Wendy Tilby & Amanda Forbis, James Baxter, TV Paint Among Juried Annie Awards Recipients
The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation are being presented to four recipients, judged by ASIFA-Hollywood Board, and presented within the 2018 Annie Awards ceremony.
The Canadian duo of Wendy Tilby & Amanda Forbis, Oscar-nominated for both When The Day Breaks and Wild Life, are the joint recipients for their National Film Board of Canada distinctive animation work.
British character animator James Baxter, who created both Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Quasimodo in The Bells of Notre Dame, before moving to Dreamworks (Shrek 2, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon) is the second recipient of Winsor McCay Award. The creator of the famous SpongeBob SquarePants series creator Stephen Hillenburg also gets awarded for his work.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to TVPaint for its versatile software for 2D animation.
The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Studio MDHR Entertainment for its 1930s inspired wonder-game Cuphead.
Didier Ghez, animation historian and author of Disney books such as They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age and a book series of Disney animation artists interviews (check out his Amazon profile) is awarded the June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation.
The Certificate of Merit award will be presented to David Nimitz, devoted friend and caretaker of veteran voice actress, and ASIFA-Hollywood & Annie Award pioneer, June Foray, who passed away in July at the age of 99.
Created in 1972 by veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards are organized by ASIFA-Hollywood, the world’s foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the Art of Animation. The Juried award recipients will be honored at the 45th Annie Awards set for Saturday, February 3, 2018 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
