The Annie Awards present unique recognition to the best in animated films and television series. There were a number of quality animated films up for the 2011 movie year, but "Rango" took home the honors for Best Animated Feature. "The Simpsons" won for television.
Ten different movies were eligible for the Best Animated Feature award, including all five Oscar-nominated films as well as Golden Globe winner "The Adventures of Tintin," which was inexplicably left off of the list of Oscar nominees. In honor of the Annie Awards, here is a look at the animated films that highlighted 2011.
"Rango"
"Rango's" Annie Award, subsequent Academy Award nomination, and the movie's overall success help prove Paramount will be just fine despite losing its contract with DreamWorks. Johnny Depp voices Rango, a pet chameleon that ends up in a "Chinatown"-style town with a water deficiency. Rango ends up a self-invented hero, setting out to find water and save the town.
The story zips along with a voice cast that includes Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina, and Ray Winstone. It was directed by "Pirates of the Caribbean's" Gore Verbinski, reuniting with Depp on this animated project. "Rango" scores points for being one of the most original efforts of 2011.
"Arthur Christmas"
Aardman Animation returned in 2011, but instead of stop-motion claymation, the studio went back to CGI similar to "Flushed Away." What resulted is "Arthur Christmas," Aardman's best movie this side of "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit."
In the movie, Santa Claus operates his Christmas Eve trip with the help of a giant mission control room run by one of his two sons. However, when one child is missed, it is up to Santa's awkward son Arthur to save Christmas for that one child.
James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Annie Award winner Bill Nighy lend their voice talents to the movie, directed by newcomer Sarah Smith. "Arthur Christmas" received nominations from the Golden Globes, Annies, and Oscars. Aardman will return to claymation in 2012 with "The Pirates! Band of Misfits."
"The Adventures of Tintin"
In one of the more shocking omissions, the Oscars completely ignored Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's "Adventures of Tintin." The only recognition the movie received was for the musical score, and I can only assume that is because of the Academy's bias against motion-capture. Spielberg directed the movie based on the classic Belgian comic "Tntin," the tale of a young reporter and his misadventures.
While the Oscars never considered the movie for their animation category, it won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature and received five Annie nominations. Among the nominations at the Annies, "Tintin" was up for Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Effects, Best Music, Best Writing, and Best Editing. The voice case was an all-star group, led by Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost.
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