ASIFA-Hollywood
ASIFA-Hollywood, an American non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA" (the International Animated Film Association). Its purpose is to ...
, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in
animation
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
shown in
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
* ...
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 (for professionals), Patron (for enthusiasts of animation), 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 48th and
49th Annie Awards
The 49th ceremony of the Annie Awards, honoring excellence in the field of animation for the year of 2021, was held on March 12, 2022, at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California as a virtual event. The n ...
ceremonies were held virtually on April 16, 2021, and March 12, 2022, respectively, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
History
In 1972,
June Foray
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney ...
first conceived the idea of awards for excellence in the field of animation. With the approval of
ASIFA-Hollywood
ASIFA-Hollywood, an American non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA" (the International Animated Film Association). Its purpose is to ...
president Nick Bosustow, an Annie Award ceremony was organized. The first ceremony was held at the banquet room of
Sportsmen's Lodge
The Sportsmen's Lodge is a hotel located on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, Los Angeles, California. Operating under various names (including "Hollywood Trout Farms") since the 1880s, the Sportsmen's Lodge is a San Fernando Valley landmark and r ...
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he becam ...
and Dave Fleischer were the first to be honored by the first Annie Awards for creating
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleisch ...
, bringing
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Olive Oyl to the animated screen, and for inventing the technique of
rotoscoping
Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced o ...
.
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
Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Biography
Early years and start in animation
Lantz wa ...
, 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
*
Best Animated Feature
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
June Foray Award The June Foray Award is a juried award given to individuals in recognition of a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation. The award is given by the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood ...
*
Ub Iwerks
Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentious ...
Award
*
Winsor McCay Award
The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, profession ...
* Special Achievement in Animation
* Certificates of Merit
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
Don Hertzfeldt (born August 1, 1976) is an American animator, writer, and independent filmmaker. He is a two-time Academy Award nominee who is best known for the animated films '' It's Such a Beautiful Day'', the '' World of Tomorrow'' series, a ...
's short ''
Everything Will Be OK
''Everything Will Be OK'' is a 2006 animated absurdist black comedy short film by Don Hertzfeldt. It is the first chapter of a three-part story about a man named Bill. Hertzfeldt released the second film in the series, titled '' I Am So Proud ...
''. 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
''Everything Will Be OK'' is a 2006 animated absurdist black comedy short film by Don Hertzfeldt. It is the first chapter of a three-part story about a man named Bill. Hertzfeldt released the second film in the series, titled '' I Am So Proud ...
'' 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
''Everything Will Be OK'' is a 2006 animated absurdist black comedy short film by Don Hertzfeldt. It is the first chapter of a three-part story about a man named Bill. Hertzfeldt released the second film in the series, titled '' I Am So Proud ...
'' 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
''Your Friend the Rat'' is a 2007 American computer animated short film by Pixar. The special takes on the form of an educational film and stars rats Remy and Emile, the main protagonists of ''Ratatouille'', who argue for the reconciliation of hum ...
''. (Hertzfeldt would eventually win the award for his 2015 Oscar-nominated short film '' World of Tomorrow''.)
WALL-E
''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pr ...
'', which won no Annie Awards but did go on to win the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...
. 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 decided to cease submissions and support for the 2010 Annie Awards from their two animated film divisions,
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...
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'' 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
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...
.
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
This list of animation awards is an index of articles about notable awards for animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are draw ...
*
List of Annie Awards ceremonies
This is a list of Annie Awards ceremonies, the date of the ceremony, the year in film they were honoring, their hosts, and the Best Animated Feature.
Venues
The venues for the Annie Awards ceremonies have been:
*1972: Sportsmen's Lodge, Studi ...