Animation is really hard to make. If there’s one thing you should walk away after reading any part of my blog, it’s that it takes a lot of work to make an animated series. Every show that hits the airwaves is a success, regardless if it was one season, to a 10 year+ epic, or just a single pilot. Every show is someone’s creative output and worth appreciating. We live in an era where art moves and breaths - and that is super cool.
Every year, though, organizations highlight their choices for the best the year has to offer. To be nominated is to already be in the highest echelon of what the animation industry has to offer. What follows is a head to head of the three animation focused networks and their achievements over their lifetime in five award ceremonies: The Annies, The Emmys, Annecy, The Peabodys, and The Oscars.
First up; The Annie Awards. The Annie Awards are the animation industry’s yearly award program started by June Foray and run by ASIFA-Hollywood. Each award is judged by a panel of five judges and a chairperson, related to the field that they are judging. It’s an award show for the animation industry, by the animation industry; highlighting animation projects of note, performances of merit, special projects, and lifetime achievements. It’s a lot of fun to watch and is usually livestreamed each January.
The Emmy Awards are awards handed out by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, celebrating achievements in the television industry. As animation is produced and broadcasted on television (and streaming) it has multiple awards specific to the animation industry. There are many awards handed out during the two major award shows, The Daytime Emmys and Primetime Emmys. This graph combines awards from both shows.
The Annecy International Film Festival is an film festival and award program hosted by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) in Annecy, France. As opposed to the Annies which focuses primarily on Hollywood produced cartoons (with some awards and nominations for international productions), Annecy has a much more broad focus on animation produced throughout the world.
The Peabody Award was created as an equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize for the radio industry. Since its creation in 1941, the award has expanded to cover media on television, streaming and even blog entries. Nominees are debated from afar and then again in person at the University of Georgia and judges must come to a unanimous decision as to whether a body of work is deserving of the Peabody.
The Academy Awards are hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Only one film in the three networks' histories has ever been nominated, John Dilworth’s pilot episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog, “The Chicken From Outer Space” was nominated for Best Animated Short Film.
Finally, I would love for all the series that haven’t seen a home media release, be available either through a manufacture-on-demand or as a mass produced set. For now, a lot of those series don’t look to have that in their future. But, every year more shows get revived, rebooted and remixed which always present a new opportunity for the original show to be released for new audiences to discover and enjoy. Never say never, after all. The following is my top 10 series that really should be available in 2020 (boy, it was hard to whittle it down).
10. Oh Yeah! Cartoons/What a Cartoon!
One of the most important pilot creation programs ever created and a paradigm changer for the industry as a whole. There's way too much red tape to ever expect this to come to home media, but purely on historical significance, it is quite a shame there is no availability of all the pilots featured outside of random episodes on video hosting websites.
9. KaBlam!
Another instance of many projects in one, KaBlam! was such a fun way to present different styles of animation to audiences. Action League Now! and Prometheus and Bob stick out with fondness, I wish any of the shorts featured in KaBlam! was available to watch.
8. Cow and Chicken
My introduction to the power of voice acting, Charlie Adler as Red Guy is such a fun performance. His performance makes me appreciate the entirety of a show which features humor I usually wouldn't subscribe to.
7. Dexter's Laboratory
Genndy Tartakovsky is one of my favorite animation directors (I have many). His vision of what animation can do has been an absolute delight to grow up with and watch as he has evolved and honed his artistic style. There is no reason Dexter (And Sym-Bionic Titan to boot) shouldn't be made available to watch.
6. The Proud Family
I don't have too much to say about The Proud Family other then it is a slice of life show that I very much enjoy. Tommy Davidson as Oscar Proud is such a fun and emotive performance. I have an inkling that if I were to rewatch this show as an adult a lot of the humor that escaped me as a kid would be much more appreciated today.
5. As Told by Ginger
Another slice of life show I just simply enjoy. One of the rare few shows where characters can evolve and grow over time; Ginger is just a really great show. And if you aren't cutting onions during the finale, I don't know what to tell you.
4. Megas XLR
A love letter to anime, video games, wrestling and all things awesome. It is a darn tragedy this show doesn't even have the opportunity to build cult status after its too short two season run. Not only do chicks dig giant robots, we all dig them, very much.
3. Regular Show
Eight seasons and only three have been released on home media. Regular Show is my jam and I missed quite a few seasons during its initial broadcast because I was away at college. I just want to finish this series and then restart watching it again.
2. Ed, Edd N Eddy
A cartoon's cartoon; Ed, Edd N Eddy has heart to it. I love the small cast, the small locations, the wild creativity and the art style. One of my favorites as a kid and one of my favorites as an adult.
1. Codename: Kids Next Door
I cannot begin to state how frustrating that this show hasn't been more readily available. The way the show slowly builds its mythos over six seasons, characters evolve and change over time, the creativity on display is off the chart - Mr. Warburton, Mo Willems, and the rest of the KND crew have created a classic and it's a darn shame more people aren't hopping on the school bus.
Lastly; here is the raw data sheet used to create today and Monday's graphical representations.
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