Annie Awards Nominations Announced

Well, the Annie Awards are here once more. The biggest animation awards' nominations have been released. Pixar's Up has 9 nominations and Disney's The Princess and the Frog has eight. It's also worth mentioning that Partly Cloudy was not nominated, and that William Reeves (a founding member at Pixar) will be receiving the honorary Ub Iwerks award.

I hope we don't have a repeat of last year when WALL-E was shut out in favor of Kung Fu Panda; even paid-off judges couldn't call the gimmick-y Monsters vs. Aliens better than the masterpiece that was Up. Here is the complete nominations list (I have bolded which ones I'm pulling for to win):

Best Animated Feature

* Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
* Coraline — Laika
* Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
* The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
* Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Best Animated Television Production

* Glenn Martin, DDS — Tornante, Cuppa Coffee Studios & Rogers Communications
* Merry Madagascar — DreamWorks Animation
* Prep and Landing — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios
* The Simpsons — Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production for Children

* Mickey Mouse Clubhouse — Disney Television Animation
* SpongeBob SquarePants — Nickelodeon
* The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack — Cartoon Network Studios
* The Mighty B! — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
* The Penguins of Madagascar — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation

Animated Effects

* Scott Cegielski “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
* Alexander Feigin “9” — 9 L.L.C.
* Eric Froemling “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Tom Kluyskens “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
* James Mansfield “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Television Production

* Mark Donald “B.O.B.’s Big Break” — DreamWorks Animation
* Mark Mitchell “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Kevan Shorey “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
* Tony Smeed “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Phillip To “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space” — DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production

* Andreas Deja “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Eric Goldberg “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Travis Knight “Coraline” — Laika
* Daniel Nguyen “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Bruce Smith “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Television Production

* Bryan Arnett “The Mighty B! – Catatonic” — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
* Ben Balistreri “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” — Cartoon Network Studios
* Craig Kellman “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
* Bill Schwab “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Feature Production

* Daniel Lopez Munoz “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Shane Prigmore “Coraline” — Laika
* Shannon Tindle “Coraline” — Laika

Directing in a Feature Production

* Wes Anderson “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
* Pete Docter “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Christopher Miller, Phil Lord “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
* Hayao Miyazaki “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
* Henry Selick “Coraline” — Laika

Music in a Television Production

* Michael Giacchino “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Kevin Kiner “Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Weapons Factory” — Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
* Guy Moon “The Fairly OddParents: “Wishology-The Big Beginning” — Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production

* Bruno Coulais “Coraline” — Laika
* Michael Giacchino “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Joe Hisaishi “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
* John Powell “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” — Blue Sky Studios

Writing in a Feature Production

* Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach – “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
* Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy – “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
* Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers – “Astro Boy” — Imagi Studios
* Christopher Miller and Phil Lord – “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation

There are many other nominations at the website here. The awards are slated to take place on Saturday, February 6, 2009 at UCLA's Royce Hall in LA.

Source: The Disney Blog and The Pixar Blog