We all know how last year turned out at the Annie Awards, but let’s start with a blank slate as 2009 nominations are announced.
Up is a strong contender this year with 9 individual nominations in 8 different categories including Best Animated Feature. When it comes to the Annies, I can see why Up might have appealed more than WALL•E considering the former’s more "cartoon-y" style.
Also in the running for top honors are Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, and The Secret of Kells. Seems to me like we’ll be seeing the identical Best Animated Feature list (sans one) during the Oscars. It’s worth noting that Pixar’s Bill Reeves will be presented the Ub Iwerks award for developing particle simulation at the upcoming ceremony. Partly Cloudy, Dug’s Special Mission and the Cars Toons were sadly absent.
Leading the pack this year is Laika’s Coraline with 10 nominations followed closely by Up and The Princess and the Frog. As a studio, Walt Disney Animation received 17 nominations (including Prep & Landing) and as a company, Disney received 26 — leading by a landslide! Can anyone say Disney domination?
Here’s the full list of nominees from Pixar:
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best Animated Effects: Eric Froemling for Up
Best Character Animation: Daniel Nguyen for Up
Best Character Design: Daniel Lopez-Munoz for Up
Best Directing Feature Production: Pete Docter for Up
Best Music Feature Production: Michael Giacchino for Up
Best Storyboarding Feature Production: Ronnie del Carmen for Up
Best Storyboarding Feature Production: Peter Sohn for Up
Best Writing Feature Production: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, and Tom McCarthy for Up
Congratulations to the talented team at Pixar and everyone who was nominated! Check out all of the (really!) deserving nominations for this year’s Annie Awards presented by ASIFA Hollywood here. Winners will be announced February 6th, 2010.
Last modified: December 1, 2009
Lopez-Munoz FTW!
How can Ricky Nierva not have been nominated for his production design of Up? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s the best looking film, live action or animation, of the year. And Peter Sohn’s short film Partly Cloudy didn’t get a nomination.
No Partly Cloudy is really starting to take its toll. I was a little shocked by it initially, but now I’m just sad… ah well. At least Up is doing well so far. 🙂 But no Mary and Max? No Ponyo?? Bizarre…
—Leirin
No Mary and Max – I don’t know if it was submitted for consideration… Ponyo has two, but not best feature, which I don’t mind that much.
Pete Sohn does have a nomination for Up, but in the same category as Ronnie del Carmen – storyboarding.
These should be interesting.
While I did find ‘Partly Cloudy’ to be cute, I have to say it felt kind of weak to me for some reason.
Though it’s hard for me to decide which I want to win more: Up or Coraline. Both are my two favorite animated features of the year. Both really offset the general idea of an animated feature, and do things many wouldn’t expect.
Daniel Nguyen!! That was his name. Thanks! I couldn’t remember it for the life of me. Heh.
My dad was one of those who voted for the best animators in the “Best Character Animation” category, so my sister and I, who were allowed to tag along, got to see the work of a few of the nominees ahead of time. No doubt it was rather difficult for the voters to round out the top favorites, as pretty much every entry featured was of the highest quality. It’s kind of neat to see which animators got picked in the end!
Thanks for the report, martini!