Pixar and Disney may have pulled out of the Annie Awards in a dispute over the way the animation honors are decided, but that didn't stop voters at the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, from nominating the companies' films for the 2010 Annie Awards.
In nominations announced on Monday morning, Pixar's "Toy Story 3" and Disney's "Tangled" will compete for Best Animated Feature with Universal's "Despicable Me," DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" and Sony Classics' "The Illusionist."
But outside of the marquee categories in which it would have caused a scandal to ignore Disney and Pixar films — especially "Toy Story 3," the highest-grossing animated film of all time and arguably the best-reviewed film of the year — the Annies almost completely shunned the two companies, which have asked for changes in the awards' voting process.
The result was an embarrassing slate of nominations in which "Toy Story 3" received noms for Best Animated Feature, Best Director (Lee Unkrich) and Best Screenplay (Michael Arndt), but was shut out of the other eight feature-film individual achievement categories, including voice acting, music, storyboarding and character design.
DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon," on the other hand, dominated the individual achievement categories. It picked up 15 nominations overall, including three of the five nominations in the Character Animation in a Feature Production category (DreamWorks' "Megamind" got the other two), and two of the five in the Voice Acting and Storyboarding categories.
DreamWorks Animation had 39 nominations overall. Pixar had four: three for "Toy Story 3," and one for the short "Day & Night." Disney's non-Pixar work had three, two for "Tangled" and one for the Disney Channel's "Phineas & Herb."
Two other DreamWorks films, "Shrek Forever After" and "Megamind," had more overall nominations than "Toy Story," though neither was anywhere near as favorably reviewed.
In the 10 individual achievement categories, DreamWorks had 28 of the 48 total nominations. The company swept two categories, and had at least three of the five nominees in three others.
Disney and Pixar pulled out of the Annies in August, with Disney-Pixar president Ed Catmull saying, "We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged." Disney and Pixar did not submit their films for consideration by the Annies, but ASIFA rules allow it to consider films that are not officially submitted.
Membership in ASIFA is open to anyone who pays a yearly fee, and nominations are voted by members who have been approved by an ASIFA committee. According to reports, DreamWorks Animation automatically buys a membership for every employee, and may employ as much as 40 percent of the total ASIFA membership.
Annies results caused something of a scandal in 2009, when DreamWorks' "Kung Fu Panda" won 10 awards while Pixar's "Wall-E," the eventual Oscar winner and consensus choice for one of the best films of the year, was completely shut out.
Though it wasn't competing in any of the same categories, it's worth noting that the TV special "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" received seven nominations, more than twice as many as "Toy Story 3."
The Annie Awards will take place on February 5, 2011 at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.
The complete list of nominations:
Best Animated Feature
Despicable Me – Illumination Entertainment
How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation
Tangled – Disney
The Illusionist – Django Films
Toy Story 3 – Disney/Pixar
Best Animated Short Subject
Coyote Falls – Warner Bros. Animation
Day & Night – Pixar
Enrique Wrecks the World – House of Chai
The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger – Plymptoons Studio
The Renter – Jason Carpenter
Best Animated Television Commercial
Children's Medical Center – DUCK Studios
Frito Lay Dips "And Then There Was Salsa" – LAIKA/house
‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Winter Olympic Interstitial "Speed Skating" – DreamWorks Animation
McDonald's "Spaceman Stu" – DUCK Studios
Pop Secret "When Harry Met Sally" – Nathan Love
Best Animated Television Production
Futurama – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Kung Fu Panda Holiday – DreamWorks Animation
Scared Shrekless – DreamWorks Animation
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Arc Troopers” – Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.
The Simpsons – Gracie Films
Best Animated Television Production for Children
Adventure Time – Cartoon Network Studios
Cloudbread – GIMC
Fanboy & Chum Chum – Nickelodeon, Frederator
Regular Show – Cartoon Network Studios
SpongeBob SquarePants – Nickelodeon
Best Animated Video Game
Heavy Rain – Quantic Dream
Kirby's Epic Yarn – Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory
Limbo – Playdead
Shank – Klei Entertainment Inc.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Andrew Young Kim "Shrek Forever After" – DreamWorks Animation
Jason Mayer "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Brett Miller "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Sebastian Quessy "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" – Warner Bros. Pictures
Kryzstof Rost "Megamind" – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Television Production
Nicolas A. Chauvelot "Scared Shrekless" – DreamWorks Animation
Savelon Forrest "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" – ShadowMachine
Elizabeth Havetine "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" – ShadowMachine
David Pate "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation
Nideep Varghese "Scared Shrekless" – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Mark Donald "Megamind" – DreamWorks Animation
Anthony Hodgson "Megamind" – DreamWorks Animation
Gabe Hordos "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Jakob Hjort Jensen "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
David Torres "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Quentin Miles – Clash of the Titans
Ryan Page – Alice in Wonderland
Character Design in a Television Production
Andy Bialk "The Ricky Gervais Show" – W!LDBRAIN Entertainment
Stephan DeStefano "Sym-Bionic Titan" – Cartoon Network
Ernie Gilbert "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon
Gordon Hammond "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon
Steve Lam "Fanboy & Chum Chum" – Nickelodeon, Frederator
Character Design in a Feature Production
Sylvain Chomet "The Illusionist" – Django Films
Carter Goodrich "Despicable Me" – Illumination Entertainment
Timothy Lamb "Megamind" – DreamWorks Animation
Nico Marlet "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Directing in a Television Production
Bob Anderson "The Simpsons" – Gracie Films
Peter Chung "Firebreather" – Cartoon Network Studios
Duke Johnson "Frankenhole: Humanitas" – ShadowMachine
Tim Johnson "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation
Gary Trousdale "Scared Shrekless" – DreamWorks Animation
Directing in a Feature Production
Sylvain Chomet "The Illusionist" – Django Films
Pierre Coffin “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
Mamoru Hosoda “Summer Wars” – Madhouse/Funimation
Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Lee Unkrich “Toy Story 3” – Disney/Pixar
Music in a Television Production
J. Walter Hawkes "The Wonder Pets!" – Nickelodeon Production & Little Airplane Productions
Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer and John Powell "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation
Tim Long, Alf Clausen, Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement "The Simpsons: Elementary School Musical" – Gracie Films
Shawn Patterson "Robot Chicken's DP Christmas Special" – ShadowMachine
Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker "SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon
Music in a Feature Production
Sylvain Chomet "The Illusionist" – Django Films
David Hirschfelder "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" – Warner Bros. Pictures
John Powell "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Harry Gregson Williams "Shrek Forever After" – DreamWorks Animation
Pharrell Williams, Heitor Pereira "Despicable Me" – Illumination Entertainment
Production Design in a Television Production
Alan Bodner "Neighbors From Hell" – 20th Century Fox Television
Barry Jackson "Firebreather" – Cartoon Network Studios
Pete Oswald "Doubtsourcing" – Badmash Animation Studios
Richie Sacilioc "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation
Scott Wills "Sym-Bionic Titan" – Cartoon Network Studios
Production Design in a Feature Production
Yarrow Cheney "Despicable Me" – Illumination Entertainment
Eric Guillon "Despicable Me" – Illumination Entertainment
Dan Hee Ryu "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" – Warner Bros. Pictures
Pierre Olivier Vincent "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Peter Zaslav "Shrek Forever After" – DreamWorks Animation
Storyboarding in a Television Production
Sean Bishop "Scared Shrekless" – DreamWorks Animation
Fred Gonzales "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon
Tom Owens "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation
Dave Thomas "Fairly OddParents" – Nickelodeon
Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Alessandro Carloni "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Paul Fisher "Shrek Forever After" – DreamWorks Animation
Tom Owens "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Catherine Yuh Rader "Megamind" – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in a Television Production
Jeff Bennett as The Necronomicon "Fanboy & Chum Chum" – Nickelodeon & Frederator
Corey Burton as Baron Papanoida "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" – Cartoon Network
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" – Cartoon Network
Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown "The Cleveland Show" – Fox Television Animation
James Hong as Mr Ping "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Jay Baruchel as Hiccup "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Gerard Butler as Stoick "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation
Steve Carrell as Gru "Despicable Me" – Illumination Entertainment
Cameron Diaz as Fiona "Shrek Forever After" – DreamWorks Animation
Geoffrey Rush as Ezylryb "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" – Warner Bros. Pictures
Writing in a Television Production
Daniel Arkin "Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Heroes on Both Sides" – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
Jon Colton Barry & Piero Piluso "Phineas & Ferb: Nerds of a Feather" – Disney Channel
Geoff Johns, Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" – ShadowMachine
Billy Kimball & Ian Maxtone-Graham "The Simpsons: Stealing First Base" – Gracie Films
Michael Rowe "Futurama" – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Writing in a Feature Production
Michael Arndt “Toy Story 3” – Disney/Pixar
Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders “How to Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
Dan Fogelman “Tangled” – Disney
Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
JURIED AWARDS
Winsor McCay Award – Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening
June Foray – Ross Iwamoto.
Ub Iwerks Award – Autodesk
Special Achievement – “Waking Sleeping Beauty”
