In point, before the animation explosion of the past 10 years, animated feature production houses were easy to identify. There was the obvious giant, Disney, and a scant few others who were less active, such as Fox Animation Studios and Warner Bros. Animation. Today, Disney itself is represented by five entities in animated production: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, DisneyToon Studios, Disney Television Animation, and of course Pixar Animation Studios. Nearly every major studio either produces its own animated content or is aligned with a satellite studio which delivers said content. For example, Illumination Entertainment, a Santa Monica-based animation house, produces a slate of regular animated content for Universal Pictures.
Surely, the phenomenon has been multi-fold. Beginning with Oliver and Company in 1988 and expanding with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, Disney resurrected the animated feature for the widest possible audience. Nearly every Disney feature from the late-1980s through the mid-1990s was made for virtually any potential viewer of any age. Additionally, without question, the wild commercial success of the Pixar films, which have been regularly released since 1995, is chief in both their impact on the major studios each wanting their own regular pipeline of animated content, and in the manner in which computer-generated animation has largely taken over the industry. And, if not in entirely equal measure but certainly counted among the reasons for animation’s recent ascension is also the establishment of DreamWorks Animation as a full-fledged content delivery enterprise, one of DreamWorks sole thriving divisions after its 1994 founding.
Also representing the relatively nascent climb of animation into the ranks of key studio releases are houses which include Blue Sky Studios, Laika, Sony Pictures Animation and Nickelodeon. All have major distribution and prioritize projects in their pipeline for maximum potential. And surely enough, all were on hand for the Annies, first co-created in 1973 by longtime animation advocate and participant June Foray, who was honored with a special “Texas Avery Award” at the Feb. 2 ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Foray noted that back in the early 1970s, animation was widely disregarded, coming at a time after Walt Disney’s death and in a period where the major studios were in a state of disarray, with the old studio system having largely been broken up.
Understandably, Foray is delighted with where animation has landed in the early 21st century, and many of her colleagues seconded her sentiments. Among the gracious winners were the producer and director of Wreck-It Ralph, from Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was named best animated feature film, and Paperman, which was awarded best short film and is available as a free streaming video on sites including YouTube. Television was heavily represented and awarded as well, with a massive talent pool producing original content as has never before been seen in the nearly 60-year history of American TV.
Some of the more touching Annies moments came for special awards to longtime animation supporters, craftspeople and technical achievers. In the evening’s most heartfelt speech, Disney communications chief Howard Green received the aptly named June Foray Award. Green began work for Disney in 1976 in sales and eventually became a chief publicist, working on many projects at the studio over the years. Green oversees all publicity for Disney’s major film releases in what he humbly stated was a dream job. Former animator and now film director Terry Gilliam received a special award called the Windsor McCay for his years toiling as a Monty Python “cutout” animator and gave his acceptance speech via video in which he insisted that he had died as was portrayed in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1975. Current Disney animator Mark Henn received the same award for a lifetime of character animation, which he stated was his career goal when he was a young boy.
Many specific awards illuminated the animation process, including significant achievements in animation storyboarding, production design, character animation, both in animated films and live action films, visual effects and music. Most of these craftspeople might not receive Oscars for their work, but at the Annies, it was clear that these artists, who combine the aesthetic with the technical, are animation’s true stars.
Bringing the evening together was lifelong animation supporter, fan, critic, commentator and historian Leonard Maltin, who hosted the event. Maltin maintains a personal collection of treasured animation items and has continually sung the praises of the films and individuals in this field. Without saying the words, Maltin’s insinuations about this particular craft were that, inarguably, animation has finally arrived.
The 2012 Annie Award winners are:
Best Animated Feature
Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Animated Special Production
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem – Illumination Entertainment
Best Animated Short Subject
Paperman – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best General Audience Animated TV Production for Preschool Children
Bubble Guppies “A Tooth on the Looth” – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Best Animated Television Production For Children
Dragons: Riders of Berk “How to Pick Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Best General Audience Animated Television Production
Robot Chicken “DC Comics Special” – Stoopid Buddy Studios
Animated Video Game
Journey – Sony Computer Entertainment America
Best Student Film
Head Over Heels – Timothy Reckart
Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, David Lipton – Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Jerome Platteaux, John Sigurdson, Ryan Hopkins, Raul Essig, Mark Chataway The Avengers – Industrial Light & Magic
Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Dan Driscoll SpongeBob SquarePants: It’s a SpongeBob Christmas! – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Travis Knight ParaNorman – Focus Features
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Erik de Boer, Matt Shumway, Brian Wells, Vinayak Pawar, Michael Holzl Life of Pi – Tiger – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Robert Valley Disney Tron: Uprising: The Renegade, Part I – Disney TV Animation
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Heidi Smith ParaNorman – Focus Features
Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
John Eng Dragons: Riders of Berk: Animal House – DreamWorks Animation
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Rick Moore Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
John Paesano Dragons: Riders of Berk: How to Pick Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Henry Jackman Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Alberto Mielgo Tron: Uprising: The Stranger – Disney TV Animation
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Steve Pilcher Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Doug Lovelace Dragons: Riders of Berk: Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man – DreamWorks Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Johanne Matte Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines Gravity Falls: Tourist Trapped – Disney TV Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Alan Tudyk as King Candy Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Trey Parker – South Park: Jewpacabra – Central Productions
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee – Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Editorial in an Animated Television Production
Hugo Morales, Adam Arnold, Davrik Waeden, Otto Ferraye Kung Fu Panda – Enter the Dragon – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Nicholas A. Smith, ACE, Robert Graham Jones, ACE, David Suther Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Juried Awards
Winsor McCay Award – Oscar Grillo, Terry Gilliam, Mark Henn
June Foray – Howard Green
Ub Iwerks – Toon Boom Animation Pipeline
