No More Annie Awards For Disney

Disney’s Pixar may have taken home top honors six out of the last ten times, but that is all changed now. An announcement from Disney today stated they have withdrawn from the Hollywood chapter of the International Animated Film Society, a group who hands out awards for achievment in animation.

Disney has made no secret of its feelings regarding the group in recent years. While not the case with most organizations that hand out awards, Disney feels the group responsible for the Annie Awards allows people to buy into membership, and this, in turn, gives more power to rival DreamWorks. Employees of DreamWorks are reported to receive free membership with this Hollywood guild.

Last year, Disney Pixar’s Oscar-winner for animation, “Wall-E”, was shut out of the Annies, and DreamWork’s “Kung Fu Panda” received a number of the awards. Disney sought changes in the voting process after this.

“We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board,” Ed Catmull, president of Disney Animation and Pixar Animation, said in a statement. “Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns.”

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2 responses to “No More Annie Awards For Disney

  • Pixar has the biggest collective group of egos I’ve ever seen. They’re not satisfied with winning the academy awards almost every year. They’re not satisfied with winning the Annie 6 out 10 times (as stated in this article). They’re not satisfied with all this unnecessary praise from the media on a daily basis. No, Great Almighty Pixar must win EVERYTHING because they’re PIXAR by golly! And it’s a proven “fact” that Dreamworks can’t make a quality film. Kung Fu Panda bombed at the Box Office and was a terrible film, right Pixar???

    Don’t get me wrong. I like Pixar and all their films, but I don’t like the way they brag about being the best every single time, and the monopoly they’ve created within the American animation industry. FYI, I didn’t think UP deserved best animated feature at the Academy awards last year, as 3 or 4 others were just as original ( including the Miyazaki film which wasn’t even nominated! Talk about being “unfair”).

  • That may all be true, Tim.

    But it is also true that whatever value/integrity/cache the Annie Award has enjoyed has been compromised by the way they’ve been managed… And its value will certainly not be enhanced by the future exclusion of the most consistently creative and successful animation studio of the day.

    I hope that Dreamworks and you will be happy with their future recognition.

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