Podcast: 36th Annual Annie Awards Segment One

The 36th Annual Annie Awards (Segment One)
(Quicktime 7 / 33.2 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood websites are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood. Please link to this web page, not the movie file itself.

For the first time in its 36 year history, the Annie Awards ceremony will be podcast on the internet in its entirety. Today's segment includes Tom Kenny's opening monologue and the award for Best Video Game. Check back every day for another segment!

List of Nominees and Winners
Animation's Big Night: A Backstage Look at the Annie Awards
Join ASIFA-Hollywood and participate in the Annie Awards yourself!
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Animation's Big Night

A Backstage Look At
ASIFA-Hollywood's Annie Awards
We aren't your typical paparazzi. It was only six months ago that our creative aspirations drove us out of Orlando, Florida to pursue careers as animated filmmakers. It is conventional wisdom that the heart of the animated world beats here in Los Angeles, and it didn't take us long to realize that was where we needed to be. Somehow, between then and now, we have found ourselves residents, and because of our membership in ASIFA-Hollywood, we were granted the chance of a lifetime to see how a major award show comes to life, in an effort to discover the 36th Annual Annie Awards.


Kathy Turner and June Foray with the
June Foray Award winner, Bill Turner
Almost immediately, we had the great pleasure of sitting down with legendary voice actress June Foray and discussing the history of the Annies. In 1972, June Foray organized the first communion of animators to recognize individuals for their artistic achievements. The two recipients were Dave and Max Fleischer and June related to us that their awards were presented at the Sportsman's Lodge banquet room by a crowd of 400 people. Now, 37 years later, the famed Annie Awards take place in UCLA's Royce Hall, delivering 32 awards before a crowd of 1800.


The audience enjoying the show
Reciting the numbers out loud seemed to make them more impressive, and June was genuinely surprised to know that so many people had come out to show their appreciation for the art of animation. She had envisioned the awards as an "opportunity for animators to get together" because in 1972, there was no professional acknowledgment of animation. Given the expansion of popularity of the artform over the last 37 years, June said that it was an inspiration to see so many people come out and support what she had started 37 years ago.

For more info on the early days of the Annies, see this interview with June Foray.


The after-party featured a gourmet meal
and the music of the Blue Hawaiians
Although June originally intended Annies to be awarded specifically to individuals for lifetime achievement, the Annie Awards have since broadened the scope of categories to include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Short Subject, Best Animated Television Commercial, and more.


Presenters Brad Garret and Pat Fraley
This increased recognition has brought a lot of traditional Hollywood media talent to the event as well. Outside Royce Hall was a red carpet introduction and a slew of photographers to take advantage of it. This year's presenters included comedians and actors Fred Willard, Brad Garrett, James Hong, Seth Green and Donald Faison, among others. The master of ceremonies for the evening was the voice of Spongebob Squarepants, Tom Kenny.


Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich
arrive with actress Clare Grant
But as aspiring animated filmmakers, it was a particular treat to be able to speak backstage with the artists and directors who are currently shaping the industry we love. Nick Park, who not only won a Winsor McCay career award this year but took home the Annie for Best Animated Short Subject with Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death and Henry Selick, who presented the award to Nick Park on stage both allowed us to spend a little time with them.


Winsor McCay Award Honoree Nick Park
and presenter Henry Sellick backstage waiting for their cue
What is encouraging about the Annies, is that even directors whose visions lead to the creation of films as visually and stylistically distinct as Wallace and Gromit and The Nightmare Before Christmas are able to come together to celebrate the artform they share in common. Whether they use a pencil or a computer, clay or puppets, animators are a special type of artist. And at the Annies, they take time out to honor their own. This is exactly what June Foray envisioned for the event 37 years ago.


Chris Williams accepts his award for
Storyboarding for "Glago's Guest"
Some of the other big winners of the night were James Baxter for his animation in Kung Fu Panda, Joaquim Dos Santos for directing Avatar: The Last Airbender, Chris Williams for storyboarding on Glago's Guest, and Hans Zimmer and John Powell for the music in Kung Fu Panda. Keep in mind that these are just a few of the winners and that the complete list can be found on the Annie Awards web page.


Presenter, James Hong with his daughter, April
It wasn't just famous directors and animators milling behind the curtains of Royce Hall. More than a handful of volunteers worked tirelessly as they shepherded presenters, nominees, winners and guests seamlessly from seats to the wings to the stage to receive their awards.

The trophy assistants were constantly on point delivering to the next winner and headsets were humming up and down the halls on the heads of volunteers and stage crew. The fully catered and open bar before and after parties easily accommodated hundreds of people with live music, delicious food and an inviting atmosphere.


Presenters Crispin Freeman and Jennifer Taylor Lawrence
prepare backstage
But an event like this doesn't happen on its own. It takes months of planning and organization by the ASIFA-Hollywood board members and a few consulted coordinators. The current President of ASIFA-Hollywood, Antran Manoogian, is one of the few people responsible for making the Annie Awards the spectacle that it is at today. Come this November, he will have been President for twenty years, and a member of ASIFA-Hollywood for thirty.


Presenter Fred Willard has fun with the press
Antran's responsibilities to the Annies involve acting as executive producer of the event; which means overseeing rules, interfacing with staff and volunteers, working with the board of directors to put out the call for entrees and set up the judging, ballots and awards. In conversation, he had to admit that growing the Annies was no simple accomplishment. "I knew that when I started, I wanted it to be more, but ASIFA-Hollywood is a non-profit organization and run primarily on volunteer resources. Every year, we made it a little bit better." Slowly but surely, it has made the transformation into the highly respected event it is today, in great part due to his contributions.


ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Director, Stephen Worth
and ASIFA-Hollywood President, Antran Manoogian
visit with June Foray at the after party
This evolution of the awards is evident in the nomination process. Every year the categories for nomination are refined to extract the best quality of work possible. Also, it is not required that each award be offered. He made it clear that "the goal of the Annies is to honor excellence in animation, not merely the best of the batch." Nominating committees are instructed that they should pick only the nominees whom they feel should receive an award. "However many there may be, they should all be outstanding."


Ahmed Best receives the Annie for Voice Acting
in an Animated Television Program
The animation archive director and ASIFA-Hollywood board member Stephen Worth clarified that "the idea is that being nominated means the work is worthy enough to receive an award. From that point, it's up to the voting members of ASIFA-Hollywood to decide who their pick for the Annie will be."


Presenters Pat Fraley and Edie McClurg
The industry really seems to appreciate the level of quality that the awards maintain as well. We spent a lot of time inquiring how people receive the news that they have been nominated. Since this is the "Oscars of animation" do people treat it as such? Annette O'Neil, the assistant coordinator of the event had this to say:

"I've broken the news to many nominees over the years, and I never cease to be amazed at the thrill this recognition carries. The Annies story involves a long, rich history of groundbreaking artists and creators; folks are thrilled to be counted in that pantheon."


John Lasseter accepts his Winsor McCay Award
as presenter Billy Crystal looks on
After a long night of observing the animation industry, we were able to draw a few conclusions. ASIFA-Hollywood and the Annie Awards are defined by the people who participate in them. In contrast with the pomp and circumstance of most high profile awards shows, when animators get together to honor their own, it's more of a family affair. Professionals and fans alike are united in their passion for animation. It was a remarkable and inspiring experience to have been a part of it.


Producer Melissa Cobb and the crew of Kung Fu Panda
accepting the award for Best Animated Feature
Although the characters on-screen are familiar to everyone, the artists behind the scenes are not as well known as they should be. The ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards seek to shine a light on the incredible talents responsible for the animated films that we all love. It is clear that animated filmmakers posess a different sort of inspiration than many in the movie industry. For most of them, it's not about the fame and fortune, it's about the process of creation and the catharsis of completion. The Annie Awards are the recognition of a job well done.


Bill Plympton, whose film "Hot Dog" was nominated for
Best Short Subject draws a doodle for the press
All the nominees and winners should be proud of what they've accomplished, because the Annie Awards are truly the sincerest attempt by the animation community to honor excellence. And we couldn't be happier to be a part of it. Six months ago, we didn't know what we were signing up for when we joined ASIFA-Hollywood, but after tonight, for rags or riches, we believe in it. Thank you to everyone who organized the event, ASIFA-Hollywood members for supporting it, and the artists who give it a reason to exist. --Danny Young and Michael Woodside


Master of Ceremonies Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants kept the audience entertained throughout the evening
ASIFA-Hollywood would like to congratulate all of the winners and nominees. Special congratulations to ASIFA-Hollywood Secretary, Bill Turner, the recipient of this year's June Foray Award, and Kathy Turner, Mike Fontanelli, Alex Vassilev and Amir Avni the Certificate of Merit honorees who have contributed so generously to ASIFA-Hollywood's Archive and events.


See you next year at the 37th Annual Annie Awards!
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Annie Awards Invitation

The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood cordially invites you to attend the 36th Annual Annie Awards

Friday January 30, 2009
UCLA's Royce Hall
340 Royce Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Champagne Reception- 6 pm
Award Ceremony- 8 pm
Post Award Party following the Ceremony

Black Tie Optional
Hosted by Tom Kenny

General Admission Tickets- $25

Discount VIP Tickets for ASIFA-Hollywood, The Animation Guild, Visual Effects Society and Women in Animation Members- $150

Non Member VIP Ticket- $250

To order tickets or for further information, visit... www.annieawards.org
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Quick Note: Annie Awards and Bill Wray Exhibit

ANNIE AWARDS 2008

The nominees for the 2008 Annie Awards were announced yesterday. See the Annie Awards Website for the full list. Members of ASIFA-Hollywood will be voting on the winners soon. If you aren't a a member of ASIFA-Hollywood yet, you should be!


Bill Wray has an exhibit titled CA 99 at the Bakersfield Museum of Art running from December 11th through February 2009. It's worth the drive to check out. (via CartoonBrew)
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Mailbag: Nice Surprises From Our Friends

We received a couple of nice surprises in the mail in the last week...

A couple of weeks ago, John Canemaker was in town to receive his career achievement, Winsor McCay Award at this year's Annie Awards... Here's ASIFA-Hollywood board member Frank Gladstone presenting John with his award...


John has been a supporter of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive since we started. You might remember the article on Bill Tytla that he shared with us last year... (Bill Tytla Part One and Part Two) John stopped by the Archive on his latest trip to see in person what we were working on, and he followed up his visit with this kind note...


Thanks for the kind words, John!

Yesterday, a courier stopped by the Archive with a package for us from Ralph Bakshi. Ralph has also been following our progress at the Archive from his home in New Mexico. One of the first articles I wrote here was a Tribute to Ralph, illustrated with Bakshi phone doodles. Later, Ralph himself contributed a two part article addressing the kids in the trenches in the CGI world. (Bakshi on 2D vs 3D Part One and Part Two). Now he sends us a copy of his new book...


BUY THIS BOOK!
If all you know about Bakshi is his rotoscope pictures, you're in for a surprise. Ralph is one of the most innovative and wildly creative geniuses of recent times. His influence on animation is immense. On the back cover, Frank Frazetta is quoted as saying, "Ralph Bakshi is one of the finest artists I've ever met." He isn't exaggerating a bit. Take a look at this incredible stuff...






This book is packed with incredible pictures like this! Artwork by Frank Frazetta, John Kricfalusi, Barry Jackson, Louise Zingarelli, Michael Ploog, Ian Miller, Irv Spence, Robert Dranko, Mark Kausler and Ambi Paliwoda.

UNFILTERED: The Complete Ralph Bakshi isn't one of those "art books" with postage stamp sized pictures floating in oceans of tasteful white space or huge text blocks of psudo-scholarly blather that crowds out the images. It's just pictures, pictures and more pictures... along with just enough text to put them in context. The book is organized to show Ralph's career from his earliest days at Terry-Toons, to his groundbreaking features, to his revolutionary TV work, to his most recent fine art paintings. Even if you think you know all there is to know about Bakshi, this book will grab you by the lapels and shake you and show you things you've never seen the likes of before. Click through the link to pick up the Bakshi book at Amazon.

Ralph Bakshi is animation's greatest living artist and one of the most influential animators in the history of the medium. If you don't realize that yet, READ THIS ARTICLE.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Annies: 2007 Winsor McCay Award Winners

Congratulations to this year's honorees of the prestigious Winsor McCay career achievement Annie Award. Here are the bios and clip reels for the three Winsor McCay winners at the 35th annual Annie Awards, which were held recently at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus...


John Canemaker, John Kricfalusi,
Frank Gladstone (presenter), Glen Keane
JOHN CANEMAKER

John Canemaker is an animation historian, educator, lecturer, Academy award winning animator and the author of numerous books on animation. He is also a regular contributor of articles and essays on animation for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

His books are some of the most important and thoroughly researched in the field. They include The Animated Raggedy Ann & Andy (1977), Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (2001) and Winsor McCay: His Life and Art (1987) detailing one of the pioneers of animation in whose honor John is receiving this award.


John has taught at several colleges and universities, but is most closely associated with New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a full, tenured professor who became the program's executive director in 1988. John has been a featured commentator on many classic animation DVD releases, and has lectured at New York's Museum of Modern Art and many film and animation festivals around the world.


He commissioned work for television and feature film includes commercials, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Pee Wee's Playhouse, and The World According to Garp.

In 2006 John received the Academy Award for his autobiographical short film, The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation.

GLEN KEANE

At a very young age Glen Keane's interest in art was no mystery. Growing up with a cartoonist father, Bill Keane, the creator of Family Circus, Glen thought that every kid's father was a cartoonist.


Although Glen could have gone to Arizona State for football, he ended up being accepted into the California Institute for the Arts, where he was introduced to animation and the goal of becoming a Disney animator. After graduation, Glen studied at Disney under Ollie Johnston, one of the "Nine Old Men", with Ron Clements, Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Don Bluth and others.


After becoming an animator on The Rescuers, Pete's Dragon, The Fox and the Hound and The Great Mouse Detective. He took a break from Disney to work on The Chipmunk Adventure, and returned as a supervising animator for Sykes in Oliver & Company, Marahute in Rescuers Down Under, Beast in Beauty and the Beast, John Silver in Treasure Planet and the title characters of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas and Tarzan.

Glen's influence on Disney animation has been such that he has been referred to as one of the "Nine New Men". He is currently directing Disney's Rapuunzel, due for release in 2009.

JOHN KRICFALUSI:
An Appreciation By Eddie Fitzgerald

I'm merely stating the obvious when I say that John Kricfalusi's contribution to animation has been immense. He and Ralph Bakshi re-invigorated a dying TV animation industry with Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, which, together with Disney's Roger Rabbit, ushered in the 90's animation boom. The Ren & Stimpy Show was groundbreaking in every way, and is still massively influential. Flash animation was little more than a way to do banner ads before John got hold of it, and his blog, all kinds of stuff is a stunning teaching tool and oasis of thoughtful cartoon analysis. If I were to write about his drawing innovations, this essay would require a couple of hours to read. The man's amazing, what can I say?

Of course, John is best known as the creator of Ren & Stimpy, two of the most recognizable characters in all of modern animation. Fans talk about Ren & Stimpy being cute AND demented, and they are, but it took dozens of behind-the-scenes innovations to bring out those qualities. At the outset of that show, John upturned a cornucopia of new techniques onto the table. Layered on top of terrific voice work by John and Billy West were new ways of handling story, dialogue, character design, character animation, layouts, music, sound effects and color– even a new way of doing in-betweens. All this came out of John's belief that every stage in animation should be creative. I think if there had been a way to make emptying the trash creative, he would have found it.


It's funny to think that one of the industry's best artists is also one of its best writers. John's knack for dialogue is near legendary. At an autograph party on Melrose, fans wrapped around the block chanting Ren & Stimpy lines like, "You bloated sack of protoplasm!" and "I've had thees ice cream bar seence I was a child!" The man has a way with words. Maybe it's his affinity for exotic words like "interloper", "rapscallion", and "poltroon". Maybe it's the Baroque syntax in constructions like, "It is not I who am angry! It is I who am MAD!" It's cutting-edge, modern entertainment, yet it sounds like it was written by someone wearing pantaloons and a codpiece!

Just as impressive are John's hilarious, artist-friendly stories. How about this one from Naked Beach Frenzy:

An over-zealous, hairy David Hasselhoff-type lifeguard tries to save the beautiful babes on the beach from Ren, who he thinks is a sand crab. Between the lifeguard sequences, Ren & Stimpy serve as attendants in the ladies' shower, with Stimpy doubling as "SHAMPOO MASTER!"

That's it! That's the whole story! No politically-correct gang of skateboarding teens, no contest with the mayor handing out a trophy, no secondary character arcs with little Timmy learning about prejudice... Just funny gag situations, and plenty of 'em. If you've seen the film, then you know that gags, when they're done as well as John does them, can provide all the story momentum you need. Not only that, but they lend themselves to funny posing and funny acting.


And cartoon acting? The man is obsessed with cartoon acting! Maybe it's all those Warner Bros. cartoons and Honeymooners episodes he watches incessantly. John loves to set up a scene so that the performance carries it. Cartoonists who work for him quickly learn that the standard five expressions aren't enough. He expects unique, one-of-a-kind poses and expressions that are tailor-made to fit the dialogue. And did I mention that it has to be funny?

I'll close with a summary of what I think John is all about. It won't take long to write because it's fairly simple, viz., funny stories, drawn and acted in a funny way, and executed with skill and imagination. This simple formula changed the whole business and made a hatload of profit for the studios. I think John imagines his studio as a sort of haven for really talented class clowns. That, I am delighted to say, it has always been.

ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards
2007 Winsor McCay Award Winners
(Quicktime 7 / 21.25 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

For more info on the Annie Awards, see www.annieawards.org

I would like to post more of the ceremonies, but the material is in the Betacam format. If anyone has facilities to transfer from Betacam to DV Quicktime, please let me know.

Thanks!
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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35th Annual Annie Awards Winners and Nominees

Winners in bold. For more information, see www.annieawards.org.

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

Winner: Ratatouille - Pixar Animation Studios
Bee Movie - DreamWorks Animation
Persepolis - Sony Pictures Classics
Surf's Up - Sony Pictures Animation
The Simpsons Movie - Twentieth Century Fox

Best Home Entertainment Production

Winner: Futurama "Bender's Big Score" - The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Doctor Strange - MLG Productions

Best Animated Short Subject

Winner: Your Friend the Rat - Pixar Animation Studios
Everything Will Be OK - Bitter Films
How to Hook Up Your Home Theater - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Shorty McShorts' Shorts "Mascot Prep" - Walt Disney Television Animation
The Chestnut Tree - Picnic Pictures

Best Animated Television Commercial

Winner: Power Shares Escape Average - Acme Filmworks
CVS Watering Can - Acme Filmworks
Esurance "Homeowners" - Wild Brain
Idaho Lottery: Twister - Acme Filmworks
Oregon Lottery "Alaska" - Laika/house

Best Animated Television Production

Winner: Creature Comforts America - Aardman Animations
Jane and the Dragon - Weta Productions Limited & Nelvana Limited
Moral Orel - ShadowMachine
Robot Chicken Star Wars- ShadowMachine
Kim Possible - Walt Disney Television Animation

Best Animated Television Production for Children

Winner: El Tigre - Nickelodeon
Chowder - Cartoon Network Studios
Little Einsteins - Disney Channel
Peep and the Big Wide World - Discovery Kids
The Backyardigans - Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game

Winner: Ratatouille - THQ, Inc.
Avatar: The Last Airbender "The Burning Earth" - THQ, Inc.
Bee Movie Game - Activision
Transformers: The Game - Blur Studios

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects

Winner: Deborah Carlson - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation
Gary Bruins - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Ryan Laney - "Spider-Man 3" - Sony Pictures Imageworks
James Mansfield - "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater" - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Jon Reisch - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios

Animation Production Artist

Winner: John Clark - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation
Michael Isaak - "Bee Movie" - DreamWorks Animation
Hyun-Min Lee - "The Chestnut Tree" - Picnic Pictures
Natasha Liberman - "Growing Up Creepie "Creepie & The Candy Factory" - Taffy Entertainment LLC, Telegrael Teoranta, Discovery Communications Inc., SunWoo Entertainment, Peach Blossom Media
Jim Worthy - My Gym Partner's A Monkey "Meet the Spidermonkeys" - Cartoon Network Studios

Character Animation in a Feature Production

Winner: Michal Makarewicz - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Dave Hardin - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation
Alan Hawkins - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation

Character Animation in a Television Production

Winner: Eric Towner - Robot Chicken - ShadowMachine
Elizabeth Harvatine - Moral Orel "Nature 2" - ShadowMachine
Monica Kennedy - El Tigre - Nickelodeon

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Carter Goodrich - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Sylvain Deboissy - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation

Character Design in an Animated Television Production

Winner: Jorge R. Gutierrez - El Tigre "Fistful of Collars" - Nickelodeon

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Brad Bird "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Ash Brannon & Chris Buck "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation
Chris Miller & Raman Hui - "Shrek The Third" - DreamWorks Animation
Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi - "Persepolis" - Sony Pictures Classics
David Silverman - "The Simpsons Movie" - Twentieth Century Fox

Directing in an Animated Television Production

Winner: Seth Green "Robot Chicken Star Wars" - ShadowMachine
David Hartman - Tigger & Pooh "Turtles Need for Speed" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Raymie Muzquiz - Squirrel Boy "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral" - Cartoon Network Studios
Howy Parkins - The Emperor's New School "Emperor's New Musical" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Gary Trousdale "Shrek The Halls" - DreamWorks Animation

Music in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Michael Giacchino - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Olivier Bernet - "Persepolis" - Sony Pictures Classics
Danny Elfman, Rufus Wainwright & Rob Thomas - "Meet The Robinsons" - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Rupert Gregson-Williams - "Bee Movie" - DreamWorks Animation
Amy Powers, Russ DeSalvo & Jeff Danna - "Disney Princess Enchanted Tales" - DisneyToon Studios/Walt Disney Video/Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Music in an Animated Television Production

Winner: Alf Clausen & Michael Price - The Simpsons "Yokel Chords" - Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox
Evan Lurie, Robert Scull & Steven Bernstein - The Backyardigans "International Super Spy" - Nickelodeon
Drew Neumann & Gregory Hinde - Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure - Cartoon Network Studios
Shawn Patterson - El Tigre "Yellow Pantera" - Nickelodeon
James L. Venable & Jennifer Kes Remington - Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends "The Bloo Superdude and the Magic Potato Power" - Cartoon Network Studios

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Harley Jessup - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Doug Chiang - "Beowulf" - Paramount Pictures
Marcelo Vignali - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Ted Mathot - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Don Hall - ‘Meet The Robinsons' - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Denise Koyama - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation
Sean Song - "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" - IMAGI Animation Studios
Nassos Vakalis - "Bee Movie" - DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production

Wnner: Steve Fonti - Family Guy "No Chris Left Behind" - Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Ben Balistreri - Danny Phantom "Torrent of Terror" - Nickelodeon
Aldin Baroza - The Replacements "London Calling" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Dave Bennett - Tom and Jerry Tales - Warner Bros. Animation
Productions
Roy Meurin - My Friends Tigger and Pooh "Good Night to Pooh" - Walt Disney Television Animation

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Ian Holm - Voice of Skinner - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Janeane Garofalo - Voice of Collette - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Julie Kavner - Voice of Marge Simpson - "The Simpsons Movie" - Twentieth Century Fox
Patton Oswalt - Voice of Remy - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
Patrick Warburton - Voice of Ken - "Bee Movie" - DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production

Winner: Eartha Kitt - Voice of Yzma - The Emperor's New School "Emperor's New Musical" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Scott Adsit - Voice of Clay Puppington - "Moral Orel" - ShadowMachine
Madison Davenport - Voice of Sophianna - "Christmas is Here Again!" - Easy To Dream Entertainment
Tom Kenny - Voice of SpongeBob - SpongeBob SquarePants "Spy Buddies" - Nickelodeon
Eddie Murphy - Voice of Donkey - "Shrek The Halls" - DreamWorks Animation

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

Winner: Brad Bird - "Ratatouille" - Pixar Animation Studios
James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, George Meyer, David, Mirkin, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder & Jon Vitti - "The Simpsons Movie" - Twentieth Century Fox
Don Rhymer and Ash Brannon & Chris Buck & Christopher Jenkins - "Surf's Up" - Sony Pictures Animation
Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud - "Persepolis" - Sony Pictures Classics

Writing in an Animated Television Production

Winner: Ian Maxtone-Graham & Billy Kimball - The Simpsons "24 Minutes" - Gracie Films
C.H. Greenblatt & William Reiss - Chowder "Burple Nurples" - Cartoon Network Studios
Gene Grillo - Back at the Barnyard "Cowman and Ratboy" - Nickelodeon
Christopher Painter - Squirrel Boy "I Only Have Eye For You" - Cartoon Network Studios
Tom Sheppard - My Gym Partner's A Monkey "The Butt of the Jake" - Cartoon Network Studios


WINSOR McCAY AWARD WINNERS (career contributions to the art of animation)

John Canemaker
Glen Keane
John Kricfalusi

JUNE FORAY (significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation)

Jerry Beck

UB IWERKS (technical achievement)

Jonathan Gay, Gary Grossman and Robert Tatsumi - the creators of FLASH computer software

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT ANNIE AWARD

Edwin R. Leonard - promoting the Linux open system for animation in animation studios and gaming software development

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

Marcus Adams
Joseph Baptista
Steve Gattuso
Jon Reeves
Gemma Ross
Woodbury University


Eddie Fitzgerald at the Annie Awards
Cold Hard Flash Goes to the Annie Awards
Grand Masters Of Flash: An Interview With The Ub Iwerks Award Winners
Harvey Deneroff: Annie Awards Make History

If you have pictures, post them and EMAIL us a link and we will add it to this list.
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Meta: 2006 Annie Awards Photos

Here are some photos from this Sunday's Annie Awards... The shirt I'm wearing was made for me by my sister from material made in the early 30s. (Sorry there are so many of me! I wasn't the one holding the camera this time.) Many thanks to all the people who attended.


Me with my brother, Don and niece Sarah


Margaret Kerry Willcox, the rotoscope model for
Tinkerbell and voice actress from Clutch Cargo


Archive Sponsor Kevin Koch, President of the Animation Guild


Bill Frake, director/storyboard artist (Bill has some great
lecture notes from Disney he will be sharing with us soon.)


Marea and Jerry Beck, Archive Angels


Annette O'Neil, whose expertise
makes the Annies a success year after year


Andreas Deja, Winsor McCay Award recipient and Archive Angel


Kathy and Antran, two of the greatest people I know


The Annie Trophy Girls (the Annies are a lot of fun!)
UPDATE: ASIFA-Hollywood Volunteer, Jason Jones snapped some great pictures...


June Foray and me


Archive Volunteers: Marc Deckter, Michael Fallik and Eric Graf


Frank Gladstone and the Winsor McCay Award winners: Genndy Tartakovsky, Andreas Deja and Bill Plympton


John Lasseter and the Best Animated Feature Annie for "Cars"

If anyone out there has photos of the event, please email them to me with the names of the people in the picture at sworth@animationarchive.org

See also... List of 2006 Annie Award Winners, 2006 June Foray Award and Yet More Annie Photos

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Meta: 2006 Annie Award Winners

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

• Best Animated Feature: Cars - Pixar Animation Studios


• Best Home Entertainment Production: Bambi II - DisneyToon Studios


• Best Animated Short Subject: No Time For Nuts - Blue Sky Studios


• Best Animated Television Commercial: United Airlines "Dragon" - DUCK Studios


• Best Animated Television Production: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - Cartoon Network Studios


• Best Animated Video Game: Flushed Away The Game - D3 Publisher of America, Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

• Animated Effects: Scott Cegielski - "Flushed Away" - DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features


• Character Animation in a Feature Production: Gabe Hordos - "Flushed Away" - DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features


• Character Animation in a Television Production: Yu Jae Myung - Avatar "The Blind Bandit" - Nickelodeon


• Character Design in an Animated Feature Production: Nicolas Marlet - "Over The Hedge" - DreamWorks Animation


• Character Design in an Animated Television Production: Mike Kunkel - The Life & Times of Juniper Lee "Party Monsters" - Cartoon Network Studios


• Directing in an Animated Feature Production: Tim Johnson & Karey Kirkpatrick - "Over The Hedge" - DreamWorks Animation


• Directing in an Animated Television Production: Giancarlo Volpe - Avatar "The Drill" - Nickelodeon


• Music in an Animated Feature Production: Randy Newman - "Cars" - Pixar Animation Studios


• Music in an Animated Television Production: James L. Venable & Jennifer Kes Remington - Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends "One False Movie" - Cartoon Networks Studios


• Production Design in an Animated Feature Production: Pierre-Olivier Vincent - "Flushed Away" - DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features


• Production Design in an Animated Television Production: Martin Ansolabehere - Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends "Good Wilt Hunting" - Cartoon Network Studios


• Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production: Gary Graham "Over The Hedge" - DreamWorks Animation


• Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production: Li Hong - The X's "You Only Sneeze Twice" - Nickelodeon


• Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production: Ian McKellan - Voice of the Toad - "Flushed Away" - DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features


• Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production: Eartha Kitt - Voice of Yzma - The Emperor's New School "Kuzclone" - Walt Disney Television Animation


• Writing in an Animated Feature Production: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and Chris Lloyd & Joe Keenan and Will Davies - "Flushed Away" - DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features


• Writing in an Animated Television Production: Ian Maxtone-Graham - The Simpsons "The Seemingly Neverending Story" - Gracie Films

JURIED AWARDS

• June Foray Award - Significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation: Stephen Worth


• Winsor McCay Award - Recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animationL Bill Plympton, Genndy Tartakovsky, Andreas Deja


• Certificate of Merit: Bill Matthews, Michael Fallik, Marc Deckter, Eric Graf

For more info, see... www.annieawards.org and www.asifa-hollywood.org

See also... 2006 Annie Awards Photos and 2006 June Foray Award

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Meta: June Foray Award

Tonight was the 34th Annual Annie Awards. I was honored to receive the June Foray Award for a significant benevolent impact on the art of animation. The award was presented by the great lady herself, June Foray.

Here is the text of my acceptance speech...

In 1973, Eric Larson, one of Disney's Nine Old Men, announced to the studio that he was setting down his pencil for good. He saw the great accomplishments of his generation of animators slipping away, and knew that the art of animation needed his help. Instead of taking advantage of a well-deserved retirement like most of his peers, he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to training and developing young animators.

His story is kind of a cross between Noah's Ark and The Wise Little Hen. For the next fifteen years- during the dark ages of the 1970s, he set to work building the foundation for the recent wave of animation. He didn't get discouraged, he stuck with it until the end. He passed away in 1988. By then, his job was done. The torch had been passed.

Many of the people you see on this stage tonight owe their first break in the animation business to Larson's training program... Andreas Deja, Glen Keane, Brad Bird, John Lassiter... They all use the knowledge Larson generously passed on to them every single day of their career. Eric Larson may not be the first name you think of when you think of the Nine Old Men, but he's the one who ultimately had the greatest impact on the art of animation.

It's doubtful that we'll ever see the likes of Larson's training program again. No major animation studio is interested in devoting their resources to such a forward thinking idea like this. The artform is the same, the raw talent is still out there, but the business is very, very different. Today. if young artists want to grow and develop and hone their skills, they need to do it on their own.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is dedicated to following in Larson's footsteps, providing invaluable support to the animators of the future. Now, I'm no Eric Larson- I can't do it single-handedly the way he did. But I can facilitate gathering together the experience, knowledge and teamwork it'll take to take animation to the next level.

Ralph Bakshi once told me... "STEVIE! If you're able to make a living drawing cartoons, you're the luckiest guy in the world. You owe for that... You've gotta give back to the muse." Ralph is right. We owe it to the people who came before us, like Eric Larson and the hundreds and hundreds of other legendary animators who took time out of their busy schedules to give a green assistant a drawing lesson, or offer a few words of advice and encouragement to a student. I know I have a list a mile long of people who helped me when I was just starting out. I'm sure all of you do too.

ASIFA-Hollywood is giving all of us the opportunity to give back and build the foundation for the next wave of animation. We need your help. I want you to know I appreciate this honor. I can't think of an award I would rather have than the one with June Foray's name on it. She's at the top of my list.

Many thanks to the people at the event who offered words of encouragement. A special thanks to my hero and friend, June.

See also... List of 2006 Annie Award Winners and 2006 Annie Awards Photos

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Meta: The 34th Annual Annie Awards

This Sunday at the historic Alex Theater in Glendale, CA, The International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood will be hosting the 34th Annual Annie Awards.

The Annies recognizes excellence in animation from the past year, along with career achivement honors. This year's Winsor McCay Award winners are Andreas Deja, Bill Plympton and Genndy Tartakovsky. I'm proud to say that I was selected this year for the June Foray Award for benevolent service to the art of animation.

Click to see the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive's full page color ad in the Annie Awards program book,

For more information, see the Annie Awards Homepage. I'll have a report on the event for you on Tuesday.

Thank you
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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