The 43rd Annie Awards were held on Saturday, February 6, 2016, at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, CA with the festivities beginning at 5 p.m.. The weather was warm, which was welcomed by everyone as both the pre-party and after party were held outdoors for this sold out event. Celebrities in the animation industry lined up for the red carpet interviews by the news media, while waiters circulated with trays of h’ordeuvres, consisting of mini hamburgers, mushroom cups, Ahi tuna, etc. There were stations for both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages and again waiters circulated with trays of glasses of champagne. The attendees spirits were high in anticipation of the awards to come.
At 7 p.m., the announcement was made for the guests to retire to the auditorium and their pre-assigned seats for the award ceremony. Pixar’s Inside Out led the way for Disney, winning 10 awards, including the top prize for feature film. Pixar’s other film, The Good Dinosaur won for animated effects in the feature category. Acting emcee Sponge Bob Square Pants’ Tom Kenny, wittily and appropriately for this event at least, asked the audience “When are we going to start calling these awards The Pixies?” The Walt Disney Company was nominated in 24 categories and won 18!
Pete Docter (Director and co-writer of Inside Out) and Jonas Rivera (Producer of Inside Out)
Previous recipient of the June Foray award, which is for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation, Andreas Deja (famed animation artist) introduced this year’s recipient, Don Hahn. Hahn is a prominent producer and author, who also serves on the Advisory Board for the Walt Disney Family Museum and is on the Board of Directors of PBS SoCal. His credits are too numerous to name but include some of the following: Disney’s animated film’s The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, as well as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, to name just a few.
The Winsor McCay award is presented in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation. There were three recipients below:
Joe Ranft attended Cal Arts and was Head of Story on Pixar’s Toy Story and A Bug’s Life, Story Artist on Monster’s Inc., and Co-Director as well as Head of Story on Cars. Previously he had worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. His work had influenced many in the audience but, unfortunately, his life had been cut short in a car accident so his award was accepted by family.
Phil Roman was introduced by Edward James Olmos and Rita Moreno. Roman was inspired by Walt Disney’s Bambi, when he was just six years old and was hired by Disney as an apprentice in 1955. Roman has won six Emmy awards, animated, directed and produced for over six decades. He created Film Roman, which produced The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Garfield specials.
Isao Takahata was unable to attend as it was announced he was enjoying the Chinese New Year week with his family. He co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki. He has directed five feature films, which included the Academy Award nominated The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
After the award ceremony, guests retired to the patio for the after party, which had stations with food and others with beverages. The guests mingled to congratulate the winners, enjoy visits with friends and make new acquaintances.
Complete List of Winners from the 43rd Annie Awards:
Best Animated Feature:
Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Best Animated Special Production:
He Named Me Malala – Parkes-MacDonald / Little Door
Best Animated Short Subject
Don Hertzfeldt – World of Tomorrow
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial:
Man and Dog – Psyop
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Preschool Children:
Tumble Leaf – Episode: Mirror – Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Children:
Wander Over Yonder – Episode: The Breakfast – Disney Television Animation
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for a General Audience:
The Simpsons – Episode: Halloween of Horror – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox Television
Best Animated Feature-Independent:
Boy and the World – Filme de Papel
Best Student Film
ed – Taha Neyestani, Sheridan College
Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production:
Jon Reisch and Stephen Marshall – The Good Dinosaur – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in a Live Action Production:
Michael Balog, Jim Van Allen, Florent Andorra and Georg Kaltenbrunner – Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron – Sokovia Destruction – Marvel Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Television/Broadcast Production:
Chi-Ho Chan – Dragons: Race to the Edge – Episode: “Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 1” – DreamWorks Animation Television
Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production:
Allison Rutland – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studio
Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production:
Matthew Shumway, Adrian Millington, Blaine Toderian, Alexander Poei and Kevin Lan – The Revenant – The Bear (Judy) – Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Anonymous Content, M Productions, Appian Way, RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Video Game:
David Gibson – Evolve – 2K Games
Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a TV/Broadcast Production:
Craig Kellman – Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas – Screen Novelties and Warner Bros. Animation
Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Feature Production:
Albert Lozano and Chris Sasaki – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production:
Matt Braly – Gravity Falls – Episode: Northwest Mansion Mystery – Disney Television Animation
Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production:
Pete Docter – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Music in a TV/Broadcast Production:
Christopher Willis – Disney Mickey Mouse – Episode: ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! – Disney Television Animation
Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production:
Michael Giacchino – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production:
Kevin Dart, Sylvia Liu, Chris Turnham and Eastwood Wong – The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show – Episode: “Peabody’s Parents/Galileo” – DreamWorks Animation Television
Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production:
Ralph Eggleston – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a TV/Broadcast Production:
Alonso Ramirez Ramos – Disney Mickey Mouse – Episode: ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! – Disney Television Animation
Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production:
Tony Rosenast – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production:
Kristen Schaal – Bob’s Burgers – Episode: Hawk & Chick – Twentieth Century Fox Television and Bento Box Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production:
Phyllis Smith – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production:
Steven Davis and Kelvin Yu – Bob’s Burgers – Episode: The Hauntening – Twentieth Century Fox Television Bento Box Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production:
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in a TV/Broadcast Production:
Illya Owens – Disney Mickey Mouse – Episode: Coned – Disney Television Animation
Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production:
Kevin Nolting – Inside Out – Pixar Animation Studios