“The Boxtrolls,”Focus Features/Laika’s stop-motion marvel, tops the 42 annual Annie Awards noms with 13 bids, leading a field of eight animated features vying for the toon world’s highest honor.
DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is next with 10 noms followed by Disney’s “Big Hero 6” and GKIDS/Cartoon Saloon’s “Song of the Sea” with seven each. Rounding out the field are Bill Plympton’s “Cheatin’,” Reel FX’s “The Book of Life,” Warner Bros.’ “The LEGO Movie” and “GKIDS/Studio Ghibli’s “The Tale of Princess Kayuga.”
Between it’s film and TV properties, Disney snagged the most nominations overall with 28, followed by DreamWorks Animation with 21.
The race for the animated feature prize is more wide open than ever this year. This marks the first year that Pixar hasn’t had an animated feature in the in the awards race since it moved “The Good Dinosaur” into 2015, where it will square off with stablemate “Inside Out.” However, Pixar scored noms for its TV project “Toy Story That Time Forgot,” giving Pixar a total of six bids.
Receiving special awards from ASIFA-Hollywood will be Didier Brunner, Don Lusk and Lee Mendelson, who will receive the Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to animation; Charles Solomon, who will receive the June Foray Award for benevolent or charitable impact on the animation industry; DreamWorks Animation’s Apollo Software will receive the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement; and the Walt Disney Family Museum will receive a Special Achievement Award.
Online balloting will open on Jan. 2 and the deadline to submit ballots is Jan. 19. The awards ceremony will take place on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus.
