"Panda" earns 16 Annie Awards nominations

DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" fought off stiff competition to earn 16 nominations -- the most for a feature -- for the International Animated Film Society's 36th Annual Annie Awards.

That includes a nomination for best animated feature, a category in which it is competing with Pixar Animation Studios' "Wall-E" -- considered the front-runner for the Oscar -- which earned seven nominations. "Kung Fu Panda" and "Wall-E" also earned one additional nomination each in the best video-game competition.

The top category is rounded out by nominations for Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Bolt," a 3-D release that earned five nominations; Sony Pictures Classics' "Waltz With Bashir," Israel's award-winning documentary, which took four nominations; and Sherman Pictures/Lama Films' "$9.99," a stop-motion title that earned two nominations.

Blue Sky Studios' "Dr. Suess' Horton Hear a Who," a Fox release, also had a strong showing with five nominations.

All of these features are short-listed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for this season's animated feature Oscar competition.

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