Winsor McCay Award: Phil Roman

Phil Roman at the 43rd Annie Awards. Photo by David Yeh.

The Winsor McCay Award, named for the most influential of character animation pioneers, was the first Annie Award established by ASIFA-Hollywood and is awarded to a maximum of three individuals annually in recognition of lifetime or career contributions in direction, animation, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical expertise, music, education, or for other endeavors which exhibit an outstanding devotion to and promotion of excellence in the art of animation.

The content below was taken from the Annie Awards program booklet.

Phil Roman was inspired by Walt Disney’s Bambi as an 11-year-old kid. Since that moment, he harbored a dream to work in animation, which came true when he was hired as an apprentice at Disney in 1955. A true success story, six-time Emmy-winner Phil Roman has animated, directed and produced animated series, theatricals and commercials for over six decades. He recently returned to Film Roman, the studio he created, which produced the renowned series The Simpsons and King of the Hill (as well as the Garfield specials and series).