During a black-tie event at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, ASIFA-Hollywood handed out prizes at the 35th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year's best animation across film, television, commercials, videogames and short subjects. Host Tom Kenny entertained the crowd with his usual dose of manic humor, joking that HORTON HEARS A WHO was a Roger Daltrey fusion project about tinnitus.
So without further ado, the 2007 Annie Award winners are:
PRODUCTION CATEGORIES
Best Animated FeatureRATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Best Home Entertainment ProductionFUTURAMA "BENDER'S BIG SCORE" -- The Curiosity Co. in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Best Animated Short SubjectYOUR FRIEND THE RAT -- Pixar Animation Studios
Best Animated Television CommercialPower Shares "Escape Average" -- Acme Filmworks
Best Animated Television ProductionCREATURE COMFORTS AMERICA -- Aardman Animations
Best Animated Television Production for ChildrenEL TIGRE -- Nickelodeon
Best Animated Video GameRATATOUILLE -- THQ, Inc.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
Animated EffectsDeborah Carlson -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Animation Production ArtistJohn Clark -- SURF'S UP -- Sony Pictures Animation
Character Animation in a Feature ProductionMichal Makarewicz -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Character Animation in a Television ProductionEric Towner -- ROBOT CHICKEN -- ShadowMachine
Character Design in an Animated Feature ProductionCarter Goodrich -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Character Design in an Animated Television ProductionJorge R. Gutierrez -- EL TIGRE "Fistful of Collars" -- Nickelodeon
Directing in an Animated Feature ProductionBrad Bird -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Directing in an Animated Television ProductionSeth Green -- ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS -- ShadowMachine
Music in an Animated Feature ProductionMichael Giacchino -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Music in an Animated Television ProductionAlf Clausen & Michael Price -- THE SIMPSONS "Yokel Chords" -- Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox
Production Design in an Animated Feature ProductionHarley Jessup -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature ProductionTed Mathot -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Television ProductionSteve Fonti -- FAMILY GUY "No Chris Left Behind" -- Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Prods.
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature ProductionIan Holm -- Voice of Skinner -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Voice Acting in an Animated Television ProductionEartha Kitt -- Voice of Yzma -- THE EMPEROR'S NEW SCHOOL "Emperor's New Musical" -- Walt Disney Television Animation
Writing in an Animated Feature ProductionBrad Bird -- RATATOUILLE -- Pixar Animation Studios
Writing in an Animated Television ProductionIan Maxtone-Graham & Billy Kimball -- THE SIMPSONS "24 Minutes" -- Gracie Films
Special juried awards honoring lifetime achievement and exceptional contributions to animation will also be awarded:
This year's Winsor McCay Award winners for career contributions to the art of animation, include:
John Canemaker - Animation historian, educator, Oscar winning filmmaker. Canemaker's tomes on Windsor McCay and Felix The Cat, his numerous books on Disney history (The Nine Old Men, Mary Blair, etc.) are esstential references. Canemaker is Chair of NYU's Animation Program and won an Academy Award for his animated short The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation.
Glen Keane - One of the leading lights in the current generation of Disney character animators, Keane's artistry has been the bedrock of many classic animated features since 1977. Most notably, Keane was lead animator of Ariel in THE LITTLE MERMAID, The Beast in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and animated the characters ALADDIN, TARZAN, POCAHONTAS in their respective Disney films. Aside from Disney he's worked on animated films of STAR TREK and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS.
John Kricfalusi - Notorious animator Kricfalusi created the influential REN & STIMPY SHOW in 1991. He restored an individual look to TV animation, pushing the envelope during the "creator-driven" movement of the 1990s. He also pioneered the use of artist-driven Flash animation. His animated films and design style currently influences a new generation of cartoonists, with which he communicates personally to through his blog.
The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation was bestowed on animation historian Jerry Beck.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement was given to Jonathan Gay, Gary Grossman and Robert Tatsumi -- the creators of Flash computer software.
Special Achievement Annie Award was awarded to Edward R. Leonard for promoting the Linux open system for animation in animation studios and gaming software development.
Certificate Of Merit have been announced for Marcus Adams, Jo Jo Batista, Steve Gattuso, Jon Reeves, Gemma Ross and Woodbury University.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
