News
Summer Wars' Mamoru Hosoda Nominated for Annie Award
posted on by Gia Manry
The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for the 38th Annual Annie Awards, which will be presented at UCLA in Los Angeles on February 5, 2011. Mamoru Hosoda has been nominated in the Directing in a Feature Production category for his anime film Summer Wars.
Hosoda is competing against Sylvain Chomet (Django Films's The Illusionist), Pierre Coffin (Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me), Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois (DreamWorks Animation's How To Train Your Dragon), and Lee Unkrich (Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3).
The distributors Funimation and GKIDS have already submitted Summer Wars for a possible Oscar nomination, with its qualifying run starting in Los Angeles on December 10. The film has also won the Japan Academy's Animation of the Year award.
The anime Studio Madhouse, director Hosoda, screenwriter Satoko Okudera, and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto created the film. (This same core team worked together on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.) The film features a modern-day family involved with a crisis that spans their world and the virtual world known as Oz. Funimation plans to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 15, 2011.
Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.
Update: More background information added.
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