SpongeBob's Tom Kenny to Host 36th Annual Annie Awards - January 30 At UCLA's Royce Hall

SpongeBob's Tom Kenny to Host 36th Annual Annie Awards - January 30 At UCLA's Royce Hall

Animation's Most Prestigious Night

BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- ASIFA-Hollywood is proud to announce that Tom Kenny, the familiar voice behind film and TV's SpongeBob SquarePants, will handle hosting duties again this year for the 36th Annual Annie Awards on Friday, January 30, 2009, at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, CA. The black-tie evening begins with a pre-reception at 6 p.m. followed by the Annie Awards ceremony at 8 p.m. and post award party at 10 p.m. All events will be held at Royce Hall. The Annie Awards ceremony will also be webcasted on http://www.annieawards.org/ beginning Tuesday, February 3, 2009. For tickets and up-to-the minute information on the 36th Annual Annie Awards, please visit http://www.annieawards.org/. Media inquiries and credentials, please contact Gretchen Dixon, Dixon PR at 562.235.0991 or Gdixonpr@aol.com.

In honor of the year's best in animation, Kenny will be joined on stage by a lively mix of animation luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent including animation legend June Foray, actors Brad Garrett (Ratatouille, Till Death), Seth Green (Austin Powers, Robot Chicken), Michael Clarke Duncan (Kung Fu Panda, The Green Mile), James Hong (Kung Fu Panda, Blade Runner) Donald Faison (Scrubs), Ben Burtt (Wall-E), Henry Selick (Director, Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas) and other special guests. Presenting the Winsor McCay award to Pixar's John Lasseter will be Director Emeritus and Consultant, The Walt Disney Company and Chairman of the Board, Shamrock Holdings, Inc., Roy Disney.

"As the animation industry has grown, so has the Annie Awards ceremony which honors the best animation has to offer," says Antran Manoogian, president of ASIFA-Hollywood. "We are thrilled to host the Annies again this year at Royce Hall and look forward to the antics of Tom Kenny to move the ceremony along at a fun and always surprising pace. Again, I applaud our industry and wish to congratulate all of the nominees and award recipients for their outstanding work in 2008."

DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda leads the field this year with 17 nominations out of 27 overall for the studio, including Best Animated Feature. Walt Disney Animation Studios and its Best Animated Feature "Bolt" received 9 nominations and Pixar Animation Studios and its Best Animated Feature "Wall-E" received 8 nominations. Completing the Best Animated Feature category is Sony Pictures Classics "Waltz With Bashir" and Sherman Pictures/Lama Films "$9.99."

Often a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 24 categories ranging from production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music and voice acting. Entries submitted for consideration were from productions that originally aired, were exhibited in an animation festival or commercially released between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008.

Founded in 1972 by ASIFA member and veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past three decades. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest of an international network of chapters, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, animation film preservation, special events, classes and screenings.

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Source: ASIFA-Hollywood

CONTACT: Gretchen Dixon of Dixon PR, +1-562-235-0991, Gdixonpr@aol.com,
for ASIFA-Hollywood

Web site: http://www.annieawards.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment