Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Wreck-It Ralph took top honors as the Best Animated Feature at the 40th annual Annie Awards on Saturday at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The film also saw Rich Moore earn Best Directing honors in an Animated Feature Production, Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee recognized for Best Writing, and Alan Tudyk singled out for Best Voice Acting.
Often a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Annie Awards–presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, a professional organization dedicated to promoting the art of animation and celebrating those who create it–honor overall excellence in 30 categories ranging from best feature, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting.
One category, though, came up empty this year as there were no nominations for Best Animated Television Commercial.
Recognized for Best Animated Television Production for Children as well as Best Direction, Best Storyboarding and Best Music in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production was Dragons: Riders of Berk “How to Pick Your Dragon” (DreamWorks Animation); director was John Eng.
Among the other notable winners were ParaNorman (LAIKA/Focus Features) for Best Character Animation as well as Best Character Design in a Feature Production; Life of Pi for Character Animation (Rhythm+Hues) in a Live-Action Production for the Tiger character; and Paperman (Walt Disney Animation Studios) for Best Animated Short Subject.
Here’s a full rundown of 2012 Annie Award winners:
PRODUCTION CATEGORIES
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 Animated Television Commercial
NO NOMINATIONS
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
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
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’ – LAIKA/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’ – LAIKA/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
Rich 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, Skrillex, Adam Young, Matthew Thiessen, Jamie Houston, Yasushi Akimoto ‘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, Davrick Waeden, Otto Ferraye ‘Kung Fu Panda – Enter the Dragon’ – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Nicholas C. Smith, A.C.E, Robert Grahamjones, A.C.E., David Suther ‘Brave’ – Pixar Animation Studios
JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award – Oscar Grillo, Terry Gilliam, Mark Henn
June Foray Award – Howard Green
Ub Iwerks Award – Toon Boom Animation Pipeline
