The air was alive with animated chatter. All around, men were spruced up in pressed suits, and women dazzled in evening
gowns as soundtracks from Disney films played in the background.The house lights dimmed, and the audience fell to a muted hush.
Hosted by the Hollywood branch of the International Animated Film Society, the 41st Annie Awards show was held on Saturday night in Royce Hall.
“The Annie Awards has grown,” said ASIFA-Hollywood president Frank Gladstone. “It started as a luncheon, years ago, that nobody thought anybody would come to, but 500 people came.”
Today, the awards celebrate accomplishments in the past year of animation. This year’s highest honor was awarded to Disney’s “Frozen” for best animated feature. “Frozen” nabbed five of its 10 nominations, also winning for music, production design, directing and voice acting (Josh Gad as Olaf, the comic-relief snowman).
“I’m just so honored to get this award,” Gad said. “I really have found this to be one of the most magical experiences of my life, and to be working on this project with some of the most incredibly talented people I’ve ever met, starting with myself, is a real joy.”
“Toy Story OF TERROR” also won big by earning three Annie Awards for character animation, storyboarding and directing, while Pixar’s adjacent project, “Monsters University,” took home two Annie Awards for storyboarding and editorial.
“Projects like this take time, and I just want to thank my lovely wife for allowing me to take time to be able to do that,” said Dean Kelly, winner for best storyboarding in an animated feature for “Monsters University.”
Dreamworks won in categories for best animated effects, character animation and character design for “The Croods.”
Legendary animation artist Hayao Miyazaki earned himself an Annie Award for best writing with his script for his reportedly final work, “The Wind Rises,” although he was not personally present to receive the award.
The night was led along by a string of comedy that attached itself to not only the host and presenters, but also to the winners’ acceptance speeches. When Lewis Morton won best writing for his work in “Futurama,” he clambered onto the stage, apologizing.
“I was just at the Writers Guild Awards losing for the exact same script,” Morton said. “So that was a bad awards show, this is a good awards show.”
Event host Patrick Warburton (Puddy from “Seinfeld”) delivered jokes which included a segment where he conversed with his own character Kronk, from “The Emperor’s New Groove,” for several minutes.
Teasing between presenters Cloris Leachman (Academy Award-winning actress) and Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants) quickly developed into thoughts of the comedienne in her 80s and the comedian in his early 50s – an element that elicited laughter throughout.
Kenny won the TV voice-acting Annie Award for his role as the Ice King in Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time,” a series that also took home an award for best TV production for children’s audience.
Among the laughs and accolades for last year’s animated movies, the night also witnessed a presentation of special recognition awards. June Foray, one of the Annie Awards founding members, presented the first of these special awards, the June Foray Award, to Alice Davis, who worked on costume design for Walt Disney’s “It’s a Small World” attraction during the 1960s, as well as raised scholarships for animation programs.
“I got through school on scholarships and hard work,” Davis said. “But the scholarships were the best part. Because I’d always go to bed at night wondering, what did that wonderful person look like who gave me a scholarship? … I work hard at (giving money to students) because it makes their life better just like other people made mine better.”
Another separate branch of awards was also conferred: The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement toward animation. Awarded to a maximum of three persons annually, the Winsor McCay Awards were presented to Katsuhiro Otomo (“Akira,” “Steamboy”), Phil Tippett (“Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park”) and Stephen Spielberg (“Jurassic Park,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”). Spielberg was not present, but sent a video acceptance message.
“I feel very much a part of you,” Spielberg said. “I feel very much like I am a part of this group, and therefore, this honor really fills me up so deeply.”
For UCLA students, the accessibility to the world of animation is immediate; the Annie Awards has taken place at Royce Hall since its 35th program in 2008, after it outgrew its last venue, the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Calif.
“(The Annie Awards has) had its up years and its down years,” Gladstone said. “But the last several years, it’s only been up.”