The Boxtrolls Teaser

Stop motion animation may never be everyone's cup of tea, or break box office records, but the magicians at Laika are on a steady streak following the artistic and Academy Award nominated success stories of Coraline and ParaNorman.  Here comes the teaser to their next hopeful pleasure, The Boxtrolls.  Set for release in the fall of 2014, The Boxtrolls is about a young orphan boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors.  Directed by Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable and featuring the voice talent of Elle Fanning, Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Nick Frost, Ben Kingsley and Tracy Morgan.

On an even more upbeat note, especially on the heels of the overwhelmingly gay friendly ParaNorman, this teaser makes a nice little inclusive bid to the Supreme Court's recent decisions.  This offbeat teaser is a winner.

Annie Award Nominations

The animated-only, sometimes controversial Annies and their nominations for the best of 2012:

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave- Pixar Animation Studios
Frankenweenie- Walt Disney Studios
Hotel Transylvania- Sony Animation Studios
ParaNorman- Focus Features
Rise of the Guardians- DreamWorks Animation Studios
The Pirates! Band of Misfits- Aardman Animations
The Rabbi's Cat- GKIDS
Wreck-It-Ralph- Walt Disney Studios

BEST DIRECTOR
Gennedy Tartakovsky, Hotel Transylvania
Johan Sfar & Antoine Delesvaux, The Rabbi's Cat
Remi Bezancon & Jean-Christopher Lie, Zarafa
Rick Moore, Wreck-It-Ralph
Sam Fell & Chris Butler, ParaNorman 

BEST VOICE ACTING
Jim Cummings (as Budzo), The Adventures of Zambezia
Jude Law (as Pitch), Rise of the Guardians
Kelly MacDonald (as Merida), Brave
Catherine O'Hara (as Weird Girl), Frankenweenie
Adam Sandler (as Dracula), Hotel Transylvania 
Atticus Shaffer (as "E" Gore), Hotel Transylvania
Imelda Staunton (as Queen Victoria), The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Adam Tudyk (as King Candy), Wreck-It-Ralph

BEST WRITING
Brave- Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman & Irene Mecchi
Frankenweenie- John August
From Up on Poppy- Hayao Miyazahi, Keiko Niwa & Karey Kirkpatrick
ParaNorman- Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits- Gideon Defoe
Wreck-It-Ralph- Phil Johnston & Jennifer Lee

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Brad and Gary- Illumination Entertainment
Bydlo- National Board of Canada
Eyes on the Stars- StoryCorps
Goodnight Mr. Foot- Sony Animation Studios
Kali the Little Vampire- National Board of Canada
Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'- Gracie Films
Paperman- Walt Disney Studios
The Simpsons- Billy Plympton Couch Gag- Gracie Films

ANIMATED EFFECTS (ANIMATED FEATURE)
Brave
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
ParaNorman
Rise of the Guardians
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Wreck-It-Ralph 

ANIMATED EFFECTS (LIVE ACTION FEATURE)
The Amazing Spider-Man
Battleship
Cinesite
Marvel's The Avengers

full list here.