With 15 nominations, DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon dominated the noms for the 38th annual Annie Awards, announced Monday by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood.
It will contend in the best animated feature category against Universal/Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me, Disney’s Tangled, Sony Pictures Classics’ The Illusionist and Pixar’s Toy Story 3.
But while the top awards were spread around the major animation studios, the larger tally pointed to an ongoing controversy that has surrounded the organization.
Earlier this year, Disney and Pixar announced they would no longer participate in the annual awards because of their concerns over how the event is judged.
Anyone who buys a membership in the organization is eligible to vote, and Disney contends that has favored DreamWorks in recent years.
Two years ago, questions surrounding the voting became particularly loud when DWA’s Kung Fu Panda swept the Annies feature categories, winning 10 trophies and shutting out Pixar’s Wall-E, which went on to win the Oscar for best animated feature. Last year, though, Pixar’s Up won the top Annie.
This year, the noms for Pixar’s critically-applauded Toy Story lagged behind those for DreamWorks movies.
In addition to Dragon’s 15 noms, DWA’s Megamind earned six noms and Shrek Forever After picked up five.
Toy Story, considered to be the frontrunner in the Oscar best animated feature race, received three noms, while Disney’s Tangled collected two.
Other films that figured in the voting included Despicable Me, which racked up seven noms, and The Illusionist, which took home five.
This year the competition between leading animated movies is particularly heated since no more than three animated movies can receive Oscar nominations for the best animated feature this year, since only 15 films were accepted for Academy Awards consideration. A minimum of 16 films would need to be in the Oscar race for five films to earn nominations.
The Annie Awards will be presented Feb. 5 at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles.
2010 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY
PRODUCTION CATEGORIES
Best Animated Feature
Despicable Me – Illumination Entertainment
How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation
Tangled – Disney
The Illusionist – Django Films
Toy Story 3 – Disney/Pixar
Best Animated Short Subject
Coyote Falls – Warner Bros. Animation
Day & Night – Pixar
Enrique Wrecks the World – House of Chai
The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger – Plymptoons Studio
The Renter – Jason Carpenter
Best Animated Television Commercial
Children’s Medical Center – DUCK Studios
Frito Lay Dips “And Then There Was Salsa” – LAIKA/house
‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Winter Olympic Interstitial “Speed Skating” – DreamWorks Animation
McDonald’s “Spaceman Stu” – DUCK Studios
Pop Secret “When Harry Met Sally” – Nathan Love
Best Animated Television Production
Futurama – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Kung Fu Panda Holiday – DreamWorks Animation
Scared Shrekless – DreamWorks Animation
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Arc Troopers†– Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.
The Simpsons – Gracie Films
Best Animated Television Production for Children
Adventure Time – Cartoon Network Studios
Cloudbread – GIMC
Fanboy & Chum Chum – Nickelodeon, Frederator
Regular Show – Cartoon Network Studios
SpongeBob SquarePants – Nickelodeon
Best Animated Video Game
Heavy Rain – Quantic Dream
Kirby’s Epic Yarn – Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory
Limbo – Playdead
Shank – Klei Entertainment Inc.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Andrew Young Kim “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
Jason Mayer “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Brett Miller “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Sebastian Quessy “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
Kryzstof Rost “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Television Production
Nicolas A. Chauvelot “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation
Savelon Forrest “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III” – ShadowMachine
Elizabeth Havetine “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III” – ShadowMachine
David Pate “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
Nideep Varghese “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Mark Donald “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
Anthony Hodgson “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
Gabe Hordos “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Jakob Hjort Jensen “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
David Torres “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Quentin Miles – Clash of the Titans
Ryan Page – Alice in Wonderland
Character Design in a Television Production
Andy Bialk “The Ricky Gervais Show” – W!LDBRAIN Entertainment
Stephan DeStefano “Sym-Bionic Titan” – Cartoon Network
Ernie Gilbert “T.U.F.F. Puppy” – Nickelodeon
Gordon Hammond “T.U.F.F. Puppy” – Nickelodeon
Steve Lam “Fanboy & Chum Chum” – Nickelodeon, Frederator
Character Design in a Feature Production
Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
Carter Goodrich “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
Timothy Lamb “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
Nico Marlet “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Directing in a Television Production
Bob Anderson “The Simpsons” – Gracie Films
Peter Chung “Firebreather” – Cartoon Network Studios
Duke Johnson “Frankenhole: Humanitas” – ShadowMachine
Tim Johnson “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
Gary Trousdale “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation
Directing in a Feature Production
Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
Pierre Coffin “Despicable Me†– Illumination Entertainment
Mamoru Hosoda “Summer Wars†– Madhouse/Funimation
Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois “How To Train Your Dragon†– DreamWorks Animation
Lee Unkrich “Toy Story 3†– Disney/Pixar
Music in a Television Production
J. Walter Hawkes “The Wonder Pets!” – Nickelodeon Production & Little Airplane Productions
Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer and John Powell “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
Tim Long, Alf Clausen, Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement “The Simpsons: Elementary School Musical” – Gracie Films
Shawn Patterson “Robot Chicken’s DP Christmas Special” – ShadowMachine
Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker “SpongeBob SquarePants” – Nickelodeon
Music in a Feature Production
Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
David Hirschfelder “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
John Powell “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Harry Gregson Williams “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
Pharrell Williams, Heitor Pereira “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
Production Design in a Television Production
Alan Bodner “Neighbors From Hell” – 20th Century Fox Television
Barry Jackson “Firebreather” – Cartoon Network Studios
Pete Oswald “Doubtsourcing” – Badmash Animation Studios
Richie Sacilioc “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
Scott Wills “Sym-Bionic Titan” – Cartoon Network Studios
Production Design in a Feature Production
Yarrow Cheney “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
Eric Guillon “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
Dan Hee Ryu “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
Pierre Olivier Vincent “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Peter Zaslav “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
Storyboarding in a Television Production
Sean Bishop “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation
Fred Gonzales “T.U.F.F. Puppy” – Nickelodeon
Tom Owens “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
Dave Thomas “Fairly OddParents” – Nickelodeon
Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Alessandro Carloni “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Paul Fisher “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
Tom Owens “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Catherine Yuh Rader “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in a Television Production
Jeff Bennett as The Necronomicon “Fanboy & Chum Chum” – Nickelodeon & Frederator
Corey Burton as Baron Papanoida “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Cartoon Network
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Cartoon Network
Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown “The Cleveland Show” – Fox Television Animation
James Hong as Mr. Ping “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
[b]Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Jay Baruchel as Hiccup “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Gerard Butler as Stoick “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation[/b]
Steve Carrell as Gru “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
Cameron Diaz as Fiona “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
Geoffrey Rush as Ezylryb “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
Writing in a Television Production
Daniel Arkin “Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Heroes on Both Sides” – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
Jon Colton Barry & Piero Piluso “Phineas & Ferb: Nerds of a Feather” – Disney Channel
Geoff Johns, Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III” – ShadowMachine
Billy Kimball & Ian Maxtone-Graham “The Simpsons: Stealing First Base” – Gracie Films
Michael Rowe “Futurama” – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Writing in a Feature Production
Michael Arndt “Toy Story 3†– Disney/Pixar
Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist†– Django Films
William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders “How to Train Your Dragon†– DreamWorks Animation
Dan Fogelman “Tangled†– Disney
Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons “Megamind†– DreamWorks Animation
JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award – Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening
June Foray – Ross Iwamoto.
Ub Iwerks Award – Autodesk
Special Achievement – “Waking Sleeping Beautyâ€