RATATOUILLE SWEEPS ANNIE AWARDS ON ANIMATION'S BIGGEST NIGHT, PERFECTLY TIMED AS "THE YEAR OF THE RAT" BEGINS

report by Don Rose

The 35th Annual Annie Awards honored the best in 2007 animation on February 8, 2008. The show featured many celeb presenters and an eclectic audience filled with top talent in animation, voiceover, writing and other areas of creative production. This being The LA Report's first Annies, we were thoroughly impressed. The show was funny, well paced, never seemed to drag, and featured many touching, inspiring and downright hilarious moments. Presenter James Hong pointed out (after wishing us Happy Chinese New Year) that this is The Year of the Rat -- so apropos, as Pixar favorite "Ratatouille" won 9 Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.

This year the venue was moved from the Alex Theatre in Glendale to UCLA’s Royce Hall (see image), and the event was flawless and fun, hosted by the always-hysterical Tom Kenny (former top comic who has gone on to animation legendhood as the voice of Spongebob Squarepants). One of the ceremony's funniest moments came after Tom lost out in his voiceover category. Acting (mock) sad and deeply disappointed, Tom's fellow Spongebob voice actors rally to him and soon, his verve back, Kenny tells us to watch a clip that will show how big a range of voice talent he and his fellow Spongebobians can display. The resultant clips of Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain and The Godfather, as (re-)voiced by Kenny and Team Squarepants, could have won the ROTFL Kneeslapper Award of the night, on a night filled with many more magical moments and laugh-out-loud lines.

The post awards party was equally stellar, featuring much animated dialogue (pun not intended, I swear) and buffets filled with top notch gourmet food (including polenta with salmon, risotto, shrimp with mushrooms, salad, delectable desserts - and, surprisingly, no Ratatouille!). Guests also enjoyed several open bars, plus the smooth surf sounds and twangy tones of The Blue Hawaiians, sponsored by MyToons.com.

As Weird Al Yankovic (a presenter and nominee this year) was giving an autograph, I asked him something I always wondered about: on those song parodies he's famous for, can he just rely on Fair Use to get by, or does he always ask permission from the songwriters who wrote the original tunes? I expected the latter, and he confirmed that. Al said that Fair Use is a gray area, and while he might be able to rely on it (his remakes being obvious parodies), he always asks permission. (And, as I recall, he usually gets it.) As for song credit (my next question), he said the original writer gets full music credit, and splits the lyric credit (so, he pointed out, the lyrics to "Eat It" are by Michael Jackson and Weird Al Yankovic, music by Michael Jackson). Now I can't help but wonder how many wonderfully bizarre songwriting "teams" must be out there in parodysongcreditland, to discover and get a chuckle from.

While The Annie Awards is billed as a black tie optional event (and some of those classic penguinish outfits were indeed on display, perhaps a fitting nod to Sony's multi-nominated film "Surf's Up"), we expected that many folks in this creative field (this being LA after all) might laxify the attire requirement, and happily we were right (The LA Report being in the loose-definition-of-black-tie camp).

All in all, this was one wonderful event. I give a very strong recommendation to our readers to attend the Annie Awards next year, especially if you work in animation, love watching animation, or just want to see the coolest award statue ever (with an actual working zoetrope -- in gold, of course -- that spins and has a little movie inside!). Special thanks to ASIFA-Hollywood, Melanie Crandall, and Gretchen Dixon for their assistance on this event.

"Ratatouille," Pixar Animation's tale of a rat who wants to be a chef, won the award for best feature production. Other nominees in that category: DreamWorks' "Bee Movie," Sony Pictures' "Surf's Up," Sony Pictures Classics' "Persepolis" and Fox's "The Simpsons Movie." "Ratatouille" also won writing and directing for Brad Bird, best voice acting for Ian Holm, best character animation, music, storyboarding, and production design. "Surf's Up," Sony's story about surfing penguins, won for animated effects and animation production artist. In the TV arena, Nickelodeon's "El Tigre" won best animated production for children and character design, while ShadowMachine's "Robot Chicken" won for character animation and directing. For a list of all winners and nominees, click here.

JAN. 2: "FUTURAMA" DEBUTS ON COMEDY CENTRAL®, 8:00 P.M. ET

COMEDY CENTRAL Will Air All 72 Episodes of "Futurama" Along With Four World Television Premiere "Futurama" Movies, Including "Bender's Big Score" Which Is Scheduled To Air In First Quarter Of 2008

During Premiere Week, Two Back-To-Back Episodes Of "Futurama" Will Air Wednesday Through Friday From 8:00 P.M. To 9:00 P.M.; After Premiere Week, Episodes Will Air Monday - Thursday At 9:00 P.M. & Fridays At 9:00 P.M. And 9:30 P.M.

Greetings, Earthlings! Matt Groening's Emmy Award -winning animated series "Futurama" premieres on COMEDY CENTRAL Wednesday, January 2 at 8:00 p.m. COMEDY CENTRAL will begin to air all 72 existing episodes of "Futurama" along with four "Futurama" DVD movies, including "Bender's Big Score," "Bender's Game," "The Beast with a Billion Backs" and "Into the Wild Green Yonder." "Bender's Big Score," released on DVD this year, will air in the First Quarter of 2008.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life—and a "diverse" new group of friends including Turanga LeeLa (Katey Sagal), a tough, but lovely one-eyed alien, and Bender (John DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws. The show also features guest stars such as Sarah Silverman, Hank Azaria, Bob Odenkirk, Pamela Anderson, Beatrice Arthur, Lucy Liu, Beck and Coolio.

"Futurama" aired on Fox from 1999 to 2003 and the series consists of 72 episodes. The series was nominated five years in a row and won three Emmys including its award for "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002. "Futurama" is produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television. Matt Groening created and executive produces the show, with co-executive producers David X. Cohen, Ken Keeler and Eric Horsted.

BEST OF 2007: SCI-FI ANIMATION: FUTURAMA - MARATHON DEC.26-31 ON ADULT SWIM, CARTOON NETWORK

Adult Swim has done Futurama marathons before, but this is the Mother of All Futuramarathons: every episode, ever! From Dec. 26 to Dec. 31. Then, we are told, Futurama moves from Cartoon Network to Comedy Central in 2008.

For a taste of this amazing show, which wonderfully blends comedy and science fiction in a future 1000 years from now, here is a (musical) clip: http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c39216f1dfe40116f3f09e990010
...and...
Here are some posts with more Futurama info, from the Runescape Community website:

After 5 long years, Adult Swim's contract with Futurama has ended, and for whatever reason they're not renewing it. However, to honor this amazing show, Adult Swim has decided to air every single episode from December 26-31. After this marathon, Futurama will not be aired again, at least not on Adult Swim, and they are the only channel I know that shows it. So, get your TiVos ready, an era is ending.
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In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the exclusive cable syndication rights to air Futurama's 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Cartoon Network's contract. It was cited as the largest and most expensive acquisition in the network's history.