An Unexpected Honor...

This would have been up yesterday except Blogger decided to go bat-crazy and refused to let me log in...

John Lasseter is a man of many awards and now, he can apparently add another one to his growing collection.

The Producers Guild of America will award the head of Disney Animation their David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures. This will be the first time someone in animation has won this award. When I heard that I was trying to remember if Walt had won this, but I believe it was the Thalberg award I was thinking of. The award will be given at the PGA Awards on January 24.

Congrats to El Mousetro...

Oh So Cool And Down Right Great...

One of the reasons that Pixar is the company that it is is that it respects the talent it has. There are many things big and small that the Lamp has done to earned their appreciation and loyalty. In a word...

Gratitude.

An example of that gratitude is the Pixar Awards that were recently given out. Employees that had been working there for ten years got a Golden Buzz statue with their name on it with the words "10 Years of Passion & Commitment" which is very, very cool.

Even better and more exclusive were the Pixar Awards given to those employees that had been with Pixar for twenty years... a Golden Woody statue.

Hat Tip to The Pixar Blog.

Main photo from Jayfish.

Wall-E Is Golden...

The magic of the Lamp continues...

Wall-E won the Golden Globe award for "Best Animated Film" tonight. Let's hope all this luck rubs off on the Mouse over the next few years, eh?

Congrats go out to Stanton, Lasseter and all those lucky bums in Emeryville!

Wall-E Wins Again, The Chicago Way...

That little cleaning robot is cleaning up again...

The Chicago Film Critics Association has named Pixar's "Wall-E" as its Best Picture of the Year. I sense some building heat on the Academy.

Robot & Millionaire Tie...

And the awards keep coming...

The Boston Society of Film Critics has awarded their Best Picture of 2008 to both "Wall-E" and "Slumdog Millionaire." Another feather in the hat of the Mouse and more reason to pursue a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars this year. Of course, it'll never win. The Academy looks down on animation, but it's worth nominating because of the accolades the little robot has gathered. Oh, and if you get a chance to see it, Millionaire is an amazing movie in its own right...

WOW-E...

Wow...

Now this was an upset.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has named "Wall-E" the winner of its movie of the year award. Runner up went to a little independent film called "The Dark Knight".

Add to this Time magazine naming the little robot its number one film of 2008 as well and double wow...

It's gotten all kinds of awards and great review kudos, but I'd have to say this definitely gives the Mouse a BIG reason to try for the Best Picture nomination at the upcoming Oscars.

Developing...

Walt's Honor...

Forty-four years ago today, Walt Disney was awarded the nations greatest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Lydon B. Johnson...

The highest civilian achievement for a great American. Walt had won/earned many Oscars, Emmys, Degrees over his lifetime, but this one seems to have been the embodiment of the entirety of his life's work.

Disney's experiences, dreams and goals are an example of the culmination of the ideal of an American life...

Win, Lose Or Tie...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has come out with its winners and in the Animation Award, Ratatouille" and "Persepolis" have tied for the win. I guess sharing is better than losing, eh?

On another note, the Boston Society of Film Critics have given out their awards and Brad Bird has won for Best Screenplay with "Ratatouille". That's not bad, considering it beat out the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men", which took home Best Picture, but not screenplay. It appears that unlike the Academy, the BSFC consider animation to be of equal value when it comes to awards. How nice.

This all adds to the awards roster that Remy and his friends have been receiving lately. Brad Bird's film got the National Board of Review Award for Best Animated Feature the other night and the awards season is just getting started. I have a feeling that the Director will have to make a lot of room on his trophy shelf early next year.

My congratulations to Brad Bird, John Lasseter and the entire crew at Pixar.

Congratulations, Imagineers!

Walt Disney Imagineers took home two awards within the themed entertainment industry for creating outstanding new experiences at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort.

The Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure Playtest at Epcot won an award.

The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland also was a recipient of the 2007 THEA Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Congrats to all involved.

More Legends...

Last night the Walt Disney Company celebrated the honoring of several new Disney Legends...

Animators Floyd Norman, Art Babbitt and Dick Huemer.

Along with them many others were also honored...

Composer Randy Newman, Imagineer Carl Bongirno, actress Marge Champion, make-up artist Bob Schiffer, Disneyologist Dave Smith, ABC's Tom Murphy and Roone Arledge as well as Lucille Martin, Walt Disney's personal assistant who handled his dealings in those final days.

I'm personally glad to see Floyd Norman be honored as a Legend. He's an immensely talented artist and downright likable fellow.

All these people deserve the honor and we here at Blue Sky Disney congratulate everyone of them...