Rita Moreno Among Presenters Named for 43rd Annual ANNIE AWARDS

Saturday, February 6 will mark the 43rd Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year's best in animation. Returning for a second year to present Annie trophies are the comedy-folk duo Garfunkel & Oates - actress-songwriters Riki Lindhome and Kate Mucucci. Joining the duo as presenters are actor, producer & director Edward James Olmos with actress Rita Moreno; actor & writer Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) with actress Laraine Newman (Dawn Of The Croods); actors Alexander Garfin and Hadley Belle Miller ("Linus and Lucy" from The Peanuts Movie); actresses Kristen Schaal (Bob's Burgers)and Phyllis Smith ('Sadness" from Pixar's Inside Out); and actor Kevin Michael Richardson andcomposer Christophe Beck. Watch the Annie Awards live on February 6 at: http://annieawards.org/watch-it-live/.

"Last year, we thought outside the box a little bit and tried a new ceremony format, with no specific host. Instead, our presenters acted as "mini hosts," each introducing a block of awards. Happily this proved to be a big success. The ceremony was fun, fast and fantastic, so we are going to do it again!"remarked ASIFA-Hollywood Executive Director, Frank Gladstone. "And, as we have seen over the last several years, our audience, nominees and range of films continues to grow. Exemplified by our new Best Feature-Independent award, the Annies are reaching out to a world-wide and increasingly influential filmmaking community."

The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 36 categories including Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Special Production, Commercials, Short Subjects and Outstanding Individual Achievements. The Best Animated Features nominations this year are Anomalisa (Paramount Pictures), Inside Out (Pixar Animation Studios), Shaun the Sheep Movie (Aardman Animations), The Good Dinosaur (Pixar Animation Studios) and The Peanuts Movie (Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century FOX Animation).

The Annie Awards also honor career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation with its Juried Awards. This year's award selection include three Winsor McCay recipients Director Isao Takahata, Joe Ranft, posthumously, Head of Story at Pixar,and Animator, director and producer Phil Roman. The June Foray award forsignificant and benevolent impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented toProducer Don Hahn.

The black tie event will kick-off at 5 p.m. with Red Carpet arrivals and a VIP champagne reception, followed by the awards ceremony at 7 p.m. and after-party immediately following the show. All events will be held at UCLA's Royce Hall. For complete event details, please visit www.annieawards.org/event-info.

General Admission tickets for the ceremony-only can be purchased through the UCLA Box Office, 310.825.2101 or Ticketmaster.com. VIP tickets are sold out.

ASIFA-Hollywood is the world's first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting THE ART OF animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, animated film preservation, special events, classes and screenings.

Created in 1972 by June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past four decades. For more information on the Annie Awards, please visit www.annieawards.org.

For information about ASIFA-Hollywood, visit www.asifa-hollywood.org.

SOURCE ASIFA-Hollywood

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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