This year Pixar has some tough competition at the 36th Annual Annie Awards with an unprecedented 17 nominations for Kung Fu Panda, 8 for WALL•E, and 5 for Bolt. Note some of the Kung Fu Panda nominations are repeats in the same category. The top prize will be given to one of the following five animated features (each very deserving): Bolt, Kung Fu Panda, $9.99, WALL•E or Waltz with Bashir.
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Here are the noms for WALL•E:
Best Animated Feature (Pixar Animation Studios)
Best Animated Video Game (THQ)
Animated Effects (Enrique Vila)
Character Animation in a Feature Production (Victor Navone)
Directing in an Animated Feature Production (Andrew Stanton)
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production (Ralph Eggleston)
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production (Ronnie Del Carmen)
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production (Ben Burtt)
Presto also got a nom:
Best Animated Short Subject (Pixar Animation Studios)
That brings the awards total to 9 nominations for Pixar. Remember, just because WALL•E didn’t get as many nominations doesn’t mean our favorite little robot won’t come out on top…
Check out the full list of nominees at the official Annie Awards website. The winners will be announced January 30th, 2009. Congratulations to everyone at Pixar and good luck!
P.S. This year John Lasseter took home the Winsor McKay award along with Mike Judge and Nick Park "for career contributions to the art of animation."
Last modified: December 1, 2008
This is ridiculous. No nomination for Thomas Newman for his wonderful score? No nomination for Andrew Stanton for his terrific screenplay?
And 17 nods for Kung Fu Panda? More than twice the amount Wall-E has?
The ASIFA has made itself ridiculous. There are no words to describe this travesty.
Yeah, considering that WALL-E is considered the front runner for Best Original Score at the Oscars, it’s kind of bizarre that Thomas Newman wasn’t even nominated (unless there was some kind of “technical” issue that disqualified the score, analogous to the disqualification of the brilliant score for “The Dark Knight” at the Oscars).
Honestly, though, I had a feeling that WALL-E wasn’t going to get nominated in too many categories at the Annies, since it’s not your typical animated movie with lots of dialogue, and plenty of characters (when I say “characters”, I mean the lead and supporting characters, not the background characters, which WALL-E obviously had plenty of). The fact that it had a small cast made it less likely to get multiple nods for Best Voice Acting AND Character Animation, like Kung Fu Panda did. Also, the fact that it had little dialogue was probably why it wasn’t nominated for its writing, which is kind of sad, since writing doesn’t always equate with dialogue (WALL-E is, in fact, considered a strong contender for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar).
In any case, it’s always about quality, not quantity, and I would consider it a very big upset if WALL-E loses (don’t get me wrong, I loved Kung Fu Panda, but it’s certainly not as enthralling as WALL-E, which I consider a masterpiece).
‘Kung Fu Panda’ has many awards because of multiples in categories. And yes, I too have no idea why Thomas Newman was not nominated… Although, I must admit, the other contenders are strong ones – I love John Powell’s music, and Hans Zimmer’s music. I am actually surprised that John Powell didn’t get a third nomination for ‘Bolt’!
…Just checked… John Powell is there a third time, but not for ‘Bolt’. His third is in ‘Animated Short Form’ for ‘Secrets Of The Furious Five’.
WALL-E gets another 2 nominations for Grammy Awards: soundtrack and song. That’s how bogus the Annie Awards are, not recognize Thomas and his wonderful score.