(Source: www.thestar.com)
DreamWorks Animation SKG had a banner year for Annie nominations, garnering 17 nods for Flushed Away and Over the Hedge. The Annies honour the best in film, television and home animation.
In an ironic twist, Flushed Away is the top nominated draw for DreamWorks, with nine nods for directing (David Bowers and Sam Fell), writing, and a voice acting nomination for Sir Ian McKellen who portrayed the villainous Toad. Spiralling costs ($149 million) and battles between DreamWorks and co-producer Aardman Animation doomed Flushed Away at the box office.
Tied with Flushed Away for most nominations is Disney/Pixar's Cars, John Lasseter's ode to the American highway. That movie earned nods for Best Feature Film, Best Score (for composer Randy Newman) and Best Director for Lasseter (Toy Story), who became Chief Creative Officer at Disney earlier this year.
Taking third place with eight nominations is DreamWorks' Over the Hedge. The CG animated movie about a gang of wisecracking animals dealing with suburban sprawl got nods for Best Feature Film, and a voice acting nomination for Wanda Sykes, who portrayed Stella the skunk.
Other nominations for Best Feature Film include include Warner Bros' Happy Feet, Sony's Monster House and Open Season.
The 34th Annual Annie Awards will be handed out on February 11th in Glendale. These awards are an important indication of who will win on Oscar night. The Best Animated Feature Film winner has always gone on to claim Oscar glory ever since AMPAS created the animated category.
UPDATE: Here's the complete list of nominees, taken from the Annie Awards website:
Best Animated Feature
Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
Happy Feet – Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Kennedy Miller Production in association with Animal Logic Film
Monster House – Columbia Pictures Presents an ImageMovers/Amblin Production
Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures
Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
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 Short Subject
Adventure Time – Nickelodeon
Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot – Thunderbean Animation
No Time For Nuts – Blue Sky Studios
Weird Al Yankovic “Don’t Download This Song” – Acme Filmworks
Best Animated Television Commercial
Candy Factory – Ka-chew!/Screen Novelties
ESPN “Believe” – Laika/house
Hilton “Dancing Couple” – Acme Filmworks
St. Louis Zoo “Giraffe” – Z Animation
United Airlines “Dragon” – DUCK Studios
Best Animated Television Production
Charlie and Lola – Tiger Aspect Productions
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends – Cartoon Network Studios
King of the Hill – Twentieth Century Fox TV
The Fairly OddParents – Nickelodeon
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! – Film Roman, a Starz Media Co. 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.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
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 Feature Production
David Bowers & Sam Fell – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features
Tim Johnson & Karey Kirkpatrick – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation
Gil Kenan – Monster House – Columbia Pictures ImageMovers/Amblin Entertainment
John Lasseter – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
Carlos Saldanha – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios
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 Drill” – Nickelodeon
Music in an Animated Feature Production
John Debney – The Ant Bully – Warner Bros. Pictures Presents in Association with Legendary Pictures, a Playtone Production in Association with 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 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, a Starz Media Co.
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, a Starz Media Co.
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Voice of Zee – Monster House – Columbia Pictures ImageMovers/Amblin Entertainment
Sam Lerner – Voice of Chowder – Monster House – Columbia Pictures ImageMovers/Amblin Entertainment
Spencer Locke – Voice of Jenny – Monster House – Columbia Pictures ImageMovers/Amblin Entertainment
Ian McKellen – Voice of 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 Productions
Russi Taylor – Voice of Ferny – Jakers! “Mi Galeon” – Mike Young Productions
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 Presents an ImageMovers/Amblin Entertainment
Dan Fogelman – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios
George Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris & Warren Coleman – Happy Feet – Warner Bros. Pictures Presents in Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, A Kennedy Miller Production in Association with 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
