Reel FX to present the 9th annual “Texas” Avery Animation Award to BAFTA winners and Golden Globe nominees Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the writers/directors of ‘The LEGO Movie’ and ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.’
Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, 2014’s ‘The LEGO Movie’ earned the BAFTA and BFCA Critics Choice Awards for Best Animated Feature, the National Board of Review for Best Original Screenplay and the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing.
Reel FX, the studio behind the Golden Globe-nominated The Book of Life, will present the 9th annual “Texas” Avery Animation Award to BAFTA winners and Golden Globe nominees Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the writers/directors of The LEGO Movie and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
The award will be presented to Lord and Miller by Reel FX’s Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life) and Brad Booker (The Book of Life) on Friday, April 17th at the Dallas International Film Festival’s DFS Honors Ceremony.
The “Texas” Avery Animation Award, celebrates career achievement in animation, and pays tribute to Fred “Tex” Avery, one of the most celebrated figures in the history of animation and Dallas, Texas native. As an animator, writer, voice talent and cartoon director, Avery’s credits include the iconic Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes series, the majority of the cartoons at MGM during the 1940s and early 1950s, and the creation of classic characters such as Daffy Duck, Porky the Pig, Elmer Fudd as well as the concept of Bugs Bunny and his popular catch phrase, “What’s up Doc?”
Past recipients of the award include animation giants such as Academy Award-winner Brad Bird (The Incredibles) (2007); Academy Award-nominee Chris Wedge (Ice Age) (2008), Academy Award-nominee Henry Selick (Coraline) (2009); Academy Award-winner Pete Docter (Monster’s Inc., Up) (2010), Academy Award nominees Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) (2011), legendary animator Glen Keane (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) (2012), iconic voice talent June Foray (2013), and the unforgettable John Kriscfalusi (Ren & Stimpy)(2014).
The award itself is an original bronze casting designed at Reel FX and handmade by renowned Dallas sculptor Brad Oldham.
Reel FX created the “Texas” Avery Animation Award in 2007 as a way to celebrate the best and brightest animation careers, as well as increase awareness of these incredible filmmakers outside of Hollywood. Texas Avery honorees not only accept the award during their time in Dallas, but also spend time with the festival and local community with events like lectures about filmmaking, presentations on technique and demos of their work.
Lord and Miller wrote and directed the award winning film The LEGO Movie, for which they earned the BAFTA and BFCA Critics Choice Awards for Best Animated Feature, the National Board of Review for Best Original Screenplay and the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing. The film has earned $468 million at the worldwide box office and, to date, is the fourth-highest grossing domestic feature of 2014. Additionally, the pair also wrote and directed 2009’s hit animated feature, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, which earned a Golden Globe and Critics Choice nomination for Best Animated Feature along with four Annie Award nominations for excellence in animation, including Best Direction and Best Screenplay.
Source: Reel FX
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.
