Monday, February 6th, 2012 Posted by Jim Thacker

Rango wins out at the revamped Annie Awards


The making of Rango. ILM’s first animated feature took top spot at Saturday’s Annie Awards, in a far more balanced contest than the How to Train Your Dragon-dominated 2011 ceremony.

Rango has taken the award for Best Animated Feature at Saturday’s Annie Awards, in a far more balanced contest than 2011.

Last year, How to Train Your Dragon won awards in 10 categories, with DreamWorks winning 15 in total.

Disney/Pixar had previously withdrawn from for the 2011 event in protest over allegations that DreamWorks’ policy of giving new employees free membership of awards-organising body ASIFA-Hollywood skewed the Annies in favour of its movies.

The boycott was ended this year following changes to the organisation and voting procedure of the awards.

Whether due to the new system or not, this year’s ceremony saw a far more even split, with DreamWorks’s Kung Fu Panda – Secrets of the Masters carrying off Best Animated Special Production, and a Disney production winning the award for best animated preschool series.

The individual film-related awards were similarly spread around, with artists at DreamWorks, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Weta Digital, Blue Sky Studios and ILM all recognised for their work.

Read the full list of nominees and winners for the Annie Awards 2012