39th Annual Annie Awards live!

ASIFA-Hollywood's 39th Annual Annie Awards ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall, hosted by actor/comedian Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille), was streamed live here, Saturday February 4th, 2012 at 7 p.m. Pacific, 10 p.m. Eastern, which is Sunday February 5th at 3 a.m. in England or 4 a.m. in central Europe.

For me a highlight was the reception of Børge Ring's Winsor McCay Award by his daughter Anne-Mieke. As you read earlier, Børge's house burned down to the ground only two days ago, so I hope he will find some consolation in this support from the industry.Three screen grabs of Anne-Mieke's accepting her father Børge's Award. Note in second image (click on it!), Jamie Bolio wiping away a tear - really the only emotional moment in the entire show. Not one word about the fire, though. Let me remind you to please visit the fund-raising site that Anne-Mieke produced for Børge and Joanika, where you can donate to help them in their hour of need!

Being a member of ASIFA-Hollywood myself, I was proud to be able to bring this feed from my blog! On the other hand, some of the presenters did make a bit of a mess of things, but in all it was interesting to say the least, with Rango coming out on top. (All winners can be found here). Would have loved to have seen more support for Børge, and I would have liked to have seen more support for hand-drawn animation and the great work of Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers (Prep and Landing! The Ballad of Nessie!)