5 Things To Watch For At The Annie Awards

The animation community will gather for the International Animated Film Society’s 39th annual Annie Awards, Saturday evening at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. The Hollywood Reporter will be reporting on the activities.

Here are some things to watch:

Oscar Contenders Figure Prominently In the Annie Race

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 leads the pack with 12 nods, while DWA’s Puss in Boots and Paramount’s Rango took nine nominations each. All three are in the race for an Academy Award for best animated feature. The nominees for the Annie for best animated film include all five best animated feature Oscar nominees—Panda, Puss in Boots, Rango, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita—as well as ?Arrugas (Wrinkles), Arthur Christmas, Cars 2, ?Rio and The Adventures of Tintin.

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Gary Oldman Is Nominated For An Annie

This time, his nomination is not for his performance as George Smiley in Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, but for voice acting as the villain Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2. In the category for voice acting in a feature production, Oldman is nominated along with Ashley Jensen as Bryony in Arthur Christmas, Bill Nighy as Grandsanta in Arthur Christmas, James Hong as Mr. Ping in Kung Fu Panda 2, Jemaine Clement as Nigel in Rio, Jim Cummings as Featherstone in Gnomeo & Juliet, and Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Alexander Dumpty in Puss in Boots.

We Might Learn What ASIFA Members Thing About Performance Capture

The Adventures of Tintin didn’t receive an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature, surprising many and raising questions about the definitions of performance capture and animation. Tintin is nominated for five Annies, including best animated film. 

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Annies Salute The Editors

New this year, the Annies have added editing award categories—for both feature editing and television editing. Members of American Cinema Editors, the Editors Guild, DWA and Sony Pictures Animation met with ASIFA board members earlier this year, highlighting the contribution of the editor and helping to bring these categories to the competition.

Disney And Pixar Are Back

A year ago, the Disney/Pixar camp boycotted the Annies over its voting procedures. Revisions have been made to the system, and Disney and Pixar are back this year as Silver sponsors.