When Jim Cummings is sick, Winnie-the-Pooh disappears.

Cummings’ vocal cords give life to Disney’s animated Winnie-the-Pooh, the Bear of Very Little Brain created by A.A. Milne.

“Pooh is not quite a falsetto; he’s kind of like a high tenor, or a low tenor with a lot of rasp in there, just like a wind blowing through the cattails sort of sound,” the voice actor crooned in perfect Pooh timbre. “If I get an allergy or a cold, Pooh goes away, so I have to eat my vitamin C.

Pooh might suggest a remedy that soothes both the throat and tummy: honey.

Agoura Hills resident Cummings, 56, is a cartoon chameleon. He has been the voice of Pooh for Disney since 1988, then took over as Tigger.

Pooh and Tigger, however, are just two of the characters listed on Cummings’ 10-page “voiceography.”

You might have heard him as Kaa the snake in “The Jungle Book 2,” Ed the hyena in “The

Lion King” and assorted characters in “Aladdin,” “Antz,” Babe: Pig in the City,” “Bee Movie,” The Little Mermaid,” Pocahontas,” “Shrek” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

For Warner Bros., he’s Taz the Tasmanian devil (“the anti-Pooh,” he says). Other credits include “Animaniacs,” “Pinky and the Brain,” ”Curious George,” “King of the Hill,” “The Simpsons” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

And wildfire-prone California is proud to call him one of the voices of Smokey Bear.

“I do all the better bears,” said Cummings during an interview at his home.

Next up is his role as Ray, a laid-back, lovesick Cajun firefly in “The Princess and the Frog,” a new, traditionally 2-D animated Disney film set in New Orleans. The film, a musical, will have a score by Randy Newman and, in a first for Disney, a black princess. The movie, also featuring the voice of Oprah Winfrey (as the princess’ mom), is still in postproduction and scheduled for a December release.

This week, however, Cummings’ attention is on a certain boisterous tiger.

As the free-spirited Tigger on Disney Channel’s “My Friends Tigger and Pooh,” which airs each morning, Cummings has received a 2009 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for outstanding performer in an animated program. The winner will be announced Saturday during the Creative Arts portion of the awards at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles; the more mainstream awards (such as honors for soap opera stars and talk show hosts, etc.) will be handed out Aug. 30 at L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre and televised on The CW.

Notice the Emmy category is titled “outstanding performer in an animated program,” not “outstanding voice.”

Cummings and his brethren truly are actors, not just script readers.

Brian Hohlfeld, executive director of “My Friends Tigger and Pooh,” said that, to be a good voice actor, “you have to be an actor. People forget that. It’s not just the voice. There’s such a small group of people who do this because it’s really hard.”

With Cummings, he said, “you can see the physical changes in his face and body as he’s doing the voices.”

Cummings calls his work “acting for the ears.” Cartoons, he said, “are not called ‘animated’ for nothing.

“A lot of people think they draw the movie or cartoon first, but the fact is they record the voices first, then they animate to that,” he explained. “You can’t really draw comic timing out of thin air; you’ve got to hear it and go, ‘Oh, that I can draw.’”

Finding his voices

Cummings started out at the top of the cartoon chain, landing at animation exemplar Disney in the 1980s. Born and raised in Ohio, Cummings said he listened to Paul Winchell (the original voice of Tigger) and Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and many others) as a kid and thought, “Man, they’re having a great time.”

He didn’t have any formal stage or voice training, aside from a book about ventriloquism, but did act in plays as a child.

Onstage, he said, “I would rather be the wizard than the prince because the wizard was a little more interesting and had more cool stuff to do. I was doing accidental research for my career later in life.”

At age 19, after attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Cummings moved to the Big Easy. He worked as a deckhand on riverboats, and fulfilled his artsy side by designing and painting Mardi Gras floats, and performing as a drummer and singer in bands.

In 1979 Cummings, his first wife and their two daughters moved to California, where from 1979-84 he ran a video store in Anaheim Hills. While there, he made a demo voice tape, and was fortunate to get it into the right hands: a customer who was a movie producer.

“I got an audition out of that without an agent,” Cummings said.

He first real role was a plum Disney one, playing Lionel the Lion in “Dumbo’s Circus,” a TV show featuring live-action puppets.

Halfway through his 120-episode stint on “Dumbo’s Circus,” Cummings hired an agent and started working in radio and TV. (He also does voice-overs, movie trailers previews and commercials, everything from J.C. Penney to AutoZone.)

He moved from Anaheim to Westlake Village and the Santa Rosa Valley, then to Agoura Hills about three years ago. He and his wife Stephanie, who’ve been married for eight years, have two daughters, Gracie, 4, and Lulu, 2; Cummings’ older daughters are in their 20s.

Ducks and dust bunnies

Cummings is proud of some of his lesser-known roles, such as the title character in “Darkwing Duck,” an Emmy-nominated animated Disney program that aired in the early 1990s. Darkwing, “the terror that flaps in the night,” was a bumbling superhero in the town of St. Canard.

He’s also fond of a monster named Mr. Bumpy from “Bump in the Night.”

“He was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a delicacy,” Cummings said. “He was as cool as he could be, and ate dirty socks.”

In 1995, Cummings received an Annie Award nomination for voice acting as Mr. Bumpy but was beaten by Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson.

The competition is stiff for this week’s Emmy Award, too, with celebs better known for their live-action work nominated in the animation category. Cummings is vying for the award with Amy Poehler (as Bessie Higgenbottom in “The Mighty B!” on Nickelodeon), Joan Rivers (Bubbe in “Arthur” on PBS), Vanessa Williams (Mama in “Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies” on PBS) and Jim Ward (Eyemore in “Biker Mice from Mars” on Fox).

“This year I’m going with either Vanessa or Amy,” Cummings said, summing up his competition. “I think folks go down the line and go: ‘Jim Cummings? I don’t really know who that is. Oh, Joan Rivers, Vanessa Williams, I love her; let’s vote for her.’ You can’t fight that. I understand why they do it.”

What does he think about the trend of celebrities taking on the lead voice roles in animated movies?

“I have some calls out to Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy,” Cummings said, laughing. “I said, ‘I won’t star in any blockbuster films if you stay out of animated films.’ They just won’t call me back.”

Cummings does get feedback, however, from another telephone venture, this one for charity.

Hundreds of sick children each year receive a phone call from one of the Hundred Acre Woods’ (and Agoura Hills’) famous denizens, Winnie-the-Pooh or Tigger, aka Cummings. He works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, and Famous Fone Friends, which connects sick kids to entertainers and athletes via phone.

Cummings recalled one such phone session with a little girl with cancer, not quite 3, who had been on chemotherapy for six months. “I had to gear up for that one,” he said. “‘I love you, Winnie-the-Pooh,’ she said. Stuff like that is so rewarding; it’s the greatest thing in the world.”

Keeping it fresh

Cummings models his Pooh and Tigger voices after the men who first voiced the characters: Sterling Holloway and Paul Winchell, respectively.

(Holloway died in 1992. Winchell, a Moorpark resident when he died in 2005, lived in Ventura County for more than 15 years.)

“That’s one thing I think Disney is right on the money with — they keep their characters sounding the same,” Cummings said. “They could run a Winnie-the-Pooh from the ’60s and one from 2008 and have the consistency there.”

Still, he said, “you don’t want to stagnate. You ad lib and do different things to keep it fresh.”

“My Friends Tigger and Pooh” director Hohlfeld said Cummings is “true to Sterling vocally, but he’s made it his own as well. Pooh is still the befuddled bear. Jim just brings more heart to it; his Pooh has a little more warmth.”

One thing you might not want to hear, however, is Pooh as pugilist.

Cummings “does a fantastic Mike Tyson imitation,” Hohlfeld said. “Sometimes he’ll do Pooh’s lines using Mike Tyson’s voice.”

He doesn’t even need to alter Pooh’s “I am a Bear of Very Little Brain” line.

Jim Cummings holds daughters Grace, 4, and Lulu, 2, near a garden statue of Taz the Tazmanian devil — he calls him “the anti-Pooh” — for which he also provides the voice.

In his 25 years being often heard and seldom seen, Jim Cummings has voiced a host of characters and won many honors. He’s up for a possible Daytime Emmy this year as outstanding performer for his work as Tigger’s voice.

Jim Cummings, a voice actor who´s done numerous animated characters since 1984, carries his daughter Lulu 2, out of their Curious George playhouse July 23, 2009.

Voice actor Jim Cummings rehearses a current project in his home studio in Agoura Hills. He’s been the voice of Winnie-the-Pooh for Disney since 1988 and does Tigger, too.

Voice actor Jim Cummings has lent his voice to everyone from Winnie the Pooh to the Tasmanian Devil. His Imdb.com credits look like the ultimate animated character wish list. For The Clone Wars series airing on Cartoon Network, Cummings voices the Weequay pirate chief Hondo Ohnaka in the “Dooku Captured” story arc. StarWars.com chats with Cummings about his work on the new TV series, his preparation for his role, and how he snuck in a little tribute to Yul Brynner.

When you auditioned for the role of Hondo Ohnaka in The Clone Wars, how did you go about creating a voice for a brand new character?

You’re trying to voice it as something familiar but also exotically different. You know that the characters can’t sound like they’re from Omaha. I was trying to do almost a bad Yul Brynner. When you go in for an audition, they give you a basic age range, personality traits and background information of the character. He’s a pirate with a heart of gold. He’ll steal from you but he won’t break your legs while he does it. That kind of thing.

How did you prepare for this role once you got it?

You go in with a good idea of who the character is. He’s more of a lovable rogue than a cruel mercenary. His background also develops as you go along and get to know the guy. Certain things work and others don’t as the show progresses. His story is written as it unfolds in some way. It’s also nice to have the whole cast of voice actors there in the same room, which is great because you’re ping-ponging dialog and playing off each other to elevate the scene. You’re not acting in a vacuum. I’ve done so many other projects where you’re in a room with a reader and you’re acting your lines out (Cummings says in a booming voice): “We have to get out of here! Any minute the building will explode!” And then the reader says (Cummings says in a bored, stilted voice): “Yes…we have to get… out of here.” So it’s not easy to be in the moment in that kind of situation. Reading with the entire cast in the room for The Clone Wars makes the experience much more organic and I love that.

As a voice actor, what are the specific challenges that differ from being an on-camera actor?

It’s great when truly gifted animators appreciate the voice actors, and the voice actors appreciate the animators. I do very little on-camera acting, so within a phrase as a voice actor you have to know how to convey when someone is 95 years old or 19 years old. Are they tired? Are they dying of thirst? All that has to be in your voice. When I was the lead singer of the California Raisins commercials there was a traditional actor there as well and he would do all these body movements without saying anything because he was “acting.” And the only acting the microphone picked up on was silence.

You’ve done many voices for a lot of amazing franchises like Pokemon, The Little Mermaid, Teen Titans, Winnie the Pooh, The Boondocks, and many more. Aside from Hondo Ohnaka, who is your favorite character to voice?

I have a brand new favorite for a Disney animated feature coming out next Christmas called The Princess and the Frog. I’m Ray the singing Cajun firefly. New Orleans is my second hometown. I was a deckhand on a riverboat there when I was 18, so I have that Cajun accent down pat. Ray is a lovesick firefly who’s near-sighted and falls in love with the Evening Star. Of course, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger will always be favorites of mine too.

As a dad, do you often find yourself at the dinner table doing voices to entertain your kids and their friends?

I have four daughters, with the two youngest being four years old and a year and a half. When one of my older daughters was in sixth grade, a classmate brought in their talking Winnie the Pooh doll for show and tell, so the next week my daughter one upped her classmates and brought me to school in for show and tell. Now I have that all over again with my younger daughters with The Princess and the Frog.

You were the narrator in Mark Hamill’s Comic Book: The Movie; how did you get involved in that project?

I ended up doing a narration because Mark wanted the wacky Sterling Holloway scientist voice from the ’50s Superman. I also got to play a jerk on camera as well. He knew I collected comic books and he came to me to be in the movie. You never know who is going to be one of us — in this secret society of voice actors. I was so excited to work with him in the early ’90s on Taz-Mania. He’s a great guy. It was cool to have Mark ask me to do all these voices for him like he was a fan. I was like, “You’re not meeting me, I’m meeting you.”

Why do you think fans will like the new Clone Wars TV show?

The show has a fantastic story and it’s a pleasure for the eyes and ears. It carries forth everything you love about the franchise and about the characters. Little things pop up about the characters in Star Wars saga overall. It’s that multi-layered history that we all love to delve into as fans.

36th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2008)

Winners in bold*

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

• 
  Bolt – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Kung Fu Panda – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  $9.99 – Sherman Pictures/Lama Films

• 
  Wall·E
  – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Waltz With Bashir – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films
  D’ici, Razor Films
  

Best Animated Home
Entertainment Production

• 
  Batman: Gotham Knight – Warner Bros. Animation

• 
  Christmas Is Here Again – Easy To Dream Entertainment in association
  with Renegade Animation

• Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs –
  The Curiosity Company in association with 20^th Century Fox
  Home Entertainment*

• 
  Justice League: The New Frontier – Warner Bros. Animation

• 
  The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – DisneyToon Studios

Best Animated Short
Subject

• 
  Glago’s Guest – Walt Disney Animation
  Studios

• 
  Hot Dog – Bill Plympton Studio

• 
  Presto – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Sebastian’s Voodoo – Joaquin Baldwin

• 
  Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death – Aardman Animations Ltd.*

Best Animated
Television Commercial

• 
  Giant Monster – Curious Pictures

• 
  Long Legs Mr. Hyde – Curious Pictures

• 
  Rotofugi: The Collectors – Screen
  Novelties/RSA Films

• 
  Sarah – Z Animation

• 
  United Airlines “Heart” – Duck Studios*

Best Animated
Television Production

• 
  King of the Hill – 20^th Century Fox TV

• 
  Moral Orel – ShadowMachine

• 
  Phineas and Ferb – Disney Television
  Animation

• Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II –
  ShadowMachine*

• 
  The Simpsons – Gracie Films/Fox TV

Best Animated
Television Production Produced for Children

• 
  A Miser Brothers Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation in association with
  ABC Family & Cuppa Coffee Studios

• 
  Avatar: The Last Airbender – Nickelodeon*

• 
  Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon
  Network Studios

• 
  The Mighty B! – Nickelodeon

• 
  Underfist: Halloween Bash – Cartoon Network
  Studios

Best Animated Video
Game

• 
  Dead Space – Electronic Arts

• 
  Kung Fu Panda – Activision*

• 
  Wall·E
  – Heavy Iron Studios, a division of THQ, Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT
CATEGORIES

Animated Effects

• 
  Alen Lai “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” –
  Blue Sky Studios

• 
  Li-Ming Lawrence Lee “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Fangwei Lee “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” –
  DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Kevin Lee “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Enrique Vila “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in
a Feature Production

• 
  James Baxter “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Jeff Gabor “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• 
  Philippe Le Brun “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Victor Navone “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Dan Wagner “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in
a Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Sandro Cleuzo “Secrets of the Furious Five”
  – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Joshua A. Jennings “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine
  

• 
  Pierre Perifel “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

Character Design in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Valerie Hadida “Igor” – Exodus Film Group

• 
  Sang Jun Lee “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• Nico Marlet “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks
  Animation*

Character Design in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Bryan Arnett – Mighty B! “Bat Mitzah Crashers” – Nickelodeon

• 
  Ben Balistreri – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Mondo Coco” –
  Cartoon Network Studios

• 
  Sean Galloway “The Spectacular Spider-Man” – Sony Pictures Television

• 
  Jorge Gutierrez – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “The Good,
  The Bad, The Tigre” – Nickelodeon

• Nico Marlet “Secrets of the Furious Five” –
  DreamWorks Animation*

Directing in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• 
  Ari Folman “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony
  Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
  

• 
  Tatia Rosenthal “9.99” – Sherman Pictures/
  Lama Films

• 
  John Stevenson & Mark Osborne “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Andrew Stanton “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

Directing in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Bob Anderson – The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XIX” – Gracie Films/Fox
  TV

• Joaquim Dos Santos – Avatar: The Last
  Airbender “Sozin’s Comet Pt. 3” – Nickelodeon*

• 
  Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti – Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends
  “Destination Imagination” – Cartoon Network Studios

• 
  Chris McKay – Moral Orel “Passing” –
  ShadowMachine

• 
  Alan Smart – SpongeBob SquarePants “Penny Foolish” – Nickelodeon

Music in an Animated
Feature Production

• 
  Kevin Manthei – “Batman: Gotham Knight” – Warner Bros. Animation

• 
  John Powell – “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

• 
  Max Richter – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony Pictures Classics, Bridgit
  Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
  

• 
  William Ross – “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

• 
  Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

Music in an Animated
Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Carl Finch & Brave Combo – Click and Clack’s “As the Wrench Turns” –
  CTTV Productions

• 
  Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer & John Powell – “Secrets of the Furious Five”
  – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Kevin Kiner – “Star Wars The Clone Wars: Rising Malevolence” – Lucasfilm
  Animation Ltd.

• 
  Guy Moon – Back at the Barnyard “Cowman:
  The Uddered Avenger” – Nickelodeon/Omation

• 
  Guy Michelmore – “Growing Up Creepie: Rockabye Freakie” – Taffy
  Entertainment LLC

Production Design in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Ralph Eggleston “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Paul Felix “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Tang Heng “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Evgeni Tomov “The Tale Of Despereaux” –
  Universal Pictures

• 
  Raymond Zibach “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Andy Harkness “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

• 
  Tang Heng “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Seonna Hong – The Mighty B! “Bee Patients”
  – Nickelodeon

• 
  Dan Krall – Chowder “The Heavy Sleeper” – Cartoon Network Studios

• 
  Raymond Zibach “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in an
Animated Feature Production

• Alessandro Carloni –
  “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• Ronnie Del Carmen –
  “Wall·E” – Pixar Animation Studios

• Joe Mateo “Bolt” –
  Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Jen Yuh Nelson –
  “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• Rob Stevenhagen –
  “The Tale Of Despereaux” – Universal Pictures

Storyboarding in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Butch Hartman – Fairly OddParents “Mission: Responsible” – Nickelodeon

• Andy Kelly – Ni Hao, Kai-Lan “Twirly Whirly
  Flyers” – Nickelodeon Productions/Nelvana

• Andy
  Schuhler
  – “Secret of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Eddie Trigueros “The Mighty B! “Name Shame”– Nickelodeon

• 
  Chris Williams “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios*

Voice Acting in an
Animated Feature Production

• 
  Ben Burtt – Voice of Wall·E
  – “Wall·E”
  – Pixar Animation Studios

• 
  Dustin Hoffman – Voice of Shifu – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  James Hong – Voice of Mr. Ping – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Ian McShane – Voice of Tai Lung – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Mark Walton – Voice of Rhino – “Bolt” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an
Animated Television Production or Short Form

• Ahmed Best – Voice of Jar Jar Binks –
  “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” – ShadowMachine*

• 
  Seth MacFarlane – Voice of Peter Griffin – Family Guy “I Dream of Jesus”
  – Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Productions

• 
  Dwight Schultz – Voice of Mung Daal – Chowder “Apprentice Games” –
  Cartoon Network Studios

Writing in an Animated
Feature Production

• 
  Jon Aibel & Glenn Berger – “Kung Fu Panda” – DreamWorks Animation*

• 
  Etan Cohen and Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath –
  “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” – DreamWorks Animation

• 
  Ari Folman – “Waltz With Bashir” – Sony
  Pictures Classics, Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films
  

• 
  Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio – “Dr. Seuss’
  Horton Hears A Who” – Blue Sky Studios

Writing in an Animated
Television Production or Short Form

• 
  Joel H. Cohen – The Simpsons “The Debarted” – Gracie Films/Fox TV

• 
  Scott Kreamer – El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera “Mustache Love”
  – Nickelodeon

• 
  Paul McEvoy and Todd Berger – “Secrets of the Furious Five” – DreamWorks
  Animation

• Tom Root, Douglas Goldstein, Hugh Davidson,
  Mike Fasolo, Seth Green, Dan Milano, Matthew Senreich, Kevin Shinick,
  Zeb Wells, Breckin Meyer – “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II” –
  ShadowMachine*

• 
  Chris Williams – “Glago’s Guest” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

JURIED AWARDS

• Winsor McCay
  recipients – Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park for career
  contributions to the art of animation
• June Foray award
  – Bill Turner for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the
  art and industry of animation
• Certificate of Merit
  award – Amir Avni, Mike Fontanelli, Kathy Turner, Alex Vassilev

Having seen Kung Fu Panda and coupling this with the fact that the Annie’s have STILL never honored Jim Cummings, I think the Annie’s are becoming something of a joke. Kung Fu Panda was cute in a, OK, I can watch this with my kid and not want to gouge my eyes out kind of way but it wasn’t very good. To give it the Best Picture award, let alone all the others is just plain stupid. Frankly, they were pretty far off on a lot of categories so one can only imagine what they were thinking.

Best Animated Short Subject

* Glago’s Guest – Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Hot Dog – Bill Plympton Studio
* Presto – Pixar Animation Studios
* Sebastian’s Voodoo – Joaquin Baldwin
* Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death – Aardman Animations Ltd.

Presto was one of the funniest things I have ever seen but I am going to go against my own advice and pick against Pixar this time. I just don’t think that Presto is up to their usual caliber though I think the silliness of it really balanced out the heavy Wall-E well. I am thinking that clay will win the day for Wallace & Gromit here.

Best Animated Home Entertainment Production

* Batman: Gotham Knight – Warner Bros. Animation
* Christmas Is Here Again – Easy To Dream Entertainment
* Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
* Justice League: The New Frontier – Warner Bros. Animation
* The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – DisneyToon Studios

I am really picking blind on this category so I am going to need some help from you guys on this. I think its safe to say, with all apologies to Jim Cummings, that The Little Mermaid doesn’t have a chance in heck. Batman is solid gold this year but that doesn’t mean it will translate into the animated realm. I’m going to pick Futurama. I didn’t watch this special but I was told by friends it was the best of these.

What do you think is going to win it? Or, better yet, what else doesn’t have a chance in heck of winning?