HOLLYWOOD NEWS

Paramount/Nickelodeon’s adventurous chameleon “Rango” rode off with top picture honors Saturday, February 4, at the 39th annual Annie Awards.

On the television side, “The Simpsons” picked up its 13th Annie for best television production.

In addition to best pic, “Rango” nabbed trophies for character design (Mark “Crash” McCreery), writing (John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Byrkit) and editing (Craig Wood).

Presented by the Intl. Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, the Annies went through a number of changes last year, including new voting rules and the addition of new categories, which appear to have resulted in a very mixed field. Awards were spread out among a variety of projects and studios. Nickelodeon, which partnered with Paramount on “Rango” and DreamWorks Animation on TV’s “Kung Fu Panda — Secrets of the Masters” and “Penguins of Madagascar,” led with seven, followed by Disney with six and DWA with five. As for individual projects, Disney’s TV special “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice” tied “Rango” with four nods.

In an Annie rarity, the feature directing nod did not go to the helmer of the best pic winner. Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who helmed DWA’s “Kung Fu Panda 2″ beat out “Rango’s” Verbinski. The last time this happened was 2007 when “Over the Hedge” (DWA) helmers Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick won over best pic winner “Cars,” directed by Pixar’s John Lasseter. Prior to that was in 1997. Ron Clements and John Musker took home the directing trophy for Disney’s “Hercules,” but lost best pic to Turner Feature Animation’s “Cats Don’t Dance.”

What does all this mean for the animated Oscar race? The Annies haven’t been much of an Oscar bellwether of late. While Annie winners went on to win the Oscar in 2001 through 2005, they’ve only matched since in 2007 and 2009, missing last year when the Annie went to DWA’s “How to Train Your Dragon” and the Oscar went to Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3.”

Of the other Oscar nominees, “Puss in Boots,” “A Cat in Paris” and “Chico & Rita” were shut out at the Annies.

Amblin’s “The Adventures of Tintin” and “Kung Fu Panda 2″ scored two Annies each. “Tintin” won for composer John Williams’ score and animated effects in an animated production (Kevin Romond). In addition to Nelson’s win for helming, “Panda 2″ picked up a nod for production design (Raymond Zilbach).

Other feature winners were “Rio” for character animation (Jeff Gabor), Disney’s “Winnie the Pooh” for storyboarding (Jeremy Spears) and Bill Nighy’s voice perf as Grandsanta in Sony/Aardman’s “Arthur Christmas.”

In the television categories, Gracie Films’ long-running “The Simpsons” won its 13th Annie for best general audience television production, it’s first win in the category since 2003. Homer and family had a lock on that category from 1992 until 2003, winning 12 in a row. “The Simpsons” took home three Annies in total, also winning for directing (Matthew Nastuk) and writing (Carolyn Omine, “Treehouse of Horror XXII”).

“Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice” scored its four Annies with character animation (Tony Smeed), character design (Bill Schwab), music (Grace Potter and Michael Giacchino) and storyboarding (Brian Kesinger).

Special honors went to Walt Peregoy, Borge Ring and Ronald Searle (Winsor McCay Award); Art Leonardi (June Foray Award); and Depth Analysis (Special Achievement).

Following is a complete list of winners:

Best Animated Feature

“Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production

Best Animated Special Production

“Kung Fu Panda – Secrets of the Masters” – Nickeloden and DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Short Subject

“Adam and Dog” – Minkyu Lee

Best Animated Television Commercial

Twinings “Sea” – Psyop

Best General Audience Animated TV Production

“The Simpsons” – Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production – Preschool

“Disney Jake and the Never Land Pirates” – Disney Television Animation

Best Animated Television Production – Children

“The Amazing World of Gumball” – Cartoon Network in Association with Dandelion Studios, Boulder Media & Studio Soi

Best Animated Videogame

“Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet “- Shadow Planet Prods., Gagne/Fuelcell

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

Kevin Romond — “Tintin,” Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

Animated Effects in a Live-Action Production

Florent Andorra — “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Industrial Light & Magic

Character Animation in a Television Production

Tony Smeed — “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice”

Character Animation in a Feature Production

Jeff Gabor — “Rio” Blue Sky Studios

Character Animation in a Live-Action Production

Eric Reynolds — “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” 20th Century Fox

Character Design in a Television Production

Bill Schwab –”Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice ”

Character Design in a Feature Production

Mark “Crash” McCreery — “Rango”

Directing in a Television Production

Matthew Nastuk — “The Simpsons”

Directing in a Feature Production

Jennifer Yuh Nelson — “Kung Fu Panda 2″ DreamWorks Animation

Music in a Television Production

Grace Potter, Michael Giacchino– “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice”

Music in a Feature Production

John Williams — “Tintin”

Production Design in a Television Production

Mark Bodnar, Chris Tsirgiotis, Sue Mondt and Daniel Elson — “Secret Mountain Fort Awesome,” Cartoon Network Studios

Production Design in a Feature Production

Raymond Zilbach — “Kung Fu Panda 2″

Storyboarding in a Television Production

Brian Kesinger — “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice”

Storyboarding in a Feature Production

Jeremy Spears — “Winnie the Pooh,” Walt Disney Animation Studios

Voice Acting in a Television Production

Jeff Bennett as Kowalski — “Penguins of Madagascar,” Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production

Bill Nighy as Grandsanta — “Arthur Christmas,” Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations

Writing in a Television Production

Carolyn Omine –”The Simpsons -Treehouse of Horror XXII”

Writing in a Feature Production

John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Byrkit — “Rango”

Editing in Television Production

Ted Machold, Jeff Adams, Doug Tiano, Bob Tomlin — “Penguins of Madagascar,” Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation

Editing in a Feature Production

Craig Wood, A.C.E. — “Rango”

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award – Walt Peregoy, Borge Ring, Ronald Searle

June Foray – Art Leonardi

Special Achievement – Depth Analysis