How to Train Your Dragon an Annie contender

How to Train Your Dragon hasbeen nominated for best animated feature and Canadian actor Jay Baruchel for best voice acting at the Annie Awards, an annual Hollywood event for animators to be held Saturday.

The International Animated Film Society that runs the awards bestowed 16 nominations on How to Train Your Dragon, including directing and writing nods for Canadian Dean DeBlois, who co-directed and wrote alongside Chris Sanders.

It will vie for best animated feature with Oscar nominees The Illusionist and Toy Story 3 and with films Despicable Me and Tangled.

Despicable Me, a Universal Pictures release about an evil genius won over by three little girls has seven nominations, magician story The Illusionist by French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet has five, Toy Story 3 has three and Disney's Tangled, a retake on Rapunzel,two.

How to Train Your Dragon, the story of a hapless young Viking who befriends a dragon, comes out on top because of multiple nominations for best animated effects and character animation as well as double performance nods for Montreal's Baruchel and Scottish actor Gerard Butler.

It was created by Dreamworks with Mad Hatter Entertainment.

DeBlois, who trained at Sheridan College's animation program in Oakville, worked on the film Lilo & Stitch and the Sigur Ros documentary Heimabefore collaborating with Sanders to write and direct How to Train Your Dragon. They are both in line for an Oscar in the animated film category later this month.