The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has released its list of nominees for the 2003 Children’s Film and Television Awards. Among the animated entries, The Nickelodeon/Paramount feature The Wild Thornberrys Movie and the Collingwood O’Hare Ent/HIT Ent./CiTV series Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! received the most nominations with two each. The winners will be announced at the ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 30. The awards are presented in association with the LEGO Company.
In the animation category, Albie from Cosgrove Hall Films,Granada Int’l, CiTV and producer Francis Vose goes up against Bob the Builder Special: A Christmas To Remember from HOT Animation for HIT Ent./BBC and producers Jackie Cockle and Sarah Ball; Bounty Hamster from Silver Fox Films, Peafur Prods. CiTV and producers Helen Cohen and Graham Ralph; and Pongwiffy from Telemagination, CiTV and producers Marion Edwards and Alan Simpson.
Nominees in the Pre-School Animation category are: Boo! from Tell-Tale Productions, BBC2 and producers Will Brenton, Iain Lauchlan and Mark Taylor; Hilltop Hospital from Siriol Prods., CiTV and producers Pascal L’Notre and Robin Lyons; Tiny Planets from Pepper’s Ghost Prods., CiTV and producers Richard Morss, Alistair Mcllwain and Paul Michael; and Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! from Collingwood O’Hare Ent., HIT Ent., CiTV and producers Christopher O’Hare, Tony Collingwood and Andrea Tran.
Turning to feature films, producers Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo, along with directors Jeff McGrath and Cathy Malkasian, find their The Wild Thornberrys Movie in competition with two of the year’s biggest EFX flicks. The Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount Movies/United International Pictures U.K. production will take on Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, New Line’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as well as Icon Film Distribution’s critical darling Whale Rider.
The team of Collingwood O’Hare Ent., HIT Ent. and CiTV pick up their second nod for Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! in the Writer category, where Tony Collingwood is up against fellow scribes Mary Morris for The Story of Tracy Beaker (CBBC/BBC1), Carol Noble for Girls in Love (Granada Kids/CiTV) and Alex Williams for Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight in the Land (Alibi Productions/CiTV)
In the International category, the WGBH Educational Foundation/Cinar Prods. Inc/BBC2 animated series Arthur (producers Lesley Taylor, Pierre Valette and Greg Bailey) finds itself amid live action competitors 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter (Disney/Touchstone Television/Disney Channel U.K.), That’s So Raven (Disney Channel U.S./Brookwell-McNamara Ent/Disney Channel U.K.) and Don’t Blame the Koalas (Southern Star/Five).
Young viewers voted for the top ten films in the LEGO/BAFTA Kids Vote. Disney leads the pack as its Jungle Book 2, Lilo and Stitch, The Santa Clause 2 and Treasure Planet take on Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Universal’s Hulk, New Line’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Sony Pictures’ Men in Black II, Paramount’s The Wild Thornberrys and Twentieth Century Fox’s X2: X-Men United.
