Kungfu Panda fought off stiff competition to earn 17 nominations, to lead the list of nominees, for the International Animated Film Society's 36th Annual Annie Awards.

Kungfu Panda fought off stiff competition to earn 17 nominations, to lead the list of nominees, for the International Animated Film Society's 36th Annual Annie Awards.

Kungfu Panda's 17 nominations are among 27 nominations for films produced by DreamWorks Animation. Among the nominations, Kungfu Panda is up for the Best Animated Feature Award. Individual nominations for character creation are for Dustin Hoffman as Shifu and Ian MsShane as Tai Lung. The film is also nominated for character design, and direction.

Kungfu Panda is in competition with Pixar Animation Studios' "WALL-E" for Best Animated Feature. WALL-E earned seven nominations, and is considered a front-runner for an Oscar.

Despite their low-profile, the Annie Awards are widely considered a weather vane for the Oscars. Six out of the seven Oscar winners received top honors at the Annie Awards.

The Annie Awards will be presented January 20th in Los Angeles.