LOS ANGELES, CA — DreamWorks Animation's "How To Train Your Dragon" won top honors as the Best Animated Feature at the 38th Annual Annie Awards on Saturday, February 5 at UCLA's Royce Hall. Best Animated Short Subject was presented to Pixar's "Day & Night"; Best Animated Television Commercial to Duck Studios "Children's Medical Center"; Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" was honored as Best Animated Television Production for Children and Playdead's "Limbo" won Best Animated Video Game. A new category, Character Animation in a Live Action Production was presented to Sony Pictures' "Alice in Wonderland."

Host Tom Kenny was joined on stage by a lively mix of animation luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent including animation legend June Foray, Matt Groening, James Hong, Danica McKellar, Kevin Michael Richardson, Mike Henry, Candi Milo, Bob Bergen, Jay Baruchel, Guillermo Del Toro, Bill Plympton, Billy West, Nika Futterman, Brian Regan, Corey Burton, Jeremy Shada, Olivia Olson, Jim Cummings, John DiMaggio and Eric Goldberg. The Winsor McCay award was presented to three animation industry leaders—Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg and Matt Groening. Brad Bird is currently filming in Vancouver and accepted his Winsor via a videotaped message.



"ASIFA-Hollywood congratulates all of its Annie Award winners," said ASIFA-Hollywood President Antran Manoogian. "The recognition that each award recipient received was certainly well-deserved."

Often a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 25 categories ranging from best feature, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, video games, writing, music and voice acting. Entries submitted for consideration were from productions that originally aired, were exhibited in an animation festival or commercially released between January 1,2010 and December 31,2010

Founded in1972 by ASIFA member and veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past three decades. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood is the largest of an international network of chapters and supports a range of animation initiatives through its membership. Current projects include an animation archive, library and museum, classes and screenings, and animated film preservation efforts.
 
ANNIE AWARDS 2011 WINNERS

Best Animated Feature
"How to Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Short Subject
"Day & Night" – Pixar

Best Animated Television Commercial
"Children's Medical Center" – DUCK Studios

Best Animated Television Production
"Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Television Production for Children
"SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game
"Limbo" – Playdead


Individual Achievement Categories

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Brett Miller, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Television Production
David Pate, "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Gabe Hordos, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Ryan Page, "Alice in Wonderland" – Sony Pictures

Character Design in a Television Production
Ernie Gilbert, "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon

Character Design in a Feature Production
Nico Marlet, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Directing in a Television Production
Duke Johnson, "Frankenhole: Humanitas" – ShadowMachine

Directing in a Feature Production
Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Music in a Television Production
Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker, "SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production
John Powell, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in a Television Production
Richie Sacilioc, "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in a Feature Production
Pierre Olivier Vincent, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in a Television Production
Fred Gonzales, "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon

Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Tom Owens, "How To Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Television Production
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

Writing in a Television Production
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

Writing in a Feature Production
William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, "How to Train Your Dragon"– 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"