Annie Awards

Whew! This is a busy day...the Annie Award Nominations were released, helping us clear up some questions about one of the more intriguing races this year, especially with the potential for 5 nominees. However, don't look too closely into them. They excluded Ponyo from the top category and completely shafted Mary and Max, two contenders. Also, last year Kung Fu Panda swept the awards, not Wall-E. It does however give a boost to The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Princess and the Frog, who I think have a shot at upseting Up, if anyone does.

Best Animated Feature

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Directing in a Feature Production

Wes Anderson — Fantastic Mr. Fox
Pete Docter — Up
Christopher Miller, Phil Lord — Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Hayao Miyazaki — Ponyo
Henry Selick — Coraline

Writing in a Feature Production

Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy – Up
Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers – Astro Boy
Christopher Miller and Phil Lord – Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Animated Effects

Scott Cegielski — Monsters vs. Aliens
Alexander Feigin — 9
Eric Froemling — Up
Tom Kluyskens — Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
James Mansfield — The Princess and the Frog

Character Animation in a Feature Production

Andreas Deja — The Princess and the Frog
Eric Goldberg — The Princess and the Frog
Travis Knight — Coraline
Daniel Nguyen — Up
Bruce Smith — The Princess and the Frog

Character Design in a Feature Production

Daniel Lopez Munoz — Up
Shane Prigmore — Coraline
Shannon Tindle — Coraline

Music in a Feature Production

Bruno Coulais — Coraline
Michael Giacchino –Up
Joe Hisaishi — Ponyo
John Powell — Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Production Design in a Feature Production

Christopher Appelhans — Coraline
Ian Gooding — The Princess and the Frog
Tadahiro Uesugi — Coraline
Christopher Vacher — 9

Storyboarding in a Feature Production

Sharon Bridgeman — Astro Boy
Chris Butler — Coraline
Ronnie Del Carmen — Up
Tom Owens — Monsters vs. Aliens
Peter Sohn — Up

Voice Acting in a Feature Production

Jen Cody – Voice of Charlotte – The Princess and the Frog
Dawn French – Voice of Miss Forcible – Coraline
Hugh Laurie – Voice of Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. – Monsters vs. Aliens
John Leguizamo – Voice of Sid – Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur
Jennifer Lewis – Voice of Mama Odie – The Princess and the Frog