^{Credit: Bryan Mon & Cats Don't Dance (Warner Bros.)}

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.

Few Annie Awards ended on a more shocking note than the 25th ceremony, when Cats Don’t Dance won Best Animated Feature. While the 1997 film received solid reviews, it got lost in the shuffle of Turner Broadcasting System’s merger with Time Warner, resulting in its financial failure. At the Annies, it was seen as the underdog/cat, going up against Disney’s Hercules and another film under the Warner umbrella, Space Jam. By the end of the night, Hercules had won four awards while Space Jam received a technical achievement prize. Cats Don't Dance had only won one of its eight nominations for Randy Newman’s music. Cats ultimately walked away with two, pulling off an upset in the top category.

Annie voters wanted to rally behind a film that deserved much better from its distributor. They’d do the same two years later when The Iron Giant triumphed over A Bug’s Life, The Prince of Egypt, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and Tarzan. Where Iron Giant swept the Annies, though, the fact that Cats Don’t Dance only won one other award made its climactic victory all the more jaw-dropping. The Cats Don’t Dance surprise is chronicled in this special issue of InBetweener, ASIFA-Hollywood’s official newsletter back in the day. The issue also recaps Gary Owens’ MC duties, the presence of Will Ryan’s Elmo the Aardvark character on that year’s program, and an emotional acceptance speech from June Foray upon winning Best Achievement in Voice Acting, Female for voicing Granny in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries.

Check out the full issue below:

View our previous retrospects on the 1972 and 1973 Annie Awards, as well as 1992.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!