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Ursa Major Award

Housepets are Naked!

Jul 11th, 2011
by rodney.
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Housepets! is an on-line full-color comic strip by Rick Griffin. It’s well-known and well-loved… in fact it even won the Ursa Major Award for Best Comic Strip two years running. And now, it’s on dead trees! Housepets! Are Naked All The Time is the first collection of Housepets! strips available in softcover book format. In fact it’s available now from Createspace — and, of course, from Amazon. Follow the daily adventures of the pets of Babylon Gardens, USA. And now you don’t even need a computer!

 

image c. 2011 Rick Griffin

Animal Graphic Novels

Jun 29th, 2011
by rodney.
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Here’s a useful link we stumbled across: Lindsay Cibos (one of the creators of the Ursa Major Award winning book Draw Furries, along with Jared Hodges) has put together a list of  36 “Graphic Novels with Animal Protagonists” using Amazon.com’s “Listmania” service. Some of the items she listed are well-known already of course — Mice Templar, Blacksad, Gon, Mouse Guard, and so forth, but she also listed several that we haven’t heard of around here before, like Chi’s Sweet Home, My Cat Loki, and Seekers: Toklo’s Story. You can check out the list here, or visit Lindsay and Jared’s web site here. Here’s your homework assignment: What other cool furry-themed graphic novels can you think of?

The 2010 Ursa Major Award Winners

May 17th, 2011
by rodney.
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The winners of the 2011 Ursa Major Awards — for the best in anthropomorphic media, as decided by the fans — were announced on Friday, May 13th at Morphicon in Columbus, Ohio.  From the Ursa Major Awards web site: “More formally known as the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Award, the Ursa Major Award is presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. It is intended as Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalent of the Hugo Award ® presented by the World Science Fiction Society, mystery fandom’s Anthony Award, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Award, and so forth. Anyone may nominate and vote for candidates for the Awards. These Awards are decided by the fans, not by a committee”. More than 1,300 fans from around the world took part in voting for their favorite furry and anthropomorphic media in ten categories. In reverse order, the winners for 2010 were:

 

Best Anthropomorphic Game: Disney Epic Mickey, Developed by Junction Point Studios.

 

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration: The cover for Shadow of the Father (by Kyell Gold), illustrated by Sara Palmer.

 

Best Anthropomorphic Magazine: Heat #7

 

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip: Housepets! by Rick Griffin

 

Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story: Twokinds by Tom Fischbach

 

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work: FurPiled #4 by Leo Magna

 

Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction: Bridges by Kyell Gold (released as a novella by FurPlanet Books).

 

Best Anthropomorphic Novel: Shadow of the Father by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press

 

Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work or Series: Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, created by Aardman Animations.

 

Best Anthropomorphic Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon, directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, released by Dreamworks Animation.

 

Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about the nominees in each category, and also how to participate in the awards yourself.

 

More Furries Voting!

Apr 24th, 2011
by rodney.
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Voting has closed for the 2011 Ursa Major Awards, celebrating all your favorite furry stuff from 2010. Can’t tell you who won yet — that’ll be announced at a special awards ceremony at Morphicon, taking place May 12th through 15th in Columbus, Ohio. Definitely looks as if there will be some surprises though! We can tell you that this year over 1,300 fur fans from around the world took part in voting for their favorite furry-themed movies, TV series, comic strips, games, and more. That’s a growth of more than 200 voters from last year! As usual, visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about the award winners and nominees, past and present.

Time to Cast Your Vote!

Mar 15th, 2011
by rodney.
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The Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA) has announced the nominees for the 2011 Ursa Major Awards, celebrating the best anthropomorphic offerings of 2010. “More formally known as the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Awards, the Ursa Major Awards are presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. They are intended as Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalent of the Hugo Awards (presented by the World Science Fiction Society), mystery fandom’s Anthony Awards, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Awards, and so forth” [from the Ursa Majors web site]. And so, the nominees in ten categories are:

 

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture (Live-action or animated feature-length movies):
Alpha and Omega, from Lionsgate
How To Train Your Dragon, from Dreamworks Animation
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, from Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Brothers
Toy Story 3, from Walt Disney Pictures and Dreamworks Animation
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, from Walden Media and 20th Century Fox

Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work or Series (TV series, one-shots, advertisements, or short videos):
Adventure Time, from Pendleton Ward and Cartoon Network
Foxy Bingo, ad campaign produced for Foxy Bingo
Mongrels, from BBC Three
Orangina Naturally, ad campaign produced by Gorgeous Enterprises for Orangina
The Regular Show, from Cartoon Network
Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, from Aardman Animations and BBC One

Best Anthropomorphic Novel (Written works of 40,000 words or more):
Basecraft Cirrostratus by Justin Lamar
Descent by Phil Geusz
Otters In Space by Mary Lowd
Save The Day by D. J. Fahl
The Seventh Chakra by Kevin Frane
Shadow of the Father by Kyell Gold

Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction (Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short written works):
Bridges by Kyell Gold
False Dawn by Kyell Gold
Felis Ex Machina by E. O. Costello
Gerty and the Doesn’t-Smell-Like-a-Melon by Mary E. Lowd
The Peculiar Quandary of Simon Canopus Artyle by Kevin Frane

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work (Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and convention program books):
Furpiled #4 by Leo Magna
Different Worlds, Different Skins, edited by Will A. Sanborn
Iron Claw Bestiary by Chris Goodwin
i.s.o. #1 by Vince Suzukawa
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris

Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story (Comic books and serialised online stories):
Concession by Immelmann
Furthia High by QuetzaDrake
Cruelty by Rukis
Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler
Twokinds by Tom Fischbach

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip (Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs):
Broken Plot Device by Lis Boriss
Faux Pas by Robert and Margaret Carspecken
Little Tales by Genesis Eve Whitmore
Housepets! by Rick Griffin
Sandra and Woo by Powree and Oliver Knörzer

Best Anthropomorphic Magazine (Professional magazines, amateur zines, fanzines, internet-only magazines):
Anthropomorphic Dreams Podcast, by Will A. Sanborn
Heat, published by Sofawolf
New Fables, edited by Tim Susman
South Fur Lands, edited by Bernard Doove
Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe, edited by Gene Breshears

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration (Illustrations and cover art for books, magazines, convention program books; coffee table portfolios):
Big Red: Lady Sings the Blues by Richard Bartrop (Midwest Fur Fest program book illo)
Cenotaph by Susan Rankin-Pollard (Spontoon Island fanzine illo)
The Seventh Chakra (cover) by Kamui
Shadow of the Father (cover) by Sara Palmer
New Fables Summer 2010 (cover) by Mary Mouse

Best Anthropomorphic Game (Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games):
Disney Epic Mickey, from Junction Point Studios and Disney Interactive Studios
Furry Basketball Association (on-line roleplaying game)
Rocket Knight, from Climax Studios and Konami
Sam & Max: Season 3, Episode 1: The Penal Zone, from Telltale Games
Sonic Colors, from Dimps and Sega

 

Voting for the 2011 Ursa Major Awards will be open until April 17th. To find out how to cast your vote, visit the web site at www.ursamajorawards.org. Also, check out the Ursa Major Awards Live Journal to see links to some great examples from each of the nominees.

Ursa Major Nominations Open!

Feb 4th, 2011
by rodney.
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Here we are in a new year, and once again it’s time for all the Furry Fans out there to nominate their favorite movies, books, comics, TV shows and more from the previous year for the annual Ursa Major Awards — Furry Fandom’s answer to the Hugo Awards ™ from Science Fiction Fandom, the Anthony Awards from Mystery Fandom, and so forth. In other words, these are the people’s choice awards, where the fans themselves get to pick out the best from all the material released in the previous year — in this case, January to December, 2010. Last year, more than 1,000 fans around the world voted on the best anthropomorphic media from 2009, and the Ursa Majors hope to top that record this year. Get involved! Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out about how to nominate your favorites. Don’t remember all the great movies, books, video games, art, or whatever that came out in 2010? Fear not! The Ursa Major web site provides a handy Recommended Reading and Viewing List to help jog your memory. (Just keep in mind: Things don’t have to be on the Rec List to be nominated. It’s just there to help you think of things). Nominations are open now in each of 10 categories, and they close at the end of February. Then the actual voting will begin in March. The awards themselves will be handed out at a lucky Furry Fandom convention this summer.

Welcome to 2011… Let’s Award 2010!

Jan 1st, 2011
by rodney.
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It’s another new year, and once again it’s time to take a look back at the year before… and decide what we really liked about it, from the point of view of Furry Fandom.  The Ursa Major Awards are the furry fans’ answer to the Hugo Awards ™ from science fiction fandom, the Bram Stoker Awards from horror fandom, and so forth. In other words, these are the awards the people choose themselves, celebrating the best of what we have to offer — in this case, anthropomorphic characters and their creators. Every year hundreds of furry fans the world over take part in nominating and awarding their favorite furry games, comic books, comic strips, artwork, TV series and shorts, movies, and more. The first step is what’s called The Recommended List.  This is just a reminder of what cool furry-themed pieces came out in the qualifying year — in this case, 2010, January to December. We’ve reviewed numerous items over the last year on this very web page, and most if not all of them could qualify for the awards — if you, the fans, nominate them. So visit the Ursa Major Awards web site and add your favorite items to the The Recommended List.  Remember though, the List is not a nomination — it’s just a reminder of things that exist, sort of a “Fur Your Consideration” listing if you will. Proper nominations begin this spring, and the awards themselves will be handed out at a furry convention this summer.

Now It Can Be Told!

May 31st, 2010
by rodney.
1 comment

The 2010 Ursa Major Awards, celebrating the best in anthropomorphic art, writing, and other media were presented at FurAffinity United on Sunday, May 30th. 2 the Ranting Gryphon hosted the show and presented the awards. From the Ursa Major Awards web site: “More formally known as the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Award, the Ursa Major Award is presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. It is intended as Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalent of the Hugo Award ® presented by the World Science Fiction Society, mystery fandom’s Anthony Award, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Award, and so forth.” This year more than 1,100 fans from more than a dozen countries world wide took part in nominating and voting for the Ursa Major Awards. The most yet!

And here, now, are the nominees and winners in each of 10 categories.

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Game, the nominees were:

  • Earth Eternal (created by Sparkplay Media)
  • G-Force – The Video Game (Developed by Keen Studios, published by Disney Interactive)
  • Predation, the Board Game (created by Quentin Long)
  • Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Developed by Insomniac Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment)

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration, the nominees were:

  • Blotch: Cover for Out of Position by Kyell Gold
  • Patrick Farley: “Gaia’s Strange Seedlike Brood” from Thoughtcrime Experiment
  • Jailbird: “It’s Beautiful” from “Trading Wishes” by Kevin Frane
  • Kenket: Illustration for New Coyote from Anthrozine.com
  • Sara Palmer: Cover for Jasmyn by Bernard Doove

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Blotch, for the Out of Position cover.

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Magazine, the nominees were:

  • Anthro
  • Heat
  • New Fables
  • South Fur Lands
  • Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Heat

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip, the nominees were:

  • Dan and Mab’s Furry Adventures by Amber M. Williams
  • Doc Rat by Jenner
  • Freefall by Mark Stanley
  • Housepets! by Rick Griffin
  • Kevin and Kell by Bill Holbrook

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Housepets!

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story (with continuous story arcs) the nominees were:

  • Concession by Immelman
  • Furthia High by QuetzaDrake
  • Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler
  • TwoKinds by Tom Fischbach

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Concession

In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work, the nominees were:

  • Bloom County – The Complete Collection, Volume 1, by Berke Breathed, published by Idea & Design Works
  • Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals, by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, published by Impact
  • The First Book of Lapism, by Phil Geusz, published by Anthro Press
  • Who Are The Furries? by Denise Winterman, from BBC News
  • X, edited by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals

In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction, the nominees were:

  • “Drifting”, by By Kyell Gold, from FurAffinity.net
  • “Moonthief”, by Not Tube, from X by Sofawolf Press
  • “Stop the World”, by Kyell Gold, from Anthrozine.com
  • “Thou Shalt Not Make Wrongful Use of the Name of Thy Lord”, by Whyte Yote, from X by Sofawolf Press
  • “Trading Wishes”, by Kevin Frane, from FurAffinity.net

And the Ursa Major Award went to: “Drifting”

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Novel, the nominees were:

  • Bone Crossed, by Patricia Briggs, published by Ace Books
  • Cheetah’s Win, by Phil Geusz, published by Anthrozine.com
  • Jazmyn, by Bernard Doove, published by CreateSpace
  • Out of Position, by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
  • Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, by David Benidictus, published by Dutton Juvenile
  • The Unscratchables, by Cornelius Kane, published by Scribner

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Out of Position

In the category of Best Anthropomorphic Short Subject or Series, the nominees were:

  • The Cat Piano (from the People’s Republic of Animation, directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson)
  • Partly Cloudy (from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation, directed by Peter Sohn)
  • The Penguins of Madagascar (produced by Dreamworks Animation for Nickelodeon)
  • Prep and Landing (from Walt Disney Pictures Animation, directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers)
  • The Secret Saturdays (produced by Cartoon Network)

And the Ursa Major Award went to: The Penguins of Madagascar

In the Category of Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture, the nominees were:

  • Avatar (from 20th Century Fox, directed by James Cameron)
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox (from 20th Century Fox, directed by Wes Anderson)
  • The Princess and the Frog (from Walt Disney Pictures Animation, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker)
  • Up (from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
  • Where the Wild Things Are (from Warner Brothers, Directed by Spike Jonze)

And the Ursa Major Award went to: Avatar

The staff of InFurNation.com wish to extend our congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and winners — as well as all of the fans who took the time to participate in the nominations and voting! Remember to visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to find out more about how to nominate the best in anthropomorphics from 2010 for the 2011 awards.

Lackadaisy — The Book

May 9th, 2010
by rodney.
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Tracy Butler’s popular web comic Lackadaisy (a frequent Ursa Major Award nominee and winner of the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Award — twice) has finally been released on dead trees by 4th Dimension Entertainment. The Lackadaisy Volume 1 graphic novel (in softcover) tells the story of  the Prohibition-era speakeasy known as Lackadaisy, and characters like “a rum-running violinist named Rocky and a police academy dropout nicknamed Freckle”. Oh by the way, those characters (and all the rest) happen to be anthropomorphic cats. That little fact, not to mention Ms. Butler’s attention to detail and sepia-toned artwork, have sealed the popularity of this comic in and out of Furry Fandom.

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