News

Winners of animated edition of Viewster Online Film Fest (#Voff) revealed.

Online video series Viewster has announced the winners of the animation edition of its Viewster Online Film Fest, titled #VOFF5: Animated Worlds.

First place and the top prize of $30,000 was awarded to Ira Elshansky of Israel for Warm Snow, a surrealist claymation short about a father and daughter’s relationship, set in a domestic setting.

Ira said about making her film: “I’ve been working with clay since I was a child and for me it is the material where I can express myself the best. It is a very honest material and people have been using it for centuries. Warm Snow is a very personal movie; I’m sure many of us have this feeling of being not fair to our parents, and this was my way to apologise and to show them my love.“

Second place and $15,000 was awarded to Mehdi Alibeygi of Iran...

Nominations for the 41st Annual Annie Awards were announced and "Frozen" and "Monsters University" led the pack with 10 nominations each. "Despicable Me 2" and "The Croods" followed closely with 9 noms each.

I am rooting for "Frozen" to win! It's a return to form to what Disney does best -- affecting fairy tale with memorable musical numbers. "Monsters University," on the other hand, was bland. The film bored me on second viewing.

Steven Spielberg will receive the Winsor McCay Award for career achievement at the awards ceremony happening on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. Patrick Warburton will serve as host.

2013 Annie Award Nominations

Production Categories

1 . Best Animated Feature

A Letter to Momo . Gkids

Despicable Me 2 . Universal Pictures

Ernest & Celestine . Gkids

Frozen . Walt Disney Animation Studios

Monsters University . Pixar Animation Studios

The Croods . DreamWorks Animation

The Wind Rises . The Walt Disney Studios

2 . Annie Award for Best Animated...

The Movie Pool rolls out for the Transformers Prime: Season Two Blu-ray set!

This review is based on the 4-disc Blu-ray set

The Set-up

Season two of the epic Hub TV show focuses on the battle between rival factions of an alien race of robots known as Transformers. Optimus Prime and the heroic Autobots take on Megatron and the evil Decepticons. Includes all 26 episodes of the second season.

The Delivery

There have been so many incarnations of Transformers over the years, but Generation One, the original series, still holds a special place in the hearts of hard core fans. Transformers Prime, however, may eventually become the definitive version of the brand. Combining the best aspects of the original 1980s animated series (including the voices of Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Frank Welker as Megatron) with the look and music cues of the modern films, Transformers Prime is a...

The Movie Pool rolls out for the Transformers Prime: Season Two Blu-ray set!

This review is based on the 4-disc Blu-ray set

The Set-up

Season two of the epic Hub TV show focuses on the battle between rival factions of an alien race of robots known as Transformers. Optimus Prime and the heroic Autobots take on Megatron and the evil Decepticons. Includes all 26 episodes of the second season.

The Delivery

There have been so many incarnations of Transformers over the years, but Generation One, the original series, still holds a special place in the hearts of hard core fans. Transformers Prime, however, may eventually become the definitive version of the brand. Combining the best aspects of the original 1980s animated series (including the voices of Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Frank Welker as Megatron) with the look and music cues of the modern films, Transformers Prime is a...

I think we should all be thankful that Transformers: Prime is nothing like Bayformers. Even though season one is long over, you can see a sneak peek in to it's creation below, featuring color scripts (they are kind of like storyboards) and background paintings all thanks to the amazing Christophe Vacher. [Click To Enlarge] Pretty cool, eh? Christophe Vacher is an amazing artist and has worked on several key animation projects such as 9, Tarzan, Flushed Away and many more. You can check out all of his movie work by clicking Here. What kind of concept art would you like to be featured on the site, and what do you think of Christophe's work? Sound off below.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) tonight announced the winners of the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy® Awards in a grand gala for over 1,000 attendees at the Westin Bonaventure, in downtown Los Angeles.

“The Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards is one of the cornerstones of our business,” said Brent Stanton, Executive Director, Daytime Emmy® Awards, NATAS. “The Daytime community is well and prospering as witnessed by this overwhelming turnout honoring the best in Daytime television in more than fifty categories. I continue to be inspired by the quality of work these individuals and organizations provide the Daytime viewer each and every day.”

Tonight’s show was hosted by Steve Wilkos, of “The Steve Wilkos Show,” and joined by an illustrious group of presenters such as Natalie Morales, from the “Today Show,” Jack Hanna, from “Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild,” Lidia Bastianich of “Lidia’s Italy,...

Last year the Annie Awards caused quite a stir when Kung Fu Panda swept Wall-e [1] in every category. Of course, Wall-e still went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but it's interesting to note that this year, with so many great animated movies to choose from, the Annies decided to go back and honour Pixar's Up with their top prize. Needless to say, Up is now a heavy favourite at the Oscars (if it wasn't already), but how did the other categories shake down for the Annie Awards? Pete Docter also received the award for Directing, but it was The Princess and the Frog and Coraline that split many of the other categories. Personally I was just pleased to see Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach pick up the Writing award for Fantastic Mr. Fox. After the jump, you can see all of the feature film categories...

"Up" from Disney/Pixar won the top honor at the 37th Annual Annie Awards. The fantastic film received the Best Animated Feature Award beating out "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Princess and the Frog," and "The Secret of Kells."

(Check my interview with Annie Award-winner Pete Docter for "Up" held at Pixar Animation Studios right here)

Walt Disney Animation took home six other Annies including three for "The Princess and the Frog" and three for its television production "Prep and Landing."

Created in 1972 by veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards is considered the highest and most prestigious honor given in animation by the animation industry.

The Annie Awards is also a great predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. So yes, "Up" will win that category at the Oscars!

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of...

Following yesterday's Independent Spirit Award Nominations [1], The Annie Awards have also revealed their full list of nominees for this year. This is the annual award ceremony for the International Animated Film Association, celebrating animation in all of its forms. Sometimes these awards can help predict what movie will win the Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, although it's not always entirely reliable (last year Kung Fu Panda swept Wall-e [2] in every category). As we discussed on this week's podcast [3], it's shaping up to be a pretty tight race for Best Animated Feature this year, and if the Annies are any indication, it looks like Henry Selick's Coraline may have the edge. It was nominated for a total of 10 Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, Character Design, Voice Acting, and Music. Check out the list of nominees in all the feature-length categories after the jump. Best Animated Feature Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs...

The International Animated Film Society has announced the 2009 Annie Award nominations! "Up" and "Coraline" led the pack in the film categories.

Award recipients will claim their trophies at the 37th Annual Annie Awards scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2010 at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Here's the list of nominees of the 37th Annual Annie Awards:

Production Categories

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 Home Entertainment Production

* Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas . Universal Animation Studios

* Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder . The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

* Green Latern: First Flight . Warner Bros. Animation

* Open Season 2 . Sony Pictures Animation

* SpongeBob vs. The Big One . Nickelodeon

Best Animated Short Subject...