The nominations for the International Animated Film Society Awards (better known as the Annie Awards), one of the main specialised animation awards, have been announced. Kung Fu Panda has, astonishingly, claimed more nominations than the mighty Pixar – Panda has some sixteen nominations in total while Wall-E has seven (both will also be contending for the Animation statue at the Oscars next year).Among the categories are:
Best Animated Feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
$9.99
Wall•E
Waltz With Bashir
(one of the nightmarish dream sequences from Waltz With Bashir, as naked soldiers come to life in the sea and struggle ashore into a war torn city)
Best Animated Home Entertainment Production
Batman: Gotham Knight
Christmas Is Here Again
Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
Justice League: The New Frontier
The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning
Best Animated Short Subject
Glago’s Guest
Hot Dog
Presto
Sebastian’s Voodoo
Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Animated Television Production
King of the Hill
Moral Orel
Phineas and Ferb
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II
The Simpsons
Much as I enjoyed Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E (the latter a wonderful example of damned good animation used to bring a mute character to life) I have to say it would be interesting to see a non blockbusting, family-friendly animated movie winning the Best Feature for a change and I’d cast my vote for Waltz With Bashir as a good use of the medium to explore memories, nightmares and war in a way a live action documentary could never have done. But I expect that it will in all likelihood go to Panda or Wall-E, both of which were terrific, but Bashir is more unusual and challenging.
(a still from Hot Dog, by and (c) Bill Plympton; a clip is available on his site)
I’m also disappointed to see another of my favourite animated movies of 2008, Angels and Idiots by the brilliant Bill Plympton not making the list and, I notice, neither did the horror anthology Peur(s) du Noir (see here for reviews of both). Plympton’s Hot Dog, which accompanied screenings of Angels and Idiots, is nominated in the Short Subject category though, I see. I wonder if the lack of Idiots and Angels and Peur(s) du Noir in the big category is due to them not receiving wide enough releases this year (I caught both at the Edinburgh Film Festival) or a bias towards mainstream, major studio offerings? Or perhaps a combination of both of those factors – or am I just seeing a bias where none actually exists (after all Waltz With Bashir did get nominated)? Still, I’m pleased to see the new Wallace and Gromit in there too (although since it doesn’t air until Christmas on the BBC it might be a little surprising). In the Winsor McCay special category (picked by a jury) Mike Judge, Nick Park and John Lasseter are all named. The full list of the rest of the categories and nominations can be found on the official site; the awards are announced on Friday January 30th. (via the BBC)
Wed, Dec 3, 2008
Art and animation, Film, TV and radio