William Shatner to host "Annie" animation awards

(AFP/PASCAL GUYOT)

Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor, William Shatner, will host the 37th Annual Annie Awards on February 6, at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles.

The ceremony will be webcast beginning February 9 at www.annieawards.org.

Perhaps best known for playing Captain Kirk of Star Trek and the aging lawyer in Boston Legal, Shatner will be joined on stage by a mix of animation luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent.

Nominees for this year's Best Animated Feature are:
- The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
- Coraline (Laika) received a total of 10 nominations
- Up (Pixar Animation Studios) received a total of nine nominations
- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Sony Pictures Animation)
- F antastic Mr. Fox (20th Century Fox)
- T he Secret of Kells (Cartoon Saloon)

Nominees for Best Animated Film Directors are:
- Wes Anderson ( Fantastic Mr. Fox),
- Pete Docter ( Up)
- Christopher Miller and Phil Lord ( Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs)
- Hayao Miyazaki ( Ponyo)
- Henry Selick ( Coraline)

There are also awards for television animation, commercials, animated effects, character animation, production design, animation in video games, music and voice acting. A host of stars will be presenters at the ceremony.

Director Tim Burton will receive the Winsor McKay Award, though his film 9 was not included in the list of best films from 2009. He has produced several animated films including the stop-motion Halloween feature, Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) featuring his puppetry. He's currently remaking Frankenweenie as an animated feature.

www.annieawards.org

RC