‘Panda’ kung fus the Annie bids

“Bolt,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Wall-E,” “Waltz With Bashir” and “9.99” were nominated Monday by the International Animated Film Society for best animated feature for the 36th annual Annie Awards. The awards honor the year’s best animated features, TV productions, commercials, video games and short subjects.

DreamWorks Animation’s’ “Kung Fu Panda” received 17 nominations, more than any other film. In addition to best animated feature, the box-office hit earned recognition in the character animation, character design, directing, music, production design, storyboarding, voice acting and writing categories.

Walt Disney Animation Studio’s current hit “Bolt” received nine nominations, and Pixar Animation Studio’s summer blockbuster “Wall-E” earned eight.

Leading the pack on the television front was cable’s Nickelodeon with 12 nominations, including two for best animated TV production for children for “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Mighty B!” Cartoon Network Studio’s “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” and “Underfist: Halloween Bash” and Warner Bros. Animation’s “A Miser Brothers’ Christmas” round out that category.

Nominees in the best animated TV production are Disney Television Animation’s “Phineas and Ferb,” Gracie Films/Fox TV’s “The Simpsons,” 20th Century Fox TV’s “King of the Hill” and ShadowMachine’s “Moral Orel” and “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.”

Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park were announced as the recipients of the Winsor McCay special award for career contributions to the art of animation; Bill Turner was named this year’s recipient of the June Foray Award for “significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation”; and Amir Avini, Mike Fontanelli, Kathy Turner and Alex Vassilev received the certificate of merit award.

The winners will be announced Jan. 30 at the gala award ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall. For a complete list of nominations, go to annie awards.org.

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