Annie Awards Kiss The Princess and the Frog, Up and, Uh, Hugh Laurie

Disney's first African-American princess tale scores nine nominations from animation Oscars; House star among the nominees for voicing a 'toon

By Gina Serpe Dec 01, 2009 5:15 PMTags
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Hugh Laurie and cranky doctoring is apparently a winning combination, no matter what the genre or screen size.

Need proof? Dr. House's alter ego is up for a 'toon-honoring Annie Award this year, for voicing Dr. Cockroach in DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens. He'll be facing off with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur's John Leguizamo, Coraline comic Dawn French (both up for their voice talents), Fantastic Mr. Fox's Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach (nominated together for their writing skills; Anderson scored a solo nod for Directing), and, it seems, anyone who had anything even remotely to do with The Princess and the Frog.

The Disney flick, set in New Orleans and featuring the Mouse House's first African-American princess, racked up eight nominations in all, including Best Animated Feature, and a host of nods for their effects teams.

It vies against Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Secret of Kells and Upa familiar list for Oscar watchers—for the top animated honor.

On the television side, Disney's Prep and Landing scored nine nominations, including Best Animated Television Production. Also up on the TV side are perennial nominees The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants along with Amy Poehler's The Mighty B!

Meanwhile, Tim Burton and Jeffrey Katzenberg are among those receiving special career achievement nods for their respective contributions to the art of animation. The 37th Annual Annie Awards will be handed out on Feb. 6. Here's the complete list of nominees.

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The nominations are coming fast and furious. Check out the Film Independent Spirit Award nods, out this morning.