Pixar’s Monsters University and Toy Story of TERROR! have received many well-deserved nominations across multiple categories for the 41st Annual Annie Awards taking place on February 1, 2014. We cannot praise the cast and crew members on each team enough for such a great addition to the Pixar library of feature films. While there were some disappointments, such as the exclusion of Saschka Unseld’s beautiful work, The Blue Umbrella, we were pleased to see so many great artists honored by these nominations. (We’ll chat more about the nomination exclusions after the list of nominees.)
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (10 NOMINATIONS)
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
Animated Effects in an Animated Production
- Alen Lai, David Quirus, Diego Garzon Sanchez, Ilan Gabai – Epic – Blue Sky Studios David Jones – Dragons: Defenders of Berk – DreamWorks Animation
- Joshua Jenny, Jason Johnston, Matthew Wong, Eric Froemling, Enrique Vila – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Jeff Budsberg, Andre Le Blanc, Louis Flores, Jason Mayer – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- Greg Gladstone, Nikita Pavlov, Allen Ruilova, Matt Titus, Can Yuksel – Turbo – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Feature Production
- Thom Roberts – Epic – Blue Sky Studios
- Jonathan Del Val – Despicable Me 2 – Universal Pictures
- Jakob Jensen – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- John Chun Chiu Lee – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Kitaro Kosaka – The Wind Rises – The Walt Disney Studios
- Tony Smeed – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Patrick Imbert – Ernest & Celestine – GKIDS
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
- Carter Goodrich, Takao Noguchi, Shane Prigmore – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- Sylvain Deboissy, Shannon Tindle – Turbo – DreamWorks Animation
- Craig Kellman – Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 – Sony Pictures Animation
- Chris Sasaki – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Christophe Lourdelet – A Monster in Paris – Shout! Factory
- Eric Guillon – Despicable Me 2 – Universal Pictures
- Bill Schwab – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
- Christophe Lautrette, Paul Duncan, Dominique R. Louis – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon – Despicable Me 2 – Universal Pictures
- Michael Knapp, Greg Couch, William Joyce – Epic – Blue Sky Studios
- Zaza, Zyk – Ernest & Celestine – GKIDS
- Ricky Nierva, Robert Kondo, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Michael Giaimo, Lisa Keene, David Womersley – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
- Steven MacLeod – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- Eric Favela – Despicable Me 2 – Universal Pictures
- Dean Kelly – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Jason Hand – Planes - Disneytoon Studios
- John Ripa – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
- Daniel Pennac – Ernest & Celestine – GKIDS
- Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird, Dan Scanlon – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Miyazaki Hayao – The Wind Rises - The Walt Disney Studios
- Jennifer Lee – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
- Darren Holmes – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- James Ryan – Turbo – DreamWorks Animation
- Fabienne Alvarez-Giro – Ernest & Celestine – GKIDS
- Greg Snyder, Gregory Amundson, Steve Bloom – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Jeff Draheim – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Music in an Animated Feature Production
- Alan Silvestri – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation
- Henry Jackman – Turbo – DreamWorks Animation
- Mark Mothersbaugh – Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 – Sony Pictures Animation
- Heitor Pereira, Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2 – Universal Pictures
- Danny Elfman – Epic – Blue Sky Studios
- Randy Newman – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Christophe Beck – Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Dominic Lewis – Free Birds – Reel FX
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
- Paul Giamatti as the voice of Chet – Turbo
- – DreamWorks Animation
- Terry Crews as the voice of Earl – Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2
- – Sony Pictures Animation
- Kristen Wiig as the voice of Lucy – Despicable Me 2
- – Universal Pictures
- Steve Carell as the voice of Gru – Despicable Me 2
- – Universal Pictures
- Pierre Coffin as the voice of Minions – Despicable Me 2
- – Universal Pictures
- Billy Crystal as the voice of Mike – Monsters University – Pixar Animation Studios
- Josh Gad as the voice of Olaf – Frozen
- – Walt Disney Animation Studios
TOY STORY OF TERROR! (7 Nominations in 5 Categories)
Best Animated Special Production
- Chipotle Scarecrow – Moonbot Studios
- Listening Is an Act of Love – StoryCorps
- Room on the Broom – Magic Light Pictures
- Toy Story OF TERROR! – Pixar Animation Studios
Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
- Brad Schaffer – Friendship All-Stars of Friendship: Wrong Number
- – Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
- Eric Urban – Ubermansion
- – Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
- JC Tran Quang Thieu – Toy Story OF TERROR! – Pixar Animation Studios
- David DeVan – Toy Story OF TERROR! – Pixar Animation Studios
- Kureha Yokoo – Toy Story OF TERROR! – Pixar Animation Studios
- Keith Kellogg – Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lucasfilm Animation
Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
- Colin Heck – The Legend of Korra – Nickelodeon Animation
- Elaine Bogan – Dragons: Defenders of Berk – DreamWorks Animation
- Stephan Franck – The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow – Sony Pictures Animation
- John Aoshima – Disney Gravity Falls – Disney Television Animation
- Aaron Springer – Disney Mickey Mouse – Disney Television Animation
- Angus MacLane – Toy Story OF TERROR! – Pixar Animation Studios
- Harold Harris – Justin Time – Guru Studio
Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
- Piero Piluso – Monsters vs. Aliens – Nickelodeon Animation Studio
- Douglas Lovelace – Dragons: Riders of Berk – DreamWorks Animation
- Adam Ford, Deke Wightman, Kevin Mellon, Justin Wagner, Benji Williams – Archer – FX Networks
- Alonso Ramos-Ramirez – Disney Mickey Mouse – Disney Television Animation
- Daniel Chong – Toy Story of TERROR! – Pixar Animation Studios
- Alonso Ramos-Ramirez – Gravity Falls – Disney Television Animation
- Guillermo Del Toro, Guy Davis, Ralph Sosa – The Simpsons – “Treehouse of Horror XXIV” – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV
- Paul Watling – Justin Time – Guru Studio
Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
- Adam Arnold, Hugo Morales, Davrick Waltjen – Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness –
- Nickelodeon Animation Studio
- Myra Lopez, Ana Adams, Justin Baker – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles –
- Nickelodeon Animation Studio
- Lynn Hobson – Dragons: Defenders of Berk –
- DreamWorks Animation
- Illya Owens – Disney Mickey Mouse –
- Disney Television Animation
- Axel Geddes, Kathy Graves, Chloe Kloezeman – Toy Story OF TERROR!
- – Pixar Animation Studios
- Paul D. Calder – Futurama
- – 20th Century Fox Television
- Paul Douglas – Adventure Time
- – Cartoon Network Studios
- Jason W.A. Tucker – Star Wars: The Clone Wars –
- Lucasfilm Animation
OUR FEELINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS
Now that you’ve had a chance to review the awards for which Pixar was nominated, let’s review our thoughts and feedback – (for the full list of all non-Pixar-related nominations, visit the Annie Awards nominations page). Being nominated for any award is a great honor but there were a few that we feel were excluded from this list (that we would have certainly like to have seen included).
The Blue Umbrella
Obviously, the most glaring exclusion is The Blue Umbrella, which was also shut out from an Oscar nomination just a few weeks ago. When compared against the competition, we still strongly feel that The Blue Umbrella certainly should hold a place among the others nominated.
Monsters University
We were rather surprised to also see Dan Scanlon excluded from the list of nominated directors for feature film. All you have to do to determine that Dan should have been included among the other nominees is watch the extra features on the Blu Ray and you’ll feel the heart and dedication that Dan exuded on this project. But, if there’s one thing that Monsters University taught us, it’s that sometimes even the hardest work and dedication doesn’t make you a winner – in this instance, we feel the film is mirroring reality.
We were very happy to see Dan Scanlon (included along with Dan Gerson and Robert Baird) nominated for the Writing in an Animated Feature Production. As the team talked about, the challenge with a prequel is that we all know how it ends and they had to tell the story in a way that made us want the ending to be different than what we already know. The team achieved this feat in spades and were able to mirror the heart and humor of Monsters, Inc. as well.
Toy Story of TERROR!
Pixar’s first television special was well represented in the nomination category in our opinion, but we would have also have loved to see the inclusion of Michael Giacchino’s wonderful score included among the list of nominees.
What are your thoughts on the Annie Award Nominations? Chat about it on the Pixar Post Forum.