‘Panda’ ready to pounce

“Kung Fu Panda” was expected to be the big winner at the 36th annual Annie Awards Friday evening, capturing 11 awards, including best animated feature and voice acting in an animated feature for Dustin Hoffman.

The DreamWorks Animation hit about a roly-poly panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master bested its competition, including Pixar/Disney’s “Wall-E,” which recently won the Golden Globe award for best animated feature and is considered to be the front-runner for an Oscar in the outstanding animated feature category.

The animation awards were to be announced by the International Animated Film Society Friday evening at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Tom Kenny, the voice of Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob Squarepants, was scheduled to be the host.

“Kung Fu Panda” also won Annies for best animated video game, animated effects for Li-Ming “Lawrence” Lee, character animation in a feature production for James Baxter, character design in an animated feature production for Nico Marlet, directing in an animated feature production for John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, musical score for Hans Zimmer and John Powell, production design in an animated feature for Tang Heng, storyboarding in an animated feature for Jen Yuh Nelson and writing in an animated feature production for Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

Other winners:

Home entertainment production: “Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs”

Short subject: “Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death”

Television production: “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II”

Television production produced for children: “Avatar: The Last Airbender”

Directing in an animated TV production or short form: Joaquim Dos Santos, “Avatar: The Last Airbender -- Sozin’s Comet Pt. 3”

Storyboarding in an animated television production or short form: Chris Williams, “Glago’s Guest”

Voice acting in an animated television production or short form: Ahmed Best, the voice of Jar Jar Binks, “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.”

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