Annie Awards
The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally designed to celebrate lifetime or career contributions to animation, the award has been given to individual works since 1992.
Membership in ASIFA-Hollywood is divided into three main categories: General Member, Patron, and Student Member. Members in each category pay a fee to belong to the branch. Selected professional members of the branch are permitted to vote to decide the awards.
The 47th Annie Awards ceremony took place on January 25, 2020, on the campus of UCLA.
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
Production- Best Animated Feature
- Best Animated Feature — Independent
- Best Animated Home Entertainment Production
- Best General Audience Animated Television Production
- Best TV Production for Children
- Best TV Production for Preschool Children
- Best Animated Short Subject
- Best Animated Television Commercial
- Best Animated Special Production
- Best Virtual Reality Production
- Best Student Film
- Outstanding Animated Effects - Animation
- Outstanding Animated Effects - Live Action
- Outstanding Character Animation - Animation
- Outstanding Character Animation - Live Action
- Outstanding Character Design
- Outstanding Directing
- Outstanding Music
- Outstanding Production Design
- Outstanding Storyboarding
- Outstanding Voice Acting
- Outstanding Writing
- Outstanding Editorial
- Outstanding Animated Effects
- Outstanding Character Animation
- Outstanding Character Design
- Outstanding Directing
- Outstanding Music
- Outstanding Production Design
- Outstanding Storyboarding
- Outstanding Voice Acting
- Outstanding Writing
- Outstanding Editorial
- June Foray Award
- Ub Iwerks Award
- Winsor McCay Award
- Special Achievement in Animation
- Certificates of Merit
Balloting controversies and criticism
2008
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 Don Hertzfeldt, they took no further action and carried on with the event, awarding the prize to the Pixar short Your Friend the Rat.
Notable nominations
Film
The following nominees received multiple nominations:| Nominations | Film |
| 16 | The Incredibles |
| 16 | Kung Fu Panda |
| 16 | ' |
| 15 | How to Train Your Dragon |
| 15 | The Iron Giant |
| 14 | Inside Out |
| 13 | Coco |
| 13 | The Boxtrolls |
| 13 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame |
| 13 | Ratatouille |
| 12 | Finding Nemo |
| 12 | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 12 | Mulan |
| 12 | Shrek |
| 11 | The Emperor's New Groove |
| 11 | Tarzan |
| 11 | Zootopia |
| 11 | Incredibles 2 |
| 10 | Brave |
| 10 | Coraline |
| 10 | Frozen |
| 10 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 |
| 10 | Kubo and the Two Strings |
| 10 | Lilo & Stitch |
| 10 | Monsters University |
| 10 | Rise of the Guardians |
| 10 | Surf's Up |
| 10 | The Breadwinner |
| 10 | The Good Dinosaur |
| 10 | Ralph Breaks the Internet |
| 10 | Wreck-It Ralph |
| 9 | - |
| 9 | Anastasia |
| 9 | Cars |
| 9 | Madagascar |
| 9 | Puss in Boots |
| 9 | Rango |
| 9 | Toy Story |
| 9 | Toy Story 2 |
| 9 | Up |
| 8 | Brother Bear |
| 8 | Cats Don't Dance |
| 8 | Flushed Away |
| 8 | Frozen II |
| 8 | Hotel Transylvania |
| 8 | Missing Link |
| 8 | Monsters, Inc. |
| 8 | Over the Hedge |
| 8 | ParaNorman |
| 8 | The Princess and the Frog |
| 8 | Rio |
| 8 | The Road to El Dorado |
| 8 | ' |
| 8 | Winnie the Pooh |
| 7 | Big Hero 6 |
| 7 | Cars 2 |
| 7 | Despicable Me |
| 7 | Early Man |
| 7 | Ice Age |
| 7 | Klaus |
| 7 | Minions |
| 7 | Pocahontas |
| 7 | Song of the Sea |
| 7 | ' |
| 7 | Shark Tale |
| 7 | Shrek 2 |
| 7 | Treasure Planet |
| 7 | WALL-E |
| 6 | Hercules |
| 6 | Arthur Christmas |
| 6 | ' |
| 6 | The Boss Baby |
| 6 | Ernest & Celestine |
| 6 | ' |
| 6 | I Lost My Body |
| 6 | The Lion King |
| 6 | Megamind |
| 6 | Moana |
| 6 | Monster House |
| 6 | Osmosis Jones |
| 6 | The Lego Movie |
| 6 | Toy Story 4 |
| 5 | Anomalisa |
| 5 | ' |
| 5 | ' |
| 5 | Bolt |
| 5 | The Book of Life |
| 5 | Dinosaur |
| 5 | Fantasia 2000 |
| 5 | Frankenweenie |
| 5 | A Goofy Movie |
| 5 | Horton Hears a Who! |
| 5 | The Jungle Book 2 |
| 5 | The Illusionist |
| 5 | Mary Poppins Returns |
| 5 | The Peanuts Movie |
| 5 | The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! |
| 5 | The Prince of Egypt |
| 5 | The Red Turtle |
| 5 | Shaun the Sheep Movie |
| 5 | Shrek Forever After |
| 4 | Abominable |
| 4 | Isle of Dogs |
| 4 | Kung Fu Panda 3 |
| 4 | Space Jam |
| 4 | ' |
| 4 | The Grinch |
| 4 | Spirited Away |
| 4 | Weathering With You |
| 3 | The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... |
| 3 | ' |
| 3 | Despicable Me 3 |
| 3 | |
| 3 | The Lego Batman Movie |
| 3 | ' |
| 3 | Toy Story 3 |
The following winners received multiple awards:
| Awards | Film |
| 11 | Coco |
| 10 | How to Train Your Dragon |
| 10 | The Incredibles |
| 10 | Inside Out |
| 10 | Kung Fu Panda |
| 10 | Mulan |
| 10 | ' |
| 9 | Finding Nemo |
| 9 | The Iron Giant |
| 9 | Ratatouille |
| 8 | Shrek |
| 8 | Toy Story |
| 7 | Klaus |
| 7 | ' |
| 7 | Toy Story 2 |
| 6 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 |
| 6 | Zootopia |
| 5 | Flushed Away |
| 5 | Frozen |
| 5 | Wreck-It Ralph |
| 4 | Hercules |
| 4 | Pocahontas |
| 4 | Rango |
| 4 | ' |
| 4 | Spirited Away |
| 3 | Coraline |
| 3 | The Emperor's New Groove |
| 3 | Fantasia 2000 |
| 3 | I Lost My Body |
| 3 | Kubo and the Two Strings |
| 3 | The Lion King |
| 3 | Over the Hedge |
| 3 | The Princess and the Frog |
TV
The following nominees received multiple wins and nominations:| Nominations | Film |
| The Simpsons | |
| 34 | Mickey Mouse |
| 24 | The Fairly OddParents |
| 24 | King of the Hill |
| Futurama | |
| Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends | |
| ' | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | |
| 14 | ' |
| 14 | Gravity Falls |
| 12 | Adventure Time |
| 12 | Dexter's Laboratory |
| 12 | The Penguins of Madagascar |
| 11 | My Life as a Teenage Robot |
| 11 | Family Guy |
| 11 | ' |
| 11 | ' |
| 10 | Batman Beyond |
| 10 | Pinky and the Brain |
| 10 | Samurai Jack |
| 10 | Trollhunters |
| 9 | Animaniacs |
| 9 | The Powerpuff Girls |
| 9 | Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure |
| 8 | Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five |
| 8 | Prep & Landing |
| 7 | ' |
| 7 | ' |
| 7 | Invader ZIM |
| 7 | Kim Possible |
| 7 | The Mighty B! |
| 6 | Chowder |
| 6 | Cow and Chicken |
| 6 | ' |
| 6 | Johnny Bravo |
| 6 | Merry Madagascar |
| 6 | The Amazing World of Gumball |
| 6 | The Ren & Stimpy Show |
| 6 | Timon & Pumbaa |
| 5 | ' |
| 5 | The Angry Beavers |
| 5 | Danny Phantom |
| 5 | Gargoyles |
| 5 | Great Minds Think For Themselves |
| 5 | The Legend of Korra |
| 5 | Max Steel |
| 5 | Mickey Mouse Works |
| 5 | Scared Shrekless |
| 5 | Steven Universe |
| 5 | ' |
| 5 | The Tick |
| 5 | Time Squad |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | - |
The following winners received multiple awards:
| Awards | Film |
| 30 | The Simpsons |
| 21 | Mickey Mouse |
| 9 | Futurama |
| 6 | Samurai Jack |
| 6 | SpongeBob SquarePants |
| 5 | ' |
| 5 | Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends |
| 5 | Kung Fu Panda Holiday |
| 5 | Pinky and the Brain |
| 4 | ' |
| 4 | The Fairly OddParents |
| 4 | King of the Hill |
| 4 | Love, Death & Robots |
| 4 | The Penguins of Madagascar |
| 4 | ' |
| 4 | Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five |
| 4 | Trollhunters |
| 3 | Batman Beyond |
| 3 | Bojack Horseman |
| 3 | Cow and Chicken |
| 3 | |
| 3 | Family Guy |