Annie Award Winners

I completely forgot to do this when they were announced, but better late than never. The Annie Awards have been handed out (!) and I agree with damn-near all of their choices.

As I wanted, Rango won for best picture. Adam And Dog pulled something of an upset for the short form animation, but I think that it was a good choice among a tough crowd.

I was surprised to see The Simpsons take the award for television work. The Simpsons has been near the bottom of its quality for some time. A few episodes here and there still capture the old Simpsons magic, but nothing like the rejuvenation of creativity that happened in the early 2000's.

The Amazing World of Gumball won for best children's show in a group of total crap, so, kudos?

The technical awards are difficult for me to judge. TinTin won for best effects, and rightfully so. It was a tour-de-force of cool shit on screen. Jennifer Yuh Nelson's win for best director is something that I don't entirely agree with. Again, Rango was a complete paradigm shift. A live action director applied his craft to animation, and the difference in texture was apparent.

Kung Fu Panda 2 had some set pieces and action scenes that were eye-popping, though. It's a close call, but I'd still have to go with Rango. Their final choice is made doubly odd with Rango having won both best picture and best writing, but not best director.

It was a good year. There was a lot of quality and I hope that this momentum holds up going into 2012. Because, man, during the transition from traditional animation to CGI, there was piles and piles of crap clogging up theaters and TV screens. 2011 gave me hope for the future.