For months I have taken shot after shot from the Wall-E faithful, because I preferred KUNG FU PANDA. Well...so does the International Animation Society, as they handed out some 15 Annie Awards to the film last night! Besting the record set by Pixar's RATATOUILLE only last year with its nine awards.
Now, to be clear, I enjoyed WALL-E a great deal...and on many levels. It is a beautiful picture and THOMAS NEWMAN's score functions very well within. And, to be honest, I thought WALL-E would win more than KUNG FU PANDA (please, don't even bring up BOLT). When it comes to the Oscars though...I still expect a different turn out.
As much as I love Pixar films (although Ratatouille seemed to get a bit more praise than I thought it was due), it is great to see another Animation studio get in there and show that they can make a quality feature. Some of Dreamworks other animated features have left A LOT to be desired, so I'm very pleased to see them produce something this good and even more pleased to see them get rewarded for their efforts.
The fifteen awards included the Annie for Music in an Animated Feature film, so congrats to HANS ZIMMER and JOHN POWELL are due. Zimmer and Powell also won another award, along with HENRY JACKMAN for their work on the related short, THE SECRETS OF THE FURIOUS FIVE.
You can see the Panda's total domination here.
