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A Letter to Momo, Wind Rises Nominated for Annie Awards
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for the 41st Annual Annie Awards, which will be presented at UCLA in Los Angeles on February 1, 2014. Production I.G and Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo and Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises films have both been nominated in the Best Animated Feature category. The two films are competing against Despicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, Frozen, Monsters University, and The Croods.
Kitaro Kousaka has been nominated for "Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Feature Production" for his work on The Wind Rises, and Miyazaki has also been nominated for "Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated Feature Production" for The Wind Rises.
Additionally, Katsuhiro Ōtomo (Akira, Steamboy, Memories) is being awarded the Winsor McCay Award alongside Steven Spielberg and Phil Tippett. The award is "given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, professional teaching, and for other endeavors which exhibit outstanding contributions to excellence in animation." The society notes that the award "stands as one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation." Kihachiro Kawamoto won the award in 1988, Osamu Tezuka won the award in 1989-1990, and Miyazaki won the award in 1998.
Nickelodeon Animation Studio has been nominated for "Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children's Audience" for its The Legend of Korra show, which was partially animated by Studio Pierrot. The Legend of Korra has two more nominations, for Colin Heck for "Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production," and for Angela Sung, William Niu, Christine Bian, Emily Tetri, and Frederic Stewart for "Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production."
Also nominated in the "Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production" category is Christophe Vacher for Transformers Prime 'Beast Hunters'.
The Wind Rises and A Letter to Momo have also been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 86th Academy Awards to be held on March 2, 2014.
