The Annies Awards night was an interesting experience and we are honored to have participated in this year’s grand event.
Tom Kenny was hilarious as the MC, and it was a hoot to see William Shatner (in miniature, from where we were sitting) amongst other animation legends. If we hadn’t rushed to the banquet afterwards to avoid the long queues, we might’ve seeked out Shatner for his autograph…
Some thoughts and questions that spring to mind, and this is purely subjective, of course.
Would it be fairer if …
… separate voting categories were assigned to 2D and 3D shows? (2D = hand-drawn/traditional/flash, 3D = CG/stop motion) How does one compare a music video like Bastard Wants to Hit Me with a live-action/CG commercial like GE “Tower” in the “Best Animated Commercial” category? The two nominations seem worlds apart. And in the “Best Animated Feature” category, how does one choose between a Miyazaki and an Aardman?
But having said this… If The Annies were to split things up into 2D/3D it might lessen the magnitude of the “Best Animated Feature” or “Best TV Production” awards. e.g., if Wallace & Gromit got best 3D Picture, that doesn’t mean they were the BEST overall animated film.
… separate voting categories were assigned to demographic-related TV productions? There were over 60 submissions for the “Best TV Production” category…ranging from Saturday morning kids’ fare, to pre-school, adult comedies, and primetime family sitcoms. And to complicate the judging process, there was 2D, 3D, rotoscoping, you name it.
In any Annie Awards, it seems unlikely that a well-made ‘movement-limited’ CG preschool show (regardless of whether we would personally watch it) would ever get a chance of being nominated next to a cartoony “6-11 Action” hit. Would it be fairer if Preschool and Adult animation had their own voting categories? How does one nominate or vote for “Best Writing in a TV Production” knowing that writers for adult shows abide by different limitations imposed on writers for kid shows?
… there was a “Best Foreign Animation” category? 99% of the submissions appear to be American productions. It would be great to see more international productions added to the mix, but not only this, does it not seem fair to have American features compete with Japanese features given that these are two very culturally/philosophically different storytelling traditions? (Hmmm… would Wallace & Gromit be considered a foreign feature?)
OK. Will get off soapbox now. Thanks to ASIFA for an enlightening and inspiring experience!
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