The International Animated Film Society announced on Monday that both “Toy Story 3” and the animated short “Day and Night” had been nominated for Annie Awards. While “Day and Night” was nominated in one category, for Best Animated Short Subject, “Toy Story 3” was nominated for three awards: Best Animated Feature; Directing in a Feature Production (for Lee Unkrich); and Writing in a Feature Production (for Michael Arndt.)
While not completely unexpected, the nominations are somewhat surprising, since Walt Disney Studios and Pixar announced in August that they would no longer support the Annies’ governing body, ASIFA-Hollywood, and had no intention of submitting “Toy Story 3” for awards consideration. Walt Disney and Pixar have expressed dissatisfaction with what they consider to be unfair and inappropriate consideration for the work of their biggest competitor, Dreamworks.
Even though it is certainly an achievement that “Toy Story 3” has been nominated for multiple Annies without being submitted, it is unfortunate that the boycott has resulted in the critically acclaimed and commercially successful film being overlooked in individual achievement categories that would recognize the quality of its animation and character development.
The 38th Annual Annie Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 5, 2011, in Los Angeles.
