Annie Awards for animation Sunday; Wikinews will be there

February 8, 2007 This Sunday, the (Association International du Film d'Animation) or ASIFA will hand out the  in, California. As animation's highest honor, the crowd is always a who's who of direction, art design, character design, layout, visual effects, and voice artists.

There are 23 award categories in the Annies, sorted into Individual Achievement and Production categories.

Perhaps the most competitive category is "Best Animated Feature", which will be a fight between ' (Pixar Animation Studios), ' (///), ' (//), ' (/) and .

Cars, Happy Feet, and Monster House are all nominated in the for the same category, perhaps signifying an edge up in the competition.

Direct-to- releases are eligible for the "Best Home Entertainment Production". Included are ', ' , and Winnie the Pooh: Shapes & Sizes (DisneyToon Studios).

', ', ', ', and  are all up for "Best Animated Television Production".

"Best Animated Video Game" will be awarded to either ', ' , and  (THQ, Inc.); the category was just created last year.

' (Nickelodeon), Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot (Thunderbean Animation), ', and ' ' (Acme Filmworks) are all up for "Best Animated Short Subject". Only No Time for Nuts is up for an Oscar, which has significantly different rules. "Best Animated Television Commercial" will go to either an advertisement for Candy Factory, ESPN,, , or United Airlines.

Notably, no non-US films or productions have been nominated for any of the awards.

Started in 1972
ASIFA is a non-profit worldwide organization dedicated to preserving and promoting animation, which maintains national branches in 55 countries, as far away as, Mongolia and Tehran. The Annies are awarded by its California chapter ASIFA-Hollywood.

The awards were started in 1972, after voice actress noticed the industry lacked a formal way to acknowledge its achievements. Performing in over 202 productions, Foray's most known characters are (') and  (').

ASIFA also hands out "Juried Awards" to various notable figures in animation. ,, and will each win the , in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation. Bill Matthews, Michael Fallik, Marc Deckter, and Eric Graf will each win a Certificate of Merit. The will go to, for his "significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation." The Ub Iwerks Award and Special Achievement award will not be handed out.

Coverage upcoming
Professional photographer John Mueller will attend the ceremony on behalf of Wikinews, taking photos of nominees and the rest of America's animation elite. Mueller was selected from a wide pool of professionals offering their services. The photos from the event will be released under the license, which allows them to be used by anyone for any purpose.