You can pre-order your copy today!

You can read all the reviews as they come in over at Rotten Tomatoes.

But I want to know what YOU think! Did you see the movie? Did you like it? Let us know and share your thoughts below!

I have been trying for a while to get my streaming audio player to work and I just can’t get it to cooperate so I am posting these on the honor system. These are meant for you to listen to as a preview so listen to them and enjoy but then, please, delete the file and support Jim Cummings’ career by purchasing the music yourself.

Gonna Take You There
performed by Jim Cummings featuring Terrance Simien on Accordion

Ma Belle Evangeline
performed by Jim Cummings featuring Terence Blanchard on Trumpet

If anyone knows of a good plugin or other tool for posting audio on Wordpress, please let me know. The search has been frustrating!

Look for Jim Cummings as Lionel the Lion (dressed like a skeleton for most of the episode).

Happy Halloween!

I’m sorry for getting “The Day the Spooky Circus Came to Town” stuck in your head.

Congratulations Jim Ward! Jim Cummings, you’ll just have to show them next time!

Long time readers will recognize this video from the article about Jim Cummings selling his house a while back but since Ventura County Star repeated this video with their newest article I figured I would repeat it here in turn. If you didn’t get a chance to watch it the first time, it’s a great interview with Jim doing multiple voices.

“This year I’m going with either Vanessa or Amy,” Cummings said, summing up his competition. “I think folks go down the line and go: ‘Jim Cummings? I don’t really know who that is. Oh, Joan Rivers, Vanessa Williams, I love her; let’s vote for her.’ You can’t fight that. I understand why they do it.” [SOURCE]

(I’m reminding your early so you cannot blame me if you forget to watch! )

Will Jim Cummings manage to wrest an Emmy away from the likes of Joan Rivers, Vanessa Williams (the host of the show) or Amy Poehler? Only time will tell.

UPDATE: Jim Cummings’ award will not be televised. Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program will be announced the Saturday before the televised broadcast. Booo!

Jim Cummings. “Cummings is amazing,” voice actor Gene McGarr once said. “He can do Russians, he can do wolves, and he can do Russian wolves.” Cummings voices Fuzzy Lumpkins on “The Powerpuff Girls,” provided many of the voices on “Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers” and “Darkwing Duck,” and took over Winnie-The-Pooh from the late Sterling Holloway.

Read the rest of the article here.

Today, Smokey has his own website (where you can watch Smokey blow out his birthday candle), a Twitter account, a Facebook page and more.

For more information about Smokey and his anniversary, you can read this article.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a vintage Smokey the Bear commercial featuring Jim Cummings as Smokey:

This interview delves into his work as Pooh and Tigger touching on the transition from Paul Winchell:

His real breakthrough into lead work came in 1988, when he did his first job as Pooh in Winnie The Pooh Friend-ship: Tigger-ific Tales. As intimated before, Holloway was long gone from this planet, but Paul Winchell was still Tigger at that time. Cummings would first step into the role of Tigger in 1996 with a Pooh Halloween special entitled Boo To You, Too. Things started to get interesting after that.

“I absolutely did know Paul,” says Cummings. “I knew him well during the last years of his life, when he was going back and forth from South Africa, doing research. He was really like Da Vinci. He designed one of the prototypes for one of the first artificial hearts. He was also going back and forth to Africa to try and solve some of the hunger problems there. In fact, how I got the role of Tigger is initially when he would go I would pinch hit for him.”

Indeed. In 1998, on A Winnie The Pooh Thanksgiving special, both Cummings and Winchell are credited on the role of the terrific tiger. By 1999, it was handed over completely to Cummings with The Tigger Movie. From that point on, Cummings would voice both Pooh and Tigger. There’s some controversy over the transition. Rumors said Winchell didn’t take losing the job too well, apparently. Cummings has his own point of view.

“What actually happened is they decided to recast the entire cast,” he says. “They then did some tests and I came in first as Pooh and second on Tigger. Now when Paul was around, he was certainly Tigger. Then in 1999 he apparently decided to retire and I’ve been the voices of Tigger and Pooh since then, full time.”

You can read the article in full here. As always, when the site takes the article down, we’ve kept a copy in our archives.

36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER IN AN ANIMATED PROGRAM
Joan Rivers as Bubbe on “Arthur”
Jim Ward as Eyemore the Crusher on “Biker Mice from Mars”
Jim Cummings as Tigger on “Disney’s My Friends Tigger and Pooh”
Vanessa Williams as Mama on “Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies”
Amy Poehler as Bessie Higgenbottom on “The Mighty B!”

In my heart of hearts, I know how this is going to go down. Amy Poehler is one of the hottest things in TV and movies right now. People love her. Heck, I love her. Love like that usually translates into awards come award season. I really think Amy is going to win this category. But putting all that love aside, I still hope that Jim Cummings wins the Emmy.

But does he have a chance?

This happens all the time to voice actors. The award voters go for The Name instead of what might be the best performance. Now, take this with a grain of salt because I haven’t seen any of the nominated animated programs so for all I know anyone below give a much better performance than Jim Cummings. I have also never been a huge fan of Jim Cumming’s Tigger. But I am talking about this in general terms because, just like me, most Emmy voters don’t watch the source material either and the way these things usually go down has nothing to do with the actual nominated performance.

It has to do with whose name is most recognizable. Amy Poehler? Popular as heck right now.  Joan Rivers? A known commodity and popular in a nostalgic/pop culture way right now.  Vanessa Williams? Is the freaking host of the ceremony! These are all names that voters are more likely to check off for the simple reason that they have heard them before and may like them for other reasons.

Then we have Jim Cummings and Jim Ward, both voice over actors that most of the population has never heard of. I am a pretty big voice over geek and I have never heard of Jim Ward though the man has a ton of credits. But I am willing to bet that the average voter is more likely to have heard of Jim Cummings than Jim Ward so might this give him an edge? Maybe, but defiantely not over the ladies above.

The other thing that might give him an edge, though, is that voters often award the show or the role over the actual performance. So the fact that Tigger and Pooh is the most recognizable show in the nomination list coupled with the fact that Tigger is a very well known character might give him an up over others.

The other thing to consider is that Emmy often awards performers that it considers “long overdue” even if the nominated performance isn’t their best work. If Jim Cummings has truly been nominted 3 times then they may feel he is due to finally win this time.

So do I think there is a chance he might win? Yes. Do I think it is really slim? Sadly, also yes. Will I still be crossing my fingers for him to win? Heck yes!!

But I am just one opinion. What do you think?

But in this latest interview with TV Guide, he mentions that this is his third nomination. So, of course, I started digging looking for these past nominations to find out what years they were and what roles they were for. I have come up with a big fat nada.

So I turn to you, the readership. Can you help me find out what these nominations were for and when they were?

I appreciate your help with this!

Some highlights:

On being a little bitter about not being in the Pooh loop:

“You know what? I don’t know what’s in there. They never tell me anything. Honestly, I love Disney, but get a load of this…Winnie the Pooh had his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and they didn’t tell me. I’ve been doing the voice of Winnie the Pooh since 1987 and Disney doesn’t call! As much as you love them, its not like they want to make you the star—they want the character to be the star, which is cool. I understand that. [And] who knows? Maybe they’re afraid I’ll ask for a raise. [Laughs]“

On his favorite characters:

“Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck, Don Karnage from TaleSpin, and there was a great little guy called Mr. Bumpy on an ABC series called Bump in the Night. It’s the stuff that used to get me kicked out of class, now the joke’s on them.”

As always, you can find the whole article in our News archive after the original site takes the story down.

He talks about doing dolphin sounds in the back of his catholic school classroom, his Emmy nomination, having to say about 25,000 names for My Interactive Pooh and his only regret, missing the auditions for The Simpsons because he was sick.

You can find the article in it’s entirety in our archives.

But, unfortunately, an extended clip of the film that was displayed at the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) this weekend brought the controversy back to the forefront.

The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, or CODOFIL, a state agency charged with the protection and promotion of French in Louisiana, is taking issue with the portrayal of a Cajun character in the film, a toothless, lovesick firefly voiced by former New Orleans resident and preeminent voiceover actor Jim Cummings.

“It’s a continuation of the stereotyping of Cajun people, which is inaccurate,” CODOFIL President Warren Perrin said of the character this week from his Lafayette law office. “It has been done in so many movies over so much time, people think that’s the way we are — and it’s just wrong. I can list several other movies where they have portrayed us as backward, toothless, illiterate people who fart.”

This week, Perrin sent a letter to Robert Iger, the president and CEO of the Walt Disney Co., expressing his concerns and offering his organization’s free assistance in answering “any questions the movie’s producers, directors and promoters might have regarding the Cajun people, as well as south Louisiana history and culture in general,” according to a draft of the letter provided by Perrin.

Throughout, the letter maintains that same cordial tone, while pointing out that derogatory portrayals of Cajuns wound “the pride and morale of all ethnic groups.”
The movie poster for ‘The Princess and the Frog.’

A studio spokeswoman said the letter had been “referred to the appropriate office at Disney,” although Disney officials had not responded as of Friday.

Of the footage released so far by Disney, the Cajun firefly character — named Ray — figures prominently in only a few seconds of a short teaser trailer. (Watch it at the official “Princess and the Frog” site.)

Set against the backdrop of a beautifully lit French Quarter, he flits into the frame as the movie’s Princess Tiana agonizes over the idea of kissing a frog, prince or no. Ray points a thumb at the couple and says to the camera in a heavy Cajun accent, “Oh, ho! Look like this gonna take some time!”

His jagged, jack-o-lantern smile never shows more than eight or so teeth.

With a Dr. John song as musical accompaniment, the sleepy-eyed Ray then buzzes over to a neighboring building that has a sign emblazoned with the movie’s title. “That’s a catchy title right there,” he says, before a Dr. John lyric — “Dreams do come true in New Orleans” — brings the trailer to a close.

Perrin acknowledged that he is basing his judgment on only a tiny piece of film, but he said if his objections help head off a potential insult to Cajuns, then it’s worth it. “I’m simply saying, ‘Let me help you not make a mistake,’” Perrin said.

[SOURCE]

The article continues on to discuss the controversies that the lead character is not “black enough” (their words, not mine), the anger over her job as a chambermaid (which Disney has since changed) and the multi-racial couple.

The various organizations involved are petitioning to get Disney to change the character or remove him from the film. While I hope they do not remove his work from the film, if everyone is going to jump all over every new clip, it might be best.

What do you think? Are you offended by the firefly?

You can read the article in it’s entirety online here. I’ve also moved a copy of the article into the News Archive.

It is a great time to be a JC fan right now as his people do a huge marketing push in advance of the Emmys so expect plenty more where this came from.

Since we just rolled into July, it’s pretty safe to say that everyone who is attending school is definitely out for the summer. Please enjoy this fantastic version of Jim Cummings singing School’s Out as Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night.

As Ashley says:

I was an avid fan of Bump in the Night back in the day (I recorded literally every episode on VHS), and today I unearthed Mr. Bumpy’s Karaoke Cafe cover version of “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper. It’s pretty awesome and, at eight years old, it was my introduction to rock ‘n’ roll. If anybody wants to hear Jim Cummings being a total rock star, I highly recommend this.

You can listen to the MP3 of this song in our Media Section soon when I fix it back up (it was lower on the list of priorities than, say, the homepage). In the meantime, enjoy the music video below:

I must confess that Rob Paulsen’s background singing raises this song to a whole new level of hilarity.

The following info comes directly from Jim Cummings’ PR team who were kind enough to send us this photo and the following release:

Photo (Left to Right) Scott McIntyre and Jim Cummings

“American Idol” finalist Scott McIntyre and voice legend Jim Cummings attended the 2009 Braille Challenge Awards Banquet Saturday night at the Universal Hilton in Los Angeles, CA. Cummings, who served as the event’s master of ceremonies, voiced a slew of popular cartoon characters for invited guests including Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. McIntyre offered words of inspiration to children and their families who were the top finalists in this year’s Braille Challenge event.

Braille Institute of America is a non-profit organization whose mission is to eliminate barriers to a fulfilling life caused by blindness and severe sight loss.

Photo Credit: Braille Institute of America

The Braille Institute itself also posted this photo and a little more information in an article entitled Winners of the 2009 Braille Challenge Announced at Star-Studded Ceremony:

After a full day of competition on Saturday, June 20, at Braille Institute in Los Angeles, the 15 winners of the 2009 Braille Challenge® were announced at a gala Awards Ceremony at the Hilton Universal Hotel. Winners received their prizes, U.S. Savings bonds from $500 to $5,000 and a PacMate pocket PC for first place, from voiceover artist Jim Cummings, who is best known as the voices of Disney’s Tigger and Winnie the Pooh and Warner Bros.’ Taz the Tasmanian Devil. The evening culminated with an inspirational speech by special guest, “American Idol’s” Scott MacIntyre. As a blind adult who has been lauded as both a classical musician and a scholar, Scott spoke to the students about the importance of perseverance and defining their own dreams.

It sounds like it was an amazing event! If any of the attendees would like to share any comments about the day, please feel free to do so below.

One of the local papers in Youngstown, Ohio did a two features on Jim Cummings on Sunday. Youngstown is his hometown, so while there is nothing all that new and earth-shattering in the articles, there are some very nice local touches and pre-fame tidbits.

If you wish to read the articles in their entirety, I have added both to the press section of the site.

• The voice of Tigger and Pooh (the interview)
• JIM CUMMINGS At a glance (a brief biography)

The writing of the articles are a little. . . I don’t want to be too harsh because it doesn’t say if it the author is a local student or something but there are a lot of typos, mistakes and other oddities that you wouldn’t normally see in a more professional piece but it is nice to see him in the news in any form. There are some really nice bits in it so if you can overlook the choppy writing, it is worth a read. 

The best part of the interview?

[Jim Cummings] recalled a shopping trip during which he picked up a Winnie the Pooh greeting card in a store, and went into character for his children. A nearby clerk heard him and squealed, “Oooh, you sound just like him!”

On Wednesday, 24th, June 2009, Jim Cummings was a guest on The Catholics Next Door on Sirus radio.

There is a small clip of him doing station identification on the show’s homepage here.

As always, if I do managed to get any info about what the interview was about or a clip from it, I will post accordingly. If anyone managed to catch the show, please give us an overview in the comments. It would be most appreciated.

The site was down for about 5 days there but we managed to fix it and only lost a little data and a few years off my life.

I will replace the articles that were eaten later today. Thank you very much for your patience and for sticking with us!

For more information about the Braille Challenge, you can visit it’s page at the Braille Institute here.

Here is the original press release for this event:

Putting Their Braille Skills to the Test: Nation’s Top Blind Students Compete in Unique Academic Competition

The top blind and visually impaired students from across the U.S. and Canada meet in Los Angeles to compete in the 9th Annual Braille Challenge Competition.

LOS ANGELES, CA UNITED STATES

LOS ANGELES, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On Saturday, June 20, the top blind students from across the United States and Canada put their knowledge of the braille code to the test in the only national academic competition for blind students in the country — The National Braille Challenge(R).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090620/DC35722 )

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090618/BILOGO )

Sponsored by Braille Institute of America(R), the competition serves to encourage blind children of all ages to fine-tune their braille skills, which are essential to their success in the sighted world. The 9th Annual National Braille Challenge(R) took place on Saturday, June 20, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Braille Institute’s headquarters, located at 741 North Vermont Avenue, in Los Angeles. The participants, ages 6 to 19, competed in challenging categories that required them to transcribe, type and read braille using a device called a Perkins Brailler. Each category was designed to test their braille skills in several areas–reading comprehension, braille spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading and braille speed and accuracy–all of which they need to master in order to keep up with their sighted peers.

“We know that employment numbers for blind people are significantly lower than those of sighted people in the same age group,” said Nancy Niebrugge, director of the Braille Challenge(R). “But 90 percent of blind people who are gainfully employed are braille readers, and that’s very telling. It’s essential that blind children learn to read braille at an early age.”

This year’s competition featured a diverse group of high achievers — from athletes to musicians to junior activists. Most were born blind, others lost their sight due to cancer or viral infections, but they all share a tenacity that drives them to succeed in spite of their disability. They are the top 60, chosen from among more than 650 students throughout the country during a round of preliminary testing. Following the competition an awards ceremony will be held at the Universal Hilton Hotel, from 6 to 9 p.m. The first- through third-place winners in each age group will receive a savings bond, ranging in value from $500 for the youngest group to $5,000 for the oldest. Legendary voice-over actor Jim Cummings, who has lent his voice to characters such as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, will present the awards. In addition to these prizes, Freedom Scientific has donated the latest in adaptive equipment for the winners — a pocket PC with a braille display called a PacMate, valued at nearly $4000. KNBC4-TV will also sponsor the Braille Superstar Award for Excellence in Reading Comprehension. Although the stakes are high, The National Braille Challenge(R) serves to bridge the gap between a unique group of students from across the country.

“The great thing about The Braille Challenge(R), is that it gives us the opportunity to celebrate braille literacy in a unique way,” said Niebrugge. Most of the participants are the only blind students in their school. They go through their entire lives being the exception. This competition gives them the opportunity to build camaraderie among kids who have shared similar life experiences.”

If you would like additional information on the National Braille Challenge(R), please contact Courtney Goines, director of Marketing and PR, at (323) 663-1111, Ext. 3176. The Braille Challenge(R) Finals Competition was made possible in part through the generosity of Freedom Scientific, Walter Lantz Foundation, dot.dat.inc, Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg, and Dot and Rick Nelson.

SOURCE Braille Institute of America

Jim Cummings was announced today as a nominee for the daytime Emmy of Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his portrayal of Tigger in Disney’s My Friends Tigger and Pooh. See the full list of nominees here.

This is Jim Cummings’ first Emmy nomination so this is very exciting news for him and for us fans. He is up against some serious competition though so we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed.

It seems sort of crazy that of all the roles he’s had, he finally gets nominated for this one, especially since it is neither a role he originated nor Pooh which he has been playing longer. Either way, it is fantastic to see him get this recognition.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER IN AN ANIMATED PROGRAM
Joan Rivers as Bubbe on “Arthur”
Jim Ward as Eyemore the Crusher on “Biker Mice from Mars”
Jim Cummings as Tigger on “Disney’s My Friends Tigger and Pooh”
Vanessa Williams as Mama on “Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies”
Amy Poehler as Bessie Higgenbottom on “The Mighty B!”

Let me also remind you that I am a huge Jim Cummings fan. I know that this role is important for him both because it is a pretty large, new role for him in a time when he’s mostly been sitting back and only playing his standard characters (Pooh, Tigger, etc) and we already know that he said this role is his favorite in his career. There are both big things for him and big news for us fans.

The official trailer was released a few days ago (as I tweeted when it came out) and I immediately popped over to Apple to watch it in High Definition. If you haven’t done so already, I recommend visiting http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/princessandthefrog/ to do so. My pumped level for this movie was high as heck.

So, taking all of that into account, what I am about to say is going to be total blasphemy but here we go.

I didn’t think it looked very good. This has got to be the first Disney animated trailer I have ever seen that I didn’t think looked good. Mind you, their trailer department is really good. They have made many a terrible movie look good in the trailer. But my reaction after seeing this trailer was just disappointment. It just looks…dumb.

Now, I am willing to reserve judgment until I see the film. Maybe they just did a terrible job with the trailer and the movie is really awesome. But I must say, after seeing this trailer, instead of getting me more excited, my spirits are a little dampened. The frog prince was so smarmy. I hope he’s not like that all movie, I will smack him. And the “funny” parts were…not funny. I actually rolled my eyes twice. That is never a good sign. I laugh at paint drying. Well, I do if it’s a funny color.

I hate to be a Debbie Downer but this is just my honest opinion. Am I alone in this? Did you think the movie looked awesome?

Let me know below.

In the original Disney movie, The Jungle Book, King Louie was a Disney invention as he was not in the original book. He was played by jazz singer Louis Prima.

After Prima’s death, the character of Louie, as we fans know, was taken over by Jim Cummings who played him in TaleSpin and other projects.

But here is the part that I didn’t know until recently. Jim Cummings’ performance and impression of Louis Prima’s voice was good, so good in fact that Louis Prima’s widow sued Disney for unauthorized use of her husband’s voice. Now, of course, Disney wasn’t using her husband’s voice but rather Jim Cummings’ voice and the matter was settled out of court. But in deference to this, King Louie has not appeared in any future projects including The Jungle Book 2 or House of Mouse(where a King Larry appeared instead).

So King Louie fans won’t get any new content from that character because, darn him, Jim Cummings was just too good!

If you visit the Cult of Cummings website (for those of you reading in a feed reader), the random quote sidebar spot has been updated to include some of the great quotes from this interview.

One part of the interview I wanted to specifically call your attention to, though, is this part. When asked if he had a favorite character, Jim replied:

I have a brand new favorite for a Disney animated feature coming out next Christmas called The Princess and the Frog. I’m Ray the singing Cajun firefly. New Orleans is my second hometown. I was a deckhand on a riverboat there when I was 18, so I have that Cajun accent down pat. Ray is a lovesick firefly who’s near-sighted and falls in love with the Evening Star. Of course, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger will always be favorites of mine too.

So I think its interesting to note that however large the controversy about The Princess and the Frog’s firefly may be, Jim Cummings himself is either unaware of it or doesn’t care and still cites the character as a favorite. I think its interesting as well that he says he has the accent down pat when that is what most people were focusing on as being racist. Just confirms my idea that it’s not racist if the name grew up there!

There are also some great little tidbits on how Jim creates a character and about meeting Mark Hamill and working on Comic Book the movie which is worth a look. Overall a great interview, better than most so thanks goes out to the Star Wars team for it!

You can find us there at: http://twitter.com/cultofcummings

If you don’t use Twitter or just cannot deal with another follower (I feel your pain on that one!), the posts we send out on Twitter will post daily on the regular Cult of Cummings site as “Quickies.” These may not be more than one or two a day but will give me a way to share little things that I cannot necessarily stretch into a whole big blog post.

My hope is that this will let me get out more info faster instead of having to wait to have time to write a full blog post. I appreciate your feedback so please let me know if you like or hate this feature once it gets rolling.

A quick look at the Annie Awards results shows that Dreamworks beat Disney/Pixar in nearly every category. This feat is especially unusual in the light of the fact that Wall-E has dominated the award shows so far this year.

But a quick look at the Annie Awards website shows that something is a little fishy and we don’t mean Nemo.

Here is their current homepage which states that “Kung Fu Panda dominates the Annie Awards” and “Winning the top prize over such other nominees as the critical favorites “WALL-E” and “Waltz With Bashir,” “Panda” swept the feature film categories as it picked up 10 trophies.” It even sounds like their copywriter was surprised by that turn of events.

But let’s take a closer look at that sidebar.

The red arrows are ours.

Dreamworks was a gold sponsor of the Annie Awards and Pixar and the Disney Studios were all only Silver. Yet, a lot of sup par Dreamworks content won awards over the Disney/Pixar projects in what were very unexpected and contested upsets.

Awfully interesting that they gave the awards to the lesser content that gave them more money.

Just a random coincidence, I guess. But I cannot help but find it very suspicious.

Did the Annie Awards find Pixar/Disney ungrateful for their past wins by not being gold sponsors? Does having several companies all as Silver sponsors count less than having a single company as a gold sponsor? Why is an award show allowed to have sponsors in the first place if it raises questions like this?

What do you think?

36th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2008)

Winners in bold*

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

• 
  Bolt – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Kung Fu Panda – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  $9.99 – Sherman Pictures/Lama Films

• 
  Wall·E
  – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Waltz With Bashir – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films
  D’ici, Razor Films
  

Best Animated Home
Entertainment Production

• 
  Batman: Gotham Knight – Warner Bros. Animation

• 
  Christmas Is Here Again – Easy To Dream Entertainment in association
  with Renegade Animation

• Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs –
  The Curiosity Company in association with 20^th Century Fox
  Home Entertainment*

• 
  Justice League: The New Frontier – Warner Bros. Animation

• 
  The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – DisneyToon Studios

Best Animated Short
Subject

• 
  Glago’s Guest – Walt Disney Animation
  Studios

• 
  Hot Dog – Bill Plympton Studio

• 
  Presto – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Sebastian’s Voodoo – Joaquin Baldwin

• 
  Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death – Aardman Animations Ltd.*

Best Animated
Television Commercial

• 
  Giant Monster – Curious Pictures

• 
  Long Legs Mr. Hyde – Curious Pictures

• 
  Rotofugi: The Collectors – Screen
  Novelties/RSA Films

• 
  Sarah – Z Animation

• 
  United Airlines “Heart” – Duck Studios*

Best Animated
Television Production

• 
  King of the Hill – 20^th Century Fox TV

• 
  Moral Orel – ShadowMachine

• 
  Phineas and Ferb – Disney Television
  Animation

• Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II –
  ShadowMachine*

• 
  The Simpsons – Gracie Films/Fox TV

Best Animated
Television Production Produced for Children

• 
  A Miser Brothers Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation in association with
  ABC Family & Cuppa Coffee Studios

• 
  Avatar: The Last Airbender – Nickelodeon*

• 
  Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon
  Network Studios

• 
  The Mighty B! – Nickelodeon

• 
  Underfist: Halloween Bash – Cartoon Network
  Studios

Best Animated Video
Game

• 
  Dead Space – Electronic Arts

• 
  Kung Fu Panda – Activision*

• 
  Wall·E
  – Heavy Iron Studios, a division of THQ, Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT
CATEGORIES

Animated Effects

• 
  Alen Lai “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” –
  Blue Sky Studios

• 
  Li-Ming Lawrence Lee “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Fangwei Lee “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” –
  DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Kevin Lee “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Enrique Vila “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in
a Feature Production

• 
  James Baxter “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Jeff Gabor “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• 
  Philippe Le Brun “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Victor Navone “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Dan Wagner “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in
a Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Sandro Cleuzo “Secrets of the Furious Five”
  – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Joshua A. Jennings “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine
  

• 
  Pierre Perifel “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

Character Design in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Valerie Hadida “Igor” – Exodus Film Group

• 
  Sang Jun Lee “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• Nico Marlet “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks
  Animation*

Character Design in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Bryan Arnett – Mighty B! “Bat Mitzah Crashers” – Nickelodeon

• 
  Ben Balistreri – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Mondo Coco” –
  Cartoon Network Studios

• 
  Sean Galloway “The Spectacular Spider-Man” – Sony Pictures Television

• 
  Jorge Gutierrez – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “The Good,
  The Bad, The Tigre” – Nickelodeon

• Nico Marlet “Secrets of the Furious Five” –
  DreamWorks Animation*

Directing in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• 
  Ari Folman “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony
  Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
  

• 
  Tatia Rosenthal “9.99” – Sherman Pictures/
  Lama Films

• 
  John Stevenson & Mark Osborne “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Andrew Stanton “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Directing in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Bob Anderson – The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XIX” – Gracie Films/Fox
  TV

• Joaquim Dos Santos – Avatar: The Last
  Airbender “Sozin’s Comet Pt. 3” – Nickelodeon*

• 
  Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends
  “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios

• 
  Chris McKay – Moral Orel “Passing” –
  ShadowMachine

• 
  Alan Smart – SpongeBob SquarePants “Penny Foolish” – Nickelodeon

Music in an Animated
Feature Production

• 
  Kevin Manthei – “Batman: Gotham Knight” – Warner Bros. Animation

• 
  John Powell – “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• 
  Max Richter – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit
  Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
  

• 
  William Ross – “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• 
  Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

Music in an Animated
Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Carl Finch & Brave Combo – Click and Clack’s “As the Wrench Turns” –
  CTTV Productions

• 
  Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Secrets of the Furious Five”
  – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Kevin Kiner – “Star Wars The Clone Wars: Rising Malevolence” – Lucasfilm
  Animation Ltd.

• 
  Guy Moon – Back at the Barnyard “Cowman:
  The Uddered Avenger” – Nickelodeon/Omation

• 
  Guy Michelmore – “Growing Up Creepie: Rockabye Freakie” – Taffy
  Entertainment LLC

Production Design in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Ralph Eggleston “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Paul Felix “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Tang Heng “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Evgeni Tomov “The Tale Of Despereaux” –
  Universal Pictures

• 
  Raymond Zibach “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Andy Harkness “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Tang Heng “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Seonna Hong – The Mighty B! “Bee Patients”
  – Nickelodeon

• 
  Dan Krall – Chowder “The Heavy Sleeper” – Cartoon Network Studios

• 
  Raymond Zibach “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in an
Animated Feature Production

• Alessandro Carloni –
  “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• Ronnie Del Carmen –
  “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• Joe Mateo “Bolt” –
  Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Jen Yuh Nelson –
  “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Rob Stevenhagen –
  “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

Storyboarding in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Butch Hartman – Fairly OddParents “Mission: Responsible” – Nickelodeon

• Andy Kelly – Ni Hao, Kai-Lan “Twirly Whirly
  Flyers” – Nickelodeon Productions/Nelvana

• Andy
  Schuhler
  – “Secret of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Eddie Trigueros “The Mighty B! “Name Shame”– Nickelodeon

• 
  Chris Williams “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios*

Voice Acting in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Ben Burtt – Voice of Wall·E
  – “Wall·E”
  – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Dustin Hoffman – Voice of Shifu – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  James Hong – Voice of Mr. Ping – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Ian McShane – Voice of Tai Lung – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Mark Walton – Voice of Rhino – “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Ahmed Best – Voice of Jar Jar Binks –
  “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine*

• 
  Seth MacFarlane – Voice of Peter Griffin – Family Guy “I Dream of Jesus”
  – Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Productions

• 
  Dwight Schultz – Voice of Mung Daal – Chowder “Apprentice Games” –
  Cartoon Network Studios

Writing in an Animated
Feature Production

• 
  Jon Aibel & Glenn Berger – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Etan Cohen and Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath –
  “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Ari Folman – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony
  Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
  

• 
  Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio – “Dr. Seuss’
  Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

Writing in an Animated
Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Joel H. Cohen – The Simpsons “The Debarted” – Gracie Films/Fox TV

• 
  Scott Kreamer – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “Mustache Love”
  – Nickelodeon

• 
  Paul McEvoy and Todd Berger – “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks
  Animation

• Tom Root, Douglas Goldstein, Hugh Davidson,
  Mike Fasolo, Seth Green, Dan Milano, Matthew Senreich, Kevin Shinick,
  Zeb Wells, Breckin Meyer – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” –
  ShadowMachine*

• 
  Chris Williams – “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

JURIED AWARDS

• Winsor McCay
  recipients – Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park for career
  contributions to the art of animation
• June Foray award
  – Bill Turner for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the
  art and industry of animation
• Certificate of Merit
  award – Amir Avni, Mike Fontanelli, Kathy Turner, Alex Vassilev

Having seen Kung Fu Panda and coupling this with the fact that the Annie’s have STILL never honored Jim Cummings, I think the Annie’s are becoming something of a joke. Kung Fu Panda was cute in a, OK, I can watch this with my kid and not want to gouge my eyes out kind of way but it wasn’t very good. To give it the Best Picture award, let alone all the others is just plain stupid. Frankly, they were pretty far off on a lot of categories so one can only imagine what they were thinking.

Besides, on most of the technical awards, the answer is Pixar. Always Pixar.

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

* Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures
* Ari Folman “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
* Tatia Rosenthal “$9.99” – Sherman Pictures/ Lama Films
* John Stevenson & Mark Osborne “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Andrew Stanton “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar. The answer is always Pixar. I apologize to all of the other nominees but, deep down, you know it as well as I do. Critics love Pixar. Your Panda is cute but he is not a silent film remake of Charlie Chaplin that makes you feel guilty for littering. You don’t have that guy from Cheers as a good luck charm. There may be no secret ingredient, Po, but being in a Pixar movie sure doesn’t hurt.

Directing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Bob Anderson – The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XIX” – Gracie Films/Fox TV
* Joaquim Dos Santos – Avatar: The Last Airbender “Sozin’s Comet Pt. 3” – Nickelodeon
* Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios
* Chris McKay – Moral Orel “Passing” – ShadowMachine
* Alan Smart – SpongeBob SquarePants “Penny Foolish” – Nickelodeon

My pick on this is Treehouse of Horror. Word on the street is that it was the best one yet and, let’s face it, critics love the Simpsons come award time. Doh!

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

* Ben Burtt – Voice of Wall•E – “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Dustin Hoffman – Voice of Shifu – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* James Hong – Voice of Mr. Ping – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Ian McShane – Voice of Tai Lung – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Mark Walton – Voice of Rhino – “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

A small rant: Remember when this list used to actually be filled with voice over actors and not random live actors? There is no reason whatsoever for Dustin Hoffman or any of those stars to be playing parts in Kung Fu Panda other than to have a star studded premiere. There are perfectly good voice over actors that you could hire for much less, people! Most of the time they are both cheaper to use and better actors! There are exceptions (Robin Williams is worth his weight in gold and Jack Black made that Panda role) but overall, this practice annoys me. Ok, rant is done.

That said, I think the Kung Fun Panda vote is going to be split and that Wall-E or Bolt are going to steal this one (probably Wall-E because of the Pixar rule). That said, sometimes the biggest name just wins so it may be Mr. Hoffman, who I bare no personal ill will. But that Hamster is pretty funny so I am not sure. Eh, who am I kidding. I still bet Wall-E on this one. Even if he did only say like 3 words all movie. 

On a side note, no women in any voice categories? They don’t get their own category? Eve from Wall-E? Jodi Bensen reprising her role as Ariel? Mily Cyrus? No love there?

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Ahmed Best – Voice of Jar Jar Binks – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine
* Seth MacFarlane – Voice of Peter Griffin – Family Guy “I Dream of Jesus” – Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Productions
* Dwight Schultz – Voice of Mung Daal – Chowder “Apprentice Games” – Cartoon Network Studios

Everyone loves Seth MacFarlane for some odd reason (I mean, he’s OK but I don’t get all the hype). I think he has this one done deal.

Does it bother anyone else that the writing nomination doesn’t list Dr. Seuss for Horton Hears a Who? It bothers me. A person is a person no matter how dead.

OK, that was the last batch. What are your picks?

Best Animated Television Production

* King of the Hill – 20th Century Fox TV
* Moral Orel – ShadowMachine
* Phineas and Ferb – Disney Television Animation
* Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II – ShadowMachine
* The Simpsons – Gracie Films/Fox TV

There is a lot of really good stuff up there. I am going to have to give this crown to King of the Hill, though. It’s the last year for that show AND Mike Judge is up for a special award that night so I think this might be a lock for Hank Hill and crew.

Or you with me on this? Or am I totally off base?

Best Animated Short Subject

* Glago’s Guest – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Hot Dog – Bill Plympton Studio
* Presto – Pixar Animation Studios
* Sebastian’s Voodoo – Joaquin Baldwin
* Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death – Aardman Animations Ltd.

Presto was one of the funniest things I have ever seen but I am going to go against my own advice and pick against Pixar this time. I just don’t think that Presto is up to their usual caliber though I think the silliness of it really balanced out the heavy Wall-E well. I am thinking that clay will win the day for Wallace & Gromit here.

Best Animated Home Entertainment Production

* Batman: Gotham Knight – Warner Bros. Animation
* Christmas Is Here Again – Easy To Dream Entertainment
* Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
* Justice League: The New Frontier – Warner Bros. Animation
* The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – DisneyToon Studios

I am really picking blind on this category so I am going to need some help from you guys on this. I think its safe to say, with all apologies to Jim Cummings, that The Little Mermaid doesn’t have a chance in heck. Batman is solid gold this year but that doesn’t mean it will translate into the animated realm. I’m going to pick Futurama. I didn’t watch this special but I was told by friends it was the best of these.

What do you think is going to win it? Or, better yet, what else doesn’t have a chance in heck of winning?

Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children

* A Miser Brothers Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation
* Avatar: The Last Airbender – Nickelodeon
* Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios
* The Mighty B! – Nickelodeon
* Underfist: Halloween Bash – Cartoon Network Studios

This list makes me feel really old. I have only ever even heard of 2 of these and only actually watched an episode of one of them (Foster’s). I’m going to go with Avatar because all the hip kids like it these days.

Best Animated Video Game

* Dead Space – Electronic Arts
* Kung Fu Panda – Activision
* Wall•E – Heavy Iron Studios, a division of THQ, Inc.

This one is really easy. This goes to Dead Space. As the only video game actually designed to be a video game int he first place, it has a big advantage over the cheesy movie-tie in games.

Not to get off topic but remember how awesome movie-tie in games used to me? Aladdin for Sega Gensis or Super Nintendo was money! ABABABABABA I say to you and if you don’t heard me, you aren’t a level skipper. (I only skip levels on re-plays, naturally)

Best Animated Television Commercial

* Giant Monster – Curious Pictures (BC Dairy Commercial)
* Long Legs Mr. Hyde – Curious Pictures (RBC Avion)
* Rotofugi: The Collectors – Screen Novelties (Rotofugi.com)
* Sarah – Z Animation (endgunviolence.com)
* United Airlines “Heart” – Duck Studios (United Airlines)

I am not a big TV watcher so I only saw the Heart one live. I’m not sure if we are supposed to be evaluating only the animation or the ad message but I think the coolest animation is a tie between the Heart one and the Long Legs one. That said, the Rotofugi one was rather creepy and also very funny and the Giant Monster one was adorable. “Sarah” was intense but the animation wasn’t anything all that different. I am going to go with Heart for the win on this one because I know I loved it on first sight.

Keep in mind that I am also a chick. What’s your pick?

Who would you pick for the win? That said, which one do you think the committe will pick?

Here is my very uninformed, opinion.

Best Animated Feature

* Bolt – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Kung Fu Panda – DreamWorks Animation
* $9.99 – Sherman Pictures/Lama Films
* Wall•E – Pixar Animation Studios
* Waltz With Bashir – Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films

Even without seeing 3 of these movies, I think I can safely say that Wall-E is a lock. Critics and award givers love Pixar. They can do no wrong lately. However, Kung Fu Panda is kind of a dark horse. . .er. . bear. A lot of people really loved this movie and maybe it could take the crown. I really liked it but, in the end, I feel like Kung Fu Panda is kid’s stuff while Wall-E is on another level.

And am I totally selling $9.99 and Waltz short? Yes. But the Annie’s usually favor big studios so if I am discounting them, I think voters will as well.

As for Bolt, I haven’t see it yet and hear its good but I still think it cannot measure up to Wall-E.

But enough about what I think. . . what do you think? What’s your pick to win this? Or, if you were a judge, which would you pick?

As for the rest of the list, it’s a lot of Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E as you would expect.

The Annie’s will be held on Friday, January 30, 2009. So, who is your money on to win? (my predictions are forthcoming)

The full list of nominees are below:

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

* Bolt – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Kung Fu Panda – DreamWorks Animation
* $9.99 – Sherman Pictures/Lama Films
* Wall•E – Pixar Animation Studios
* Waltz With Bashir – Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films

Best Animated Home Entertainment Production

* Batman: Gotham Knight – Warner Bros. Animation
* Christmas Is Here Again – Easy To Dream Entertainment
* Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
* Justice League: The New Frontier – Warner Bros. Animation
* The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – DisneyToon Studios

Best Animated Short Subject

* Glago’s Guest – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Hot Dog – Bill Plympton Studio
* Presto – Pixar Animation Studios
* Sebastian’s Voodoo – Joaquin Baldwin
* Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death – Aardman Animations Ltd.

Best Animated Television Commercial

* Giant Monster – Curious Pictures
* Long Legs Mr. Hyde – Curious Pictures
* Rotofugi: The Collectors – Screen Novelties
* Sarah – Z Animation
* United Airlines “Heart” – Duck Studios

Best Animated Television Production

* King of the Hill – 20th Century Fox TV
* Moral Orel – ShadowMachine
* Phineas and Ferb – Disney Television Animation
* Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II – ShadowMachine
* The Simpsons – Gracie Films/Fox TV

Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children

* A Miser Brothers Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation
* Avatar: The Last Airbender – Nickelodeon
* Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios
* The Mighty B! – Nickelodeon
* Underfist: Halloween Bash – Cartoon Network Studios

Best Animated Video Game

* Dead Space – Electronic Arts
* Kung Fu Panda – Activision
* Wall•E – Heavy Iron Studios, a division of THQ, Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects

* Alen Lai “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios
* Li-Ming Lawrence Lee “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Fangwei Lee “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – DreamWorks Animation
* Kevin Lee “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Enrique Vila “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Feature Production

* James Baxter “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Jeff Gabor “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios
* Philippe Le Brun “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Victor Navone “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Dan Wagner “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Television Production or Short Form

* Sandro Cleuzo “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation
* Joshua A. Jennings “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine
* Pierre Perifel “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

* Valerie Hadida “Igor” – Exodus Film Group
* Sang Jun Lee “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios
* Nico Marlet “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Design in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Bryan Arnett – Mighty B! “Bat Mitzah Crashers” – Nickelodeon
* Ben Balistreri – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Mondo Coco” – Cartoon Network Studios
* Sean Galloway “The Spectacular Spider-Man” – Sony Pictures Television
* Jorge Gutierrez – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “The Good, The Bad, The Tigre” – Nickelodeon
* Nico Marlet “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

* Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures
* Ari Folman “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
* Tatia Rosenthal “$9.99” – Sherman Pictures/ Lama Films
* John Stevenson & Mark Osborne “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Andrew Stanton “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Directing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Bob Anderson – The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XIX” – Gracie Films/Fox TV
* Joaquim Dos Santos – Avatar: The Last Airbender “Sozin’s Comet Pt. 3” – Nickelodeon
* Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios
* Chris McKay – Moral Orel “Passing” – ShadowMachine
* Alan Smart – SpongeBob SquarePants “Penny Foolish” – Nickelodeon

Music in an Animated Feature Production

* Kevin Manthei – “Batman: Gotham Knight” – Warner Bros. Animation
* John Powell – “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios
* Max Richter – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
* William Ross – “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures
* Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Music in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Carl Finch & Brave Combo – Click and Clack’s “As the Wrench Turns” – CTTV Productions
* Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation
* Kevin Kiner – “Star Wars The Clone Wars: Rising Malevolence” – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
* Guy Moon – Back at the Barnyard “Cowman: The Uddered Avenger” – Nickelodeon/Omation
* Guy Michelmore – “Growing Up Creepie: Rockabye Freakie” – Taffy Entertainment LLC

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

* Ralph Eggleston “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Paul Felix “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Tang Heng “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Evgeni Tomov “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures
* Raymond Zibach “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Andy Harkness “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Tang Heng “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation
* Seonna Hong – The Mighty B! “Bee Patients” – Nickelodeon
* Dan Krall – Chowder “The Heavy Sleeper” – Cartoon Network Studios
* Raymond Zibach “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

* Alessandro Carloni – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Ronnie Del Carmen – “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Joe Mateo “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Jen Yuh Nelson – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Rob Stevenhagen – “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Butch Hartman – Fairly OddParents “Mission: Responsible” – Nickelodeon
* Andy Kelly – Ni Hao, Kai-Lan “Twirly Whirly Flyers” – Nickelodeon Productions/Nelvana
* Andy Schuler – “Secret of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation
* Eddie Trigueros “The Mighty B! “Name Shame”– Nickelodeon
* Chris Williams “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

* Ben Burtt – Voice of Wall•E – “Wall•E” – Pixar Animation Studios
* Dustin Hoffman – Voice of Shifu – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* James Hong – Voice of Mr. Ping – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Ian McShane – Voice of Tai Lung – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Mark Walton – Voice of Rhino – “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Ahmed Best – Voice of Jar Jar Binks – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine
* Seth MacFarlane – Voice of Peter Griffin – Family Guy “I Dream of Jesus” – Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Productions
* Dwight Schultz – Voice of Mung Daal – Chowder “Apprentice Games” – Cartoon Network Studios

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

* Jon Aibel & Glenn Berger – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation
* Etan Cohen and Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath – “Madagascar:Escape 2 Africa” – DreamWorks Animation
* Ari Folman – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
* Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio – “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

Writing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form

* Joel H. Cohen – The Simpsons “The Debarted” – Gracie Films/Fox TV
* Scott Kreamer – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “Mustache Love” – Nickelodeon
* Paul McEvoy and Todd Berger – “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation
* Tom Root, Douglas Goldstein, Hugh Davidson, Mike Fasolo, Seth Green, Dan Milano, Matthew Senreich, Kevin Shinick, Zeb Wells – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine
* Chris Williams – “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

JURIED AWARDS

* Winsor McCay recipients – Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park for career contributions to the art of animation
* June Foray award – Bill Turner for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation
* Certificate of Merit award – Amir Avini, Mike Fontanelli, Kathy Turner, Alex Vassilev

Jim Cummings turns 56 years young today!

From all your fans, Mr. Cummings, we wish you a wonderful birthday and thank you for the joy you have brought us over the years!

Fans, leave your birthday message for JC below!

Even with a few recognizable movie stars in the cast like Bruce
Boxleitner (“Tron”) and Kelly Hu (“The Scorpion King” and “X2″), the
voice acting is just a few steps below mediocre. After all, how does one squander the efforts of Jim Cummings one of the
greatest working voice actors in the business? If you don’t know who
Jim Cummings is, type his name into IMDB and be prepared to find out
he’s been in pretty much every animated TV show or movie since the late
eighties.

However, since we only just set up this ad space today, they don’t have any traffic stats set up for this website yet. While they start collecting traffic stats to use to sell our ad space, we wanted to give loyal readers a chance to get a piece of the action.

The current bid to advertise on our site is… $0! That’s right, free! You can try it out for a little while and see if the ads are worth it with no charge whatsoever until something bids at a price higher than you. Pretty cool, right?

If you want to sign up for one of these free ads, you can do so here.

Update: We are still playing around and working on getting the bugs out with this service so we apologize for any trouble this caused for those that signed up before.  The free ads now get even more exposure as they appear above the fold (woohoo!) but they are also a little smaller so that we could extend this opportunity to more sites. To do this, we had to cancel the existing bids so you may need to set up your ad again (sorry!). Also, on the navbar you will notice a nice new, very large skyscraper sized ad. This one we are actually charging for so, while it’s not free, it is very cheap. You can bid on that space here.

Thank you very much for your support of this site!

My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Hundred Acre Wood Haunt

From Blogcritics:

If you’re looking for a Halloween-themed Pooh DVD, keep looking. However, if you’re just looking for the latest collection of episodes from Disney Channel’s My Friends Tigger & Pooh show, you’ve come to the right place. Admittedly, the front cover art of this DVD collection is completely misleading and seems like an ill-conceived holiday money grab as it clearly indicates viewers will be treated to Halloween shows if not an entirely new movie (like the properly labeled first release in the series, Super Sleuth Christmas Movie). Once you get past the cover, you’ll either be enchanted by the show’s superb production qualities or dismayed by its break from tradition. . . Paradoxically, the DVD actually does contain one Halloween-themed episode: a bonus feature of fellow Disney Channel show Handy Manny.

For the full review, click here.