^{Program for the 20th Annual Annie Awards (1992)}

Writing my book(s), Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows, I didn’t want to exclusively focus on the Oscars. It was my goal for this project to be just as much about animation’s history at the Emmys and Annie Awards. In the latter’s case, this is the first book to provide a deep dive into the Annies, the premier animation award show. My research went far beyond a Google search. To get into specifics about each Annie ceremony, it tracked down numerous newspaper articles, animation fanzines, and even Annie programs. I’ll be sharing these research materials on this site in an ongoing series called The Annie Awards Archive.

Cartoon Contender has already gone through the first Annies in 1972, when Max and Dave Fleischer were honored, and in 1973, which was dedicated to Walter Lantz. For nearly twenty years, the Annies primarily existed to honor animation masters of the past. In 1992, though, ASIFA-Hollywood introduced three competitive categories: Best Television Program, Best Feature Production, and Animated Television Commercial. Best Television Program went to The Simpsons, beating Darkwing Duck, The Ren & Stimpy Show, TaleSpin, and Tiny Toon Adventures. Beauty and the Beast, fresh off its Oscar nomination for Best Picture, beat Bebe’s Kids and Ferngully: The Last Rainforest in Best Animated Feature. Animated Television Commercial had nine nominees, including three from Will Vinton Productions and three from Rhythm & Hues. The winner was “Hare Jordan,” the Nike ad that provided the basis for Space Jam a few years later.

The Annies continued the tradition of honoring animation legends with the Winsor McCay Award, this year’s recipients being Les Clark, Stan Freberg, and David Hilberman. Three Individual Achievement Awards were also presented to Glen Keane, John Kricfalusi, and David Silverman. According to the program for the 20th Annual Annie Awards, Howard Ashman, Randy Cartwright, Andreas Deja, Bill Kroyer, Sam Horta, and Jim Cummings were considered for Individual Achievement Awards, but only three were ultimately given out. IMDb claims that Cummings received a voice acting Annie for his work on Darkwing Duck that year. When I spoke to Cummings at Phoenix Fan Fusion in 2022, though, he confirmed that he’s strangely never won an Annie.

The program, which features cover art by Bryan Mon, provides additional details about the ceremony you won’t find on IMDb, Wikipedia, or even ASIFA-Hollywood’s site. Charlie Adler, then-best-known for voicing Buster Bunny on Tiny Toons, was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. Bill Kroyer presented the Annie for Animated Television Commercial, Tom Sito presented Animated Television Program, Marc Davis presented the Individual Achievement Awards, Bill Hurtz presented Animated Feature, and June Foray presented the Winsor McCay Awards. Lucille Bliss also presented Certificates of Merit to Robert Clampett Jr., Dave Crane, and George Feltenstein.

Check out the full program below:

^{Cover Art by Bryan Mon.}

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!