Annie Award Nominations - A Real Race For Once 
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 11:20AM
Michael C. in Annie, Brave, Disney, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, Paranorman, Pixar, animated films, foreign films, precursor awards

Michael C here to see if the Annie Award nominations shed any light on this year’s rare neck and neck Oscar race for Best Animated film.

Frankenweenie captured critics and Annie noms. But not audiences. Will Oscar take to the (un)dead dog?

Animated Feature

Without a slam-dunk frontrunner draining the suspense out of the category for once it's worth sifting through the tea leaves looking for omens. Unfortunately the Annie's nominated everything so it doesn't clarify much. At least they had the good taste to leave out The Lorax, Madagascar 3 and Ice Age 25, which I believe takes place in the early 1970’s.

Lots more after the jump including predictions and celebrity voice acting.

I think the winner is a tossup between Wreck-It Ralph and ParaNorman with the edge going to Ralph, which would make it the first Disney Animation winner since Mulan in ’98. For both Annie and Oscar count me on Team Frankenweenie. All four frontrunners have their flaws but Frankenweenie was a gorgeous tribute to classic horror and the last twenty minutes were, no fooling, some of the most fun I had at the theater this year. 

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Johan Sfar & Antoine Delesvaux won the Cesar Award ('French Oscar') for Rabbi's Cat

This is why it’s so hard to take the Annies seriously. OK, so Brave wasn’t the usual Pixar masterpiece, but are we supposed to keep a straight face when it’s snubbed in favor of forgettable assembly line product like Hotel Transylvania? And say what you will about the Frankenweenie’s script – and it was pretty thin – but that film had more panache in any random shot than Transylvania had in its whole running time. I can’t speak with any authority about the foreign nominees but they look intriguing from their websites, and if the Oscar voters are bored by the mediocre big budget stuff they would make a fine fit for the fifth wild card slot.

Character Animation in a Feature Production

I wish they specified which character they were nominated for animating because whichever animator was the lead on Brave’s Queen Elinor after her transformation deserves the win here. That was some classic silent acting right there.

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production 

More ridiculousness. Brave’s Princess Merida was a character that actually got people talking about her memorable design and she is snubbed in favor of, what, Adam Sandler’s Dracula and the cookie cutter look of The Lorax’s characters? Give me a break.

Character Animation in a Live Action Production

Life of Pi’s Richard Parker takes this one in a walk, no? I assume, as a Motion Capture performance, Gollum was ineligible.

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

Oh, thank god. If they had left out Brave and Frankenweenie in this category I’d have given up completely. Still, the Annies nominate everything under the sun and they still manage to leave out the brilliant detail of Wreck-It Ralph's Sugar Rush scenes. But Hotel Transylvania had a non-descript castle or something, so, you know, never mind. 

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

What? No more love for Hotel Transylvania? I guess they don't recognize a good Frankenstein joke when they hear one. But seriously, take out Poppy Hill and these could be the five Oscar animation nominees. Don’t know who I’d support here since none of them had a standout screenplay. I’d give it to Wreck-It Ralph by a hair due to cleverness in a imagining its world even if the plot lapses into formula (I can hear Team ParaNorman screaming but I thought its plotting was muddled. For one thing, why was Agatha the story's villain when she was the victim? The film’s message was essentially for her to stop being a drama queen and get over being tortured and killed for no good reason. I say she has a right to be pissed off.)

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Imelda Staunton voiced evil animal-hating Queen Victoria in "Pirates: Band of Misfits"

I’m going to ignore Sandler and say that this is a solid lineup, even though I'd have liked to see Martin Landau's hilarious Frankenweenie performance included.. The correct answer for the win is, of course, Alan Tudyk’s wicked tribute to Ed Wynn as King Candy.

Animated Short Subject

The beautifully realized Paperman has to be considered the favorite here, but where is Don Hertzfeldt's awe-inspiring It's Such a Beautiful Day? Paperman is sweet and lovely to look at, but Hertzfeldt's film is like Tree of Life boiled down to a 25 minute short that is at once hilarious and so beautiful you just want to cry. 

 

The rest of the nominees:

Animated Special Production

Animated Television Commercial -- no nominations

General Audience Animated TV Production For Preschool Children

Animated Television Production For Children

General Audience Animated Television Production

Animated Video Game

Student Film

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production

Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Music in an Animated Feature Production

Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Editorial in an Animated Television Production

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award – Oscar Grillo, Terry Gilliam, Mark Henn

June Foray – Howard Green

Ub Iwerks - Toon Boom Animation Pipeline

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
See website for complete article licensing information.