My trip to the 2015 Annie Awards

I've just returned to the frozen tundra of NYC from the tropical paradise of L.A., where I attended the famous Annie Awards.  I also used that golden opportunity to make an appearance at Sony Pictures Animation, to see what they were doing and talk about my new films.

I also did a show at the Steve Allen Theater, where I showed clips from my new films, "Hitler's Folly" (which I was very nervous about, but people laughed a lot...) and "Revengeance" with Jim Lujan, which also got a great reception.

                                At the Annies with Ken Mora, Jim Lujan, Sandrine Plympton
                                                              and James Hancock.

                          On the red carpet with CHEATIN' composer Nicole Renaud and Sandrine.

But on to the Annies - it's a wonderful black-tie affair that takes place at UCLA's Royce Hall.  It's become the Oscars for animation - all the big studios put their big films and big stars on display.

 I got to hang out with Matt Groening - in fact, I introduced him to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of  "LEGO Movie" fame.  (Chris used to be an intern at my studio years ago.)  It turns out they're mutual admirers. 

                  Matt Groening meets Christopher Miller and Phil Lord from "The LEGO Movie"

                 With Sandrine and Brandon Oldenburg and William Joyce of Moonbot Studios.

I said hello to Travis Knight of Laika House, producer of "The Boxtrolls", and I was also able to chat with Leslie Iwerks, granddaughter of the famous Ub Iwerks, and a great documentary filmmaker.  Also, I congratulated Bonnie Arnold on her big success, being hired as the head of Dreamworks Animation.  She's famous for producing "Toy Story" and a bunch of Pixar hits, but she also produced the big hit "How to Train Your Dragon 2", which I believe was the best animated film of 2014.

So I knew going in that had only a snowball's chance in hell of winning an Annie - but that's OK, because I just love hanging out in L.A. (the mecca of animation) and catching up with my friends and talking about animation. 

                              With David Silverman (producer/director on "The Simpsons")
                                  and Jerry Beck, animation historian ("Cartoon Research")

                                  With Tomm Moore ("Song of the Sea") and his wife, plus
                                       CHEATIN' composer Nicole Renaud and Sandrine.

If you're interested in finding out who the winners were, you can check them out at http://annieawards.org/

--Bill Plympton