It’s the biggest night you’ve never heard of, and while you may have never seen the faces of those being honored, there’s a good chance you’ve grown up hearing their voices.
On Feb. 6, the 37th Annual Annie Awards will take place in Royce Hall with host William Shatner to celebrate individual animation achievements in the past year. While UCLA’s alumni nominations are relatively sparse this time around, animation’s biggest night continues to grow along with the animation industry.
“They talk about 1939 in Hollywood because it had so many memorable movies. Well, 2009 is animation’s 1939,” said animation historian Jerry Beck. “Usually we have two or three best feature nominees, and this year we have more than five.”
Hosted by ASIFA-Hollywood (a French acronym for the International Animated Film Society) and voted for by its members, the Annies have come a long way since their conception by legendary voice actress June Foray (voice of Rocky the Squirrel) in 1972.
“In many ways, she single-handedly started it,” said ASIFA-Hollywood President Antran Manoogian. “But it was always her vision to make it like the Emmys or the Oscars.”
After 20 years of honoring lifetime achievement, the Annies began heading in that exact direction with the recognition of individual accomplishments for works within the past year. This year, there are several UCLA alumni projects that hope to snag such recognition, as well as the brass zoetrope (a cylinder that spins to create the appearance of moving images) shaped award.
“The Simpsons,” with directing by UCLA alumni David Silverman, Mike Anderson and Chuck Sheetz, is nominated for best animated television production, while Shane Acker’s film “9” garnered two individual accomplishment nominations for animated effects and production design. Alumnus Rob Fendler is also nominated for directing in a television production for his work on “Popzilla.”
According to Sheetz, a current UCLA professor of animation, it is not uncommon for alumni to be nominated in the directing category because of the animation school’s independent film philosophy of “one person, one film.”
“The program teaches you how to do enough where you can direct your own film and you can direct other people,” Sheetz said. “Other art schools emphasize one part of production, and there isn’t that filmmaking background which gives UCLA students an advantage.”
While the Annies made Royce Hall its home just two years ago, the UCLA venue has allowed for the continued expansion of the awards ceremony. Having outgrown its previous home at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and requiring multiple venues for the various events before and after, Manoogian said that Royce fulfilled many of the show’s necessary requirements. It also made it possible to open up the show to fans of animation that wanted a glimpse into the inner workings of the industry.
“The idea was to promote and celebrate animation by giving those that love the art the chance to come and see it,” Manoogian said. “We hope it motivates and inspires fans of animation.”
One such fan includes first-year political science student Monica Davila, who went to last year’s Annies in hopes of meeting her animation heroes John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton from Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios. Davila said that the awards show told her a lot about the people that work within the animation industry.
“Everyone’s so energetic and legitimately happy to win,” Davila said. “Everyone joked about their work, and it showed they had fun with what they do.”
Today the Annies are best known for predicting which film will win the Oscar for best animated feature. But Beck said that the awards show is gaining recognition beyond its best picture winner with the increasing attention being paid to animation in general. At least two or three of the animated films they honor were top 10 at the box office, a concept completely unheard of in the not-so-distant past.
“When I was a kid, “˜cartoons were just for kids,’ that’s what they told us,” Beck said. “The fanboys have grown up, and we’re in Hollywood, so animation is no longer just for kids.”
Whether you’re a kid or just a kid at heart, the craft of animation is a popular one. And we can rest easy knowing the Annie Awards are here to recognize childhood heroes and rising stars of the craft who slave over their animation desks to bring life and story to inanimate objects.
“Animators work the whole year in their pajamas and sneakers,” Beck said. “The Annies are a chance to dry clean our white shirts and suits.”