History
In 1972, June Foray first conceived the idea of awards for excellence in the field of animation. With the approval of ASIFA-Hollywood president Nick Bosustow, an Annie Award ceremony was organized. The first ceremony was held at the banquet room of Sportsmen's Lodge in Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, Los Angeles, California. Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer were the first to be honored by the first Annie Awards for creating Betty Boop, bringing Popeye, and Olive Oyl to the animated screen, and for inventing the technique of rotoscoping.Naming "Annie Awards"
According to Foray, her husband Hobart Donavan suggested that the awards be called "Annie", because they are presented for excellence in animation.Trophy
The first trophy for the Annie Award trophy was presented in the second award ceremony, to Walter Lantz, the founder of Walter Lantz Productions and creator of Woody Woodpecker. Made of wood and plastic, it was shaped like a zoetrope. The next year, Tom Woodward designed the trophy now presented.Award categories
Current categories
As of 2022, 37 categories are presented including for film and television productions. Production * Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Feature * Annie Award for Best Animated Feature – Independent, Best Animated Feature — Independent * Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production, Best Animated Special Production * Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject, Best Animated Short Subject * Annie Award for Best Animated Television Commercial, Best Animated Sponsored Production * Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated Television Production, Best General Audience Animated Television Production * Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production for Children, Best TV Production for Children * Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production for Preschool, Best TV Production for Preschool Children * Annie Award for Best Student Film, Best Student Film * Best TV/Media – Limited Series Individual achievement in Film * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production, Outstanding Animated Effects * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production, Outstanding Character Animation - Animation * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production, Outstanding Character Animation - Live Action * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a Feature Production, Outstanding Character Design * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Directing in a Feature Production, Outstanding Directing * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in a Feature Production, Outstanding Editorial * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production, Outstanding Music * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Production Design * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production, Outstanding Storyboarding * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in a Feature Production, Outstanding Voice Acting * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in a Feature Production, Outstanding Writing Individual achievement in Television, Broadcast and Video Game * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Animated Effects * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Character Animation - TV/Media * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Video Game, Outstanding Character Animation - Video Game * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Character Design * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Directing * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Editorial * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Music * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Production Design * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Storyboarding * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Voice Acting * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Outstanding Writing Juried awards * June Foray Award * Ub Iwerks Award * Winsor McCay Award * Special Achievement in Animation * Certificates of MeritDefunct categories
* Annie Award for Best Animated Home Entertainment Production, Best Animated Home Entertainment Production * Best Virtual Reality Production * Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production, Outstanding Animated Effects - Live ActionBalloting controversies and criticism
2008 Best Short Subject mixup
In 2008, the Annie Award nominees for Best Short Subject included two Walt Disney cartoons, a Pixar short, and two independent films: Picnic Pictures' ''The Chestnut Tree'', and Don Hertzfeldt's short ''Everything Will Be OK''. Official rules for the Annie Awards state that voting members must view all nominated achievements in their entirety before casting their ballot for a winner. Members are directed to view the nominated films on a secure website. When the online ballot launched on January 15, the two independent films were not included for voters to judge. ASIFA acknowledged this error over a week later, at which point all the votes were reportedly thrown out and the balloting system was reset. Voters were instructed to return and re-vote the category. "The Chestnut Tree" was now uploaded properly to the ballot; however, ''Everything Will Be OK'' was again not included: this time, the online ballot only played a portion of this film's 17-minute running time to voters, abruptly cutting out in the middle of a scene. ASIFA again took several days to repair the ballot, but this time allowed voting to continue. By the time the ballot officially closed on February 1, ''Everything Will Be OK'' was only available to voters for less than 24 hours of the entire 18-day voting period. Even though ASIFA apologized to Hertzfeldt, they took no further action and carried on with the event, awarding the prize to the Pixar short, ''Your Friend the Rat''. (Hertzfeldt would eventually win the award for his 2015 Oscar-nominated short film ''World of Tomorrow (film), World of Tomorrow''.)''Kung Fu Panda'' upset and Disney boycott
In 2009, DreamWorks Animation's ''Kung Fu Panda (film), Kung Fu Panda'' swept the Annie Awards in a surprise upset over Pixar's ''WALL-E'', which won no Annie Awards but did go on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Many felt that the vote had been rigged: DreamWorks at the time gave each of their employees a free membership to ASIFA-Hollywood, which in turn conferred voting rights. (For most film awards, voting rights cannot be bought but must be conferred by one's peers.) As a result, Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios decided to cease submissions and support for the 2010 Annie Awards from their two animated film divisions, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. Due to Disney's complaints, ASIFA-Hollywood changed the rules on voting for individual achievement categories, making those categories only available to professionals within those categories. ASIFA-Hollywood head Antran Manoogian also said that Annie voters would in the future have to be approved by a committee and non-professionals would now be ineligible to vote. That was not enough for Disney president Ed Catmull, who had called for an advisory committee of relevant executives representing each studio to recommend rule changes to the ASIFA board. Catmull said, "We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board. Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns." ASIFA-Hollywood did not agree to this demand. Disney and Pixar rejoined the Annie Awards in 2011, with no formal announcement. Ironically, earlier that year, the Annie Awards had a near-exact replay of the 2009 results, with Dreamworks Animation's ''How to Train Your Dragon (film), How to Train Your Dragon'' sweeping all the major Annie Awards over Pixar's ''Toy Story 3'', which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and also received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture.Notable nominations
Film
The following nominees (motion pictures and direct-to-video films) received multiple nominations: The following winners (motion pictures and direct-to-video films) received multiple awards:TV
The following nominees (TV shows, specials, and special presentations) received multiple wins and nominations: The following winners (TV shows, specials, and special presentations) received multiple awards:See also
* List of animation awards * List of Annie Awards ceremonies * International Animated Film AssociationReferences
External links