The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) have announced the nominees for the annual Annie Awards, to be presented at UCLA (in Los Angeles) on February 5th. The Annies are a big deal these days, as they are often (but not always) a good predictor for how the voting will go at the Academy Awards later next year. Now as you may recall, there has been some controversy regarding the Annie Awards this year: Disney and Pixar have withheld their official support, citing what they feel are unfair voting practices that tilt things against them. Whether or not there’s any truth to that or not, the fact remains that Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon has clearly dominated this year’s Annie nominations, with a total of 15. Megamind and Shrek Forever After were also high on the nomination list, with six and five, respectively. On the Disney/Pixar side, Toy Story 3 picked up three nominations while Tangled picked up two. In the TV Animation categories, heavily nominated items included The Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, Scared Shrekless, Star Wars: Clone Wars, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and eternal favorite Robot Chicken. The Best Animated Video Game Category returned this year and, interestingly, this year there is a new category: Best Character Animation in a Live Action Movie. Only two nominees for the latter: Clash of the Titans and Alice in Wonderland. To see the full list of nominees and find out more about getting tickets to the show, visit the Annie Awards web site.
TV Series
Tiny Warriors looking to take on the World
Tiny Warriors is a new 2D animated series in development at Toonzone Studios. Created by David Feiss (who brought us the hit TV series Cow and Chicken), this new show tells the tale of four young animals — Taekwand0 Monkey, Kendo Porcupine, Aikido Elephant, and Kung Pow Chicken — who study together in a forest dojo under the tutelage of Master Moose. In order to protect the ultimate martial arts move, “The Ancient Touch”, our heroes must band together and fight against Master Moose’s former friend and now arch-rival, the Gerbil. You read it here folks. Tiny Warriors is currently seeking distribution, as well as licensing agreements for the massively popular martial-arts tie-in market.
TUFF Puppy is coming your way
Butch Hartman is a busy busy man. The creator of the hit Nickelodeon shows The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom has yet another 2D animation show called T.U.F.F. Puppy, premiering this September on Saturday mornings. According to Animation Magazine, the show “…follows the adventures of the enthusiastic Dudley Puppy who is recruited to work for the mysterious Turbo Underground Fighting Force (T.U.F.F.) along with the sophisticated Kitty Katswell (think a feline version of Emma Peel!).” Our heroes find themselves in a constant battle with the master super-villain known as Verminious Snaptrap.
image c. 2010 Nickelodeon
Restless Nights and Disney Afternoons
In his post from Friday, August 6th on jimhillmedia.com, Jim Hill interviews Jymn Magon about his upcoming series of “webinars” recalling his long career making TV series for the Walt Disney Company and others in Hollywood. If you didn’t already know, Jymn Magon is the creative mind behind such shows as The Gummi Bears, Tale Spin, and Goof Troop — as well as the writer of A Goofy Movie. He has also, if you didn’t know, been a Guest of Honor at his share of furry fandom conventions, starting with ConFurence 3 in 1992. Now he’s presenting the first of his webinars, “Restless Nights and Disney Afternoons”, on Saturday the 7th of August. In it he plans to discuss the fine art of “Creating Hit Shows”. Both this presentation and future ones will feature question-and-answer sessions as well. If you’d like to sign up for this or any future webinars, visit Jymn’s web site to find out more.
Yogi Bear. In 3D.
In the “Where the heck did this come from?” department… Warner Brothers is releasing a new live-action-with-CGI Yogi Bear movie this coming December 17th. Starring as the voice of the animated Yogi is none other than Dan Aykroyd, with Justin Timberlake (!) as the voice of Yogi’s little bear-friend Boo-Boo. And yes, it’s all about grabbing pic-a-nic baskets and running away from Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh). The new Real-3D film is directed by Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth). You can check out the brand new trailer on YouTube and see what you think.
Now It Can Be Told!
The 2010 Ursa Major Awards, celebrating the best in anthropomorphic art, writing, and other media were presented at FurAffinity United on Sunday, May 30th. 2 the Ranting Gryphon hosted the show and presented the awards. From the Ursa Major Awards web site: “More formally known as the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Award, the Ursa Major Award is presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. It is intended as Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalent of the Hugo Award ® presented by the World Science Fiction Society, mystery fandom’s Anthony Award, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Award, and so forth.” This year more than 1,100 fans from more than a dozen countries world wide took part in nominating and voting for the Ursa Major Awards. The most yet!
And here, now, are the nominees and winners in each of 10 categories.
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Game, the nominees were:
- Earth Eternal (created by Sparkplay Media)
- G-Force – The Video Game (Developed by Keen Studios, published by Disney Interactive)
- Predation, the Board Game (created by Quentin Long)
- Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Developed by Insomniac Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment)
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration, the nominees were:
- Blotch: Cover for Out of Position by Kyell Gold
- Patrick Farley: “Gaia’s Strange Seedlike Brood” from Thoughtcrime Experiment
- Jailbird: “It’s Beautiful” from “Trading Wishes” by Kevin Frane
- Kenket: Illustration for New Coyote from Anthrozine.com
- Sara Palmer: Cover for Jasmyn by Bernard Doove
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Blotch, for the Out of Position cover.
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Magazine, the nominees were:
- Anthro
- Heat
- New Fables
- South Fur Lands
- Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Heat
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip, the nominees were:
- Dan and Mab’s Furry Adventures by Amber M. Williams
- Doc Rat by Jenner
- Freefall by Mark Stanley
- Housepets! by Rick Griffin
- Kevin and Kell by Bill Holbrook
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Housepets!
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story (with continuous story arcs) the nominees were:
- Concession by Immelman
- Furthia High by QuetzaDrake
- Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler
- TwoKinds by Tom Fischbach
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Concession
In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work, the nominees were:
- Bloom County – The Complete Collection, Volume 1, by Berke Breathed, published by Idea & Design Works
- Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals, by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, published by Impact
- The First Book of Lapism, by Phil Geusz, published by Anthro Press
- Who Are The Furries? by Denise Winterman, from BBC News
- X, edited by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals
In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction, the nominees were:
- “Drifting”, by By Kyell Gold, from FurAffinity.net
- “Moonthief”, by Not Tube, from X by Sofawolf Press
- “Stop the World”, by Kyell Gold, from Anthrozine.com
- “Thou Shalt Not Make Wrongful Use of the Name of Thy Lord”, by Whyte Yote, from X by Sofawolf Press
- “Trading Wishes”, by Kevin Frane, from FurAffinity.net
And the Ursa Major Award went to: “Drifting”
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Novel, the nominees were:
- Bone Crossed, by Patricia Briggs, published by Ace Books
- Cheetah’s Win, by Phil Geusz, published by Anthrozine.com
- Jazmyn, by Bernard Doove, published by CreateSpace
- Out of Position, by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
- Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, by David Benidictus, published by Dutton Juvenile
- The Unscratchables, by Cornelius Kane, published by Scribner
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Out of Position
In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Subject or Series, the nominees were:
- The Cat Piano (from the People’s Republic of Animation, directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson)
- Partly Cloudy (from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation, directed by Peter Sohn)
- The Penguins of Madagascar (produced by Dreamworks Animation for Nickelodeon)
- Prep and Landing (from Walt Disney Pictures Animation, directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers)
- The Secret Saturdays (produced by Cartoon Network)
And the Ursa Major Award went to: The Penguins of Madagascar
In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture, the nominees were:
- Avatar (from 20th Century Fox, directed by James Cameron)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (from 20th Century Fox, directed by Wes Anderson)
- The Princess and the Frog (from Walt Disney Pictures Animation, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker)
- Up (from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
- Where the Wild Things Are (from Warner Brothers, Directed by Spike Jonze)
And the Ursa Major Award went to: Avatar
The staff of InFurNation.com wish to extend our congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and winners — as well as all of the fans who took the time to participate in the nominations and voting! Remember to visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about how to nominate the best in anthropomorphics from 2010 for the 2011 awards.
Upcoming Dreamworks Sequels and Spin-offs
DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg spoke with The Hollywood Reporter recently about current and future film projects. According to him, How to Train Your Dragon has reached that magical turning point where it will definitely have a sequel — currently scheduled for release in the summer of 2013. There is also a TV series, a virtual game environment, and a live stadium show similar to Walking with Dinosaurs (!) in the works. In addition there’s Scared Shrekless, a Halloween special coming this fall, to be followed by a Kung Fu Panda TV special sometime after Thanksgiving — but don’t, says Mr. Katzenberg, call it a Christmas special.
Coming Soon from Archaia
Archaia Entertainment (not to be confused with Arcana Studio, which we were talking about recently) is bringing out two limited-edition comic books of interest in the near future. Fraggle Rock #1 is the first of a four-issue full-color miniseries based on the original Jim Henson TV series (of course). Not adaptations of the TV episodes, this comic (starting up in April) will present brand-new adventures of Gobo, Red, Mokey, Boober, Wembly, and all their friends in their underground world. In the future, Archaia will be teaming up with Jim Henson Studios to produce new comic books based on The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, also. Meanwhile, closer to home, we have the preview comic for Berona’s Hundred Year War. The full-color graphic novel by Jesse Labbe and Anthony Coffey is forthcoming, but for now we have this 40-page preview. The Ele-Alta and the Cropones are two races of cute, furry, cuddly creatures… locked in an ages-old war of death and destruction with each other. Can anything break them out of the cycle of war?
