Disney/Pixar’s Cars took the inside track this morning when ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominations for the 2006 Annie Awards, taking place Sunday, Feb. 11, at the Alex Theater in Glendale, Calif. John Lasseter’s tale of talking automobiles is in the running for nine awards, including Best Animated Feature. DreamWorks/Aardman’s Flushed Away and DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge also made out well, garnering eight nominations each, including voice acting nods for Ian McKellan and Wanda Sykes, respectively.
In addition to Cars, the Best Animated Feature race will be run by Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet, DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge, Sony Pictures’ Open Season and Columbia Pictures’ Monster House. The year’s top-grossing toon, Fox Animation’s Ice Age: The Meltdown, was shut out, though members of its crew were singled out in various individual achievement categories, including Animated Effects (John David Thornton), Character Design (Peter DeSeve), Storyboarding (William H. Frake III) and Music (John Powell).
Ice Age: The Meltdown also earned a directing nomination for Carlos Saldanha. Also up for the award are John Lasseter for Cars, Gil Kenan for Monster House, Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick for Over the Hedge and David Bowers and Sam Fell for Flushed Away.
The short list for Best Animated Short Subject includes Nickelodeon’s Adventure Time, Thunderbean Animation’s Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot, Blue Sky Studios’ No Time For Nuts and Acme Filmworks’ Weird Al Yankovic Don`t Download This Song (animated by Bill Plympton). Obvious omissions include DreamWorks First Flight, which opened for Over the Hedge in many theaters, and Disney’s The Little Match Girl, directed by Roger Allers (Open Season, The Lion King).
Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends proved popular in the television categories. The toon series from Craig McCracken is nominated for Best Animated Television production, along with Charlie and Lola from Tiger Aspect Productions, King of the Hill from 20th Century Fox Television, The Fairly OddParents from Nickelodeon and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! from Starz Media’s Film Roman.
One of the biggest surprises is the selection of nominees for the Winsor McKay Award for lifetime or career contributions to animation. Whereas previous Annie ceremonies feted such stalwart luminaries as Fred Crippen, Virginia Davis, Arnold Stang, Gene Deitch and Floyd Norman, this year sees more contemporary contributors singled out for their work. Independent animation guru Bill Plympton (Hair High, Mutant Aliens), former Cartoon Network toon wunderkind Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars) and veteran Disney animator Andreas Deja (The Lion King, Aladdin) will all be honored with the award.
Other nominees include:
Best Home Entertainment Production
Bambi II – DisneyToon Studios
The Adventures of Brer Rabbit – Universal Animation Studios
Winnie the Pooh: Shapes & Sizes – DisneyToon Studios
Best Animated Television Commercial
Candy Factory – Kachen/Screen Novelties
ESPN Believe – Laika/house
Hilton Dancing Couple – Acme Filmworks
St. Louis Zoo Giraffe – Z Animation
United Airlines Dragon – DUCK Studios
Best Animated Video Game
Flushed Away The Game – D3 Publisher of America, Inc.
Monster House – THQ, Inc.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab – THQ, Inc.
Animated Effects
Scott Cegielski – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features
Keith Klohn – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
David Stephens – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures
Erdem Taylan – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
John David Thornton – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Line Andersen – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features
Carlos Baena – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
Gabe Hordos – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features
Bobby Podesta – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
Kristof Serrand – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Television Production
Joshua Jennings – Moral Orel – ShadowMachine Films
Eileen Kohlhepp – Family Guy – Fox TV
Sihanouk Mariona – Robot Chicken – ShadowMachine Films
Yu Jae Myung – Avatar The Blind Bandit – Nickelodeon
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Peter DeSeve – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios
Carter Goodrich – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures
Nicolas Marlet – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
Character Design in an Animated Television Production
Ben Balistreri – Danny Phantom ‘King Tuck’- Nickelodeon
Mike Kunkel – The Life & Times of Juniper Lee ‘Party Monsters’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Carlos Ramos – The X’s ‘Homebody’ – Nickelodeon
Eric Robles – The X’s ‘You Only Sneeze Twice’ – Nickelodeon
Directing in an Animated Television Production
Shaun Cashman – The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy ‘Hill Billy’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Craig McCracken – Foster `s Home for Imaginary Friends ‘Bus the Two of Us’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Guy Vasilovich – Growing Up Creepie ‘The Tell-Tale Poem’ – Mike Young Productions
Giancarlo Volpe ‘ Avatar: The Last Airbender ‘The Drill’ – Nickelodeon
Music in an Animated Feature Production
John Debney – The Ant Bully – Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures/ Playtone/DNA Productions
Gordon Goodwin – Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation
Laura Karpman – A Monkey’s Tale – Dedica Group
Randy Newman – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
John Powell – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios
Music in an Animated Television Production
Brad Benedict, Mark Fontana & Erik Godal – Squirrel Boy ‘A Line in the Sandwich’ – Cartoon Network Studios
John King – Shorty McShorts’ Shorts Boyz on Da Run Part 1 – Walt Disney Television Animation
Steve Marston – Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks ‘The Gift’ – Mike Young Productions
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
William Cone – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
Andy Harkness – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures
Michael Humphries – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures
Paul Shardlow – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
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
Alan Bodner – The Life and Times of Juniper Lee ‘Water We Fighting For’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Bob Boyle – Wow! Wow! Wubbzy ‘Tale of Tails’ – Film Roman
Dan Krall – My Gym Partner’s a Monkey ‘Grub Drive’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Sue Mondt – Camp Lazlo ‘Hard Days Samson’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Thom Enriquez – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
William H. Frake III – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios
Gary Graham – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
Kris Pearn – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures
Simon Wells – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production
Troy Adomitis – American Dragon: Jake Long ‘Breakout’ – Walt Disney Television Animation
Ben Balistreri – Danny Phantom ‘Urban Jungle’ – Nickelodeon
Li Hong – The X’s ‘You Only Sneeze Twice’ – Nickelodeon
Shaut Nigoghossian – Danny Phantom ‘Reality Trip’ – Nickelodeon
Adam Van Wyk – Hellboy Sword of Storms – Film Roman
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Maggie Gyllenhaal -voice of Zee – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.
Sam Lerner – voice of Chowder – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.
Spencer Locke – voice of Jenny – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.
Ian McKellan – voice of the Toad – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation/ Aardman Features
Wanda Sykes – voice of Stella – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Keith Ferguson – voice of Blooregard ‘ Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends ‘Squeeze the Day’ – Cartoon Network Studios
Eartha Kitt – voice of Yzma – The Emperor’s New School ‘Kuzclone’ – Walt Disney Television Animation
Mila Kunis – voice of Meg Griffin – Family Guy ‘Barely Legal’ – Fuzzy Door Prods.
Russi Taylor – voice of Ferny – Jakers! ‘Mi Galeon’ – Mike Young Prods.
Patrick Warburton – Voice of Kronk – The Emperor’s New School ‘Kuzclone’ – Walt Disney Television Animation
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Rich Burns – Brother Bear 2 – DisneyToon Studios
Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and Chris Lloyd & Joe Keenan and Will Davies – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation/Aardman Features
Dan Harman, Rob Schrab & Pamela Pettler – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.
Dan Fogelman – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
George Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris & Warren Coleman – Happy Feet – Warner Bros./Village Roadshow Pictures/Kennedy Miller/Animal Logic Film
Writing in an Animated Television Production
Kirker Butler – Family Guy ‘Barely Legal’ – Fuzzy Door Productions
Ian Maxtone-Graham – The Simpsons ‘The Seemingly Neverending Story’ – Gracie Films
Tom Sheppard – My Gym Partner’s a Monkey Nice Moustache – Cartoon Network Studios
Dan Veber – American Dad ‘American Dad Afterschool Special’ – Fuzzy Door Productions/Underdog Productions
John Viener – Family Guy ‘The Griffin Family History’ – Fuzzy Door Productions
Juried Awards
June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation.
Stephen Worth
Certificate of Merit
Bill Matthews
Michael Phallic
Mark Deckter
Eric Graff
