incredibles," "Shark Tale," and "Shrek 2."  "The Incredibles" walked home with the gold and was the obvious winner.  But look at those films and ask yourself this: How the heck did the Academy not have room for THIS movie?!

I know, it boggles the mind sometimes.

Memo To The Academy: Honor the Voice Actors

Alright Academy: It's time to get over your old fashioned beliefs about animation and create a category for honoring voice over work.  I think it became painfully obvious after "Rango" was released that voice acting is crucial to these animated movies.  More than ever before, big established actors are giving out Oscar worthy performances in voice over work.  Yet none of it is being recognized, and the Academy is too busy deciding whether five movies are enough or not in the Best Picture category, and are thus overlooking awards that would obviously be good for the show.  Think about it: If you start awarding Oscars to voice actors it gives you a chance to have a whole new branch in the Academy to sell memberships to.

You can attract lots of big name talent who might make poor live action films, but in animation shine.  You could attract kids to watching the Oscars because animation will now have a very prominent role at the awards.  And - because many voice actors are also face actors in real life - you honor more actors, which are the main reason anyone not as interested in movies watch the Oscars anymore (Editor's Note: The hosts haven't been a major draw for this show in YEARS).  I'm going to make a list of what a potential award category would look like, complete with nominees.


Best Actor In An Animated Feature

Antonio Banderas - "Puss In Boots" (I'm making an educated guess on this one based on his previous work)
Jack Black - "Kung Fu Panda 2"
Jim Cummings - "Winnie The Pooh"
Johnny Depp - "Rango"
Jesse Eisenberg - "Rio"


Best Actress In An Animated Feature

Emily Blunt - "Gnomeo & Juliet"
Isla Fisher - "Rango"
Anne Hathawy - "Rio"
Salma Hayek - "Puss In Boots" (Again, this one's a guess)
Angelina Jolie - "Kung Fu Panda 2"


Best Actor Featured In An Animated Feature

Ned Beatty - "Rango"
Michael Caine - "Cars 2"
Dustin Hoffman - "Kung Fu Panda 2"
Tom Kenny - "Winnie The Pooh"
Gary Oldman - "Kung Fu Panda 2"


Best Actress Featured In An Animated Feature

Abigal Breslin - "Rango"
Joan Cusak - "Mars Needs Moms"
Leslie Mann - "Rio"
Emily Mortimer - "Cars 2"
Michelle Yeoh - "Kung Fu Panda 2"




Now some of those names I'm just tossing out there because we haven't seen ALL the animated films that are supposed to come out, but take a moment and look at that list!  That's not only good acting, it's a considerable amount of talent you're drawing.  You can't tell me this category wouldn't catch on when you have nominees like that?  Who knows, maybe you could give some of the "de faco" awards to actors who get nominated in the voiceover category, instead of wasting it on the main acting awards (*cough* Paul Newman's Best Actor win for "The Color of Money"*cough*).  Just a thought.

First Image of Dreamworks "Oobermind"

Though it was announced a mere couple weeks ago it looks like Dreamworks is planning on bringing this movie out as early as next year (November 5th to be precise). Dreamworks have come a long way since making "Shrek." With "Kung fo Panda," "Monsters vs. Aliens," and now "Oobermind" Dreamworks is finally starting to up the quality of their films a bit. So what's "Oobermind" about? Well it's about a villain (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) who finds life a little boring after defeating the hero of the city (Ben Stiller...of all people). The movie is being directed by Gary Trousdale, one of the men responsible for directing Disney's acclaimed classic "Beauty & The Beast." With Trousdale directing you can bet this will be something to keep an eye out for. Maybe Dreamworks will finally snatch another Best Animated Feature Oscar since they won for "Shrek" in 2001.

"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

Animated Films Are Announced (Kind of)

The Academy has released a list of the animated films that will be eligible for nomination in the Best Animated Feature category. The list is:

“Bolt”
“Delgo”
“Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!”
“Dragon Hunters”
“Fly Me to the Moon”
“Igor”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”
“$9.99”
“The Sky Crawlers”
“Sword of the Stranger”
“The Tale of Despereaux”
“WALL-E”
“Waltz with Bashir”

I think "Wall-E" is a given. The second slot will likely go to "Waltz with Bashir" (which I haven't seen, but it certainly looks way better then most of these movies). The third nomination will likely go to "Kung Fu Panda" or "The Tale of Despereaux." I can't see "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" getting nominated, but if there's an upset (and there usually is in this category) then chances are this is the one. Oh, and this means "Speed Racer" is obviously not a contender for this award anymore. The big question about this list is what happened to "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Not that I want to see that movie win, but considering it's an animated film there's no reason for it to not be here. Oh well, maybe that will change (and if it does become eligible then that means five films will be nominated instead of three).