Disney withdrew from the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood back in 2010 and even before then it was hard to put much stock in the Annie Awards. Now it’s just sort of a blip on the overall award season radar that manages headlines twice a year, once for their nominees and again for their winners, which this year will be announced on Saturday, February 2, 2013.
That said, the org announced their 2013 nominees this morning and their Best Feature Film list was made up of eight nominees (a large list considering the lack of quality animated films I’ve seen this year) including Brave, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, ParaNorman, Rise of the Guardians, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, The Rabbi’s Cat and Wreck-It Ralph. It is nice not to see something like The Lorax among that list, but I still think this was a year in which the field could have easily been limited to five nominees.
I have included the complete list of Feature Film nominees below as well as the Best Animated Short Film nominees in which Disney’s fantastic Paperman is included as well as the quite funny Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare.
Best Animated Feature
- Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
- Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animations
- The Rabbi’s Cat – GKIDS
- Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Best Animated Short Subject
- Brad and Gary – Illumination Entertainment
- Bydlo – National Film Board of Canada
- Eyes on the Stars – StoryCorps
- Goodnight Mr. Foot – Sony Pictures Animation
- Kali the Little Vampire – National Film Board of Canada
- Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV
- Paperman – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- The Simpsons – Bill Plympton Couch Gag’ – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV
Animated Effects in an Animated Production
- Andrew Nawrot, Joe Gorski, Grant Laker – ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Andrew Schneider Ice Age: Continental Drift – Blue Sky Studios
- Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, David Lipton – Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Bill Watral, Chris Chapman, Dave Hale, Keith Klohn, Michael K. O’Brien Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- Brett Albert – Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Jihyun Yoon – Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – DreamWorks Animation
- Joel Aron – Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
- Jerome Platteaux, John Sigurdson, Ryan Hopkins, Raul Essig, Mark Chataway The Avengers – Industrial Light & Magic
- Stephen Marshall, Joseph Pepper, Dustin Wicke The Amazing Spider-Man – Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation
- Sue Rowe, Simon Stanley-Clamp, Artemis Oikonomopoulou, Holger Voss, Nikki Makar, Catherine Elvidge John Carter – Cinesite
- Willi Geiger, Rick Hankins, Florent Andorra, Florian Witzel, Aron Bonar Battleship – Industrial Light & Magic
Character Animation in a Feature Production
- Dan Nguyen Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- David Pate Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Jaime Landes Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- Phillppe LeBrun Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Pierre Perifel Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Travis Hathaway Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- Travis Knight “ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Will Becher The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animations
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
- Erik de Boer, Amanda Dague, Matt Brown, Mary Lynn Machado, Aaron Grey Life of Pi – Orangutan – Rhythm & Hues Studio
- Erik de Boer, Matt Shumway, Brian Wells, Vinayak Pawar, Michael Holzl Life of Pi – Tiger – Rhythm & Hues Studio
- Jakub Pistecky, Maia Kayser, Scott Benzu, Steve King, Kiran Bhat The Avengers – Industrial Light & Magic
- Mike Beaulieu, Roger Vizard, Atushi Sato, Jackie Kochler, Derek Esparza, Richard Smith, Mac Tyrie – Columbia Pictures – The Amazing Spider-Man –
- Sony Pictures Animation
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
- Bill Schwab, Lorelay Bove, Cory Loftis, Minkyu Lee Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Carlos Grangel Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Carter Goodrich Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Craig Kellman Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – DreamWorks Animation
- Heidi Smith ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon, Colin Stimpson Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – Illumination Entertainment
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
- Genndy Tartakovsky Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Johan Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux The Rabbi’s Cat – GKIDS
- Remi Bezancon, Jean-Christophe Lie Zarafa – GKIDS
- Rick Moore Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Sam Fell, Chris Butler ParaNorman – Focus Features
Music in an Animated Feature Production
- Alexandre Desplat Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Bruce Retief Adventures in Zambezia – Saltzman Communications
- Henry Jackman Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Joel McNeely, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda Secret of the Wings – DisneyToon Studios
- John Powell, Adam Schlesinger, Ester Dean Ice Age: Continental Drift – Blue Sky Studios
- John Powell, Cinco Paul Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – Illumination Entertainment
- Mark Mothersbaugh Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex Mandel Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
- Kendal Cronkhite-Shaindlin, Shannon Jeffries, Lindsey Olivares, Kenard Pak Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – DreamWorks Animation
- Marcello Vignali Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Nash Dunnigan, Arden Chen, Jon Townley, Kyle McNaughton Ice Age: Continental Drift – Blue Sky Studios
- Nelson Lowry, Ross Stewart, Pete Oswald, Ean McNamara, Trevor Dalmer ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Norman Garwood, Matt Berry The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animation
- Patrick Hanenberger, Max Boas, Jayee Borcar, Woonyoung Jung, Perry Maple, Peter Maynez, Stan Seo, Felix Yoon Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Rick Heintzich Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
- Steve Pilcher Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
- Emmanuela Cozzi ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Johanne Matte Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Leo Matsuda Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Lissa Treiman Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Rob Koo Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
- Adam Sandler as Dracula Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Alan Tudyk as King Candy Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Atticus Shaffer as “E”Gore Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
- Catherine O’Hara as Weird Girl Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
- Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animations
- Jim Cummings as Budzo Adventures in Zambezia – Saltzman Communications
- Jude Law as Pitch Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Kelly MacDonald as Merida Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
- Chris Butler – ParaNorman – Focus Features
- Gideon Defoe – The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animations
- Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa, Karey Kirkpatrick – From Up on Poppy Hill – GKIDS
- John August – Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
- Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, Irene Mecchi – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee – Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
- Catherine Apple Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
- Joyce Arrastia Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
- Mark Rosenbaum Secret of the Wings – DisneyToon Studios
- Nicholas A. Smith, ACE, Robert Graham Jones, ACE, David Suther Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
- Tim Mertens Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
