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Ghibli's Princess Kaguya Nominated for 3 Annie Awards
posted on by Karen Ressler
The International Animated Film Society announced the nominees for its 42nd Annual Annie Awards on Friday. Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli's film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya received nominations in three categories: the film is up for Best Animated Feature, Takahata for "Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production," and film composer Joe Hisaishi for "Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production."
In addition, Masaaki Yuasa and Eunyoung Choi received a nomination in the "Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production" category for Adventure Time. Yuasa (Ping Pong, Kick Heart) wrote, storyboarded, and directed the Adventure Time episode "Food Chain."
Nickelodeon Animation Studio was nominated for "Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children's Audience" for its The Legend of Korra show, which was partially animated by Studio Pierrot. Joaquim Dos Santos received a nomination for "Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production"
The awards recognize outstanding achievement in the field of animation. In the Best Picture and Directing category, other nominees include Disney's Big Hero 6, Plymptoons Studio's Cheatin', DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 2, GKIDS and Cartoon Saloon's Song of the Sea, Real FX's The Book of Life, Laika and Focus Features' The Box Trolls, and Warner Bros. Pictures' The Lego Movie. In the music category, the film is competing against Cheatin', How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, and DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at UCLA's Royce Hall on January 31st, 2015.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is based on the famous Japanese folktale Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), which centers on a princess named Kaguya who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. The film won the Animation Film Award at the 68th Mainichi Film Awards. The film was screened at Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight but did not receive any awards. It is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film for the eighth Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA). GKIDS is currently screening the film in several North American theaters.
Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, The 5th Wave) stars as the title character in the English dub. The cast also includes James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, James Marsden, Oliver Platt and Dean Cain.
Last Year, Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo and Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises films were nominated for awards and Miyazaki won the Annie Award for writing. Anime and manga creator Katsuhiro Ōtomo appeared in person at last year's awards ceremony to accept the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was submitted for an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature along with 18 other films. No anime short films are advancing in the Best Animated Short category.
Source: Animation Scoop
Update: Adventure Time nomination added. Thanks, Agent355 and Daniel Zelter.
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