Former Vizzer garners VES Award nomination for character design

Vanellope von Schweetz, the razor-tongued, cart-racing girl who befriends the heavy handed namesake of Walt Disney Animation Studio's feature film, "Wreck-It Ralph," earned a 2013 Visual Effects Society Award nomination for the animators who brought her to life, including Michelle Robinson BED '91, a former Texas A&M Master of Science in Visualization student.

Robinson was part of the four-person Disney animation team nominated for a VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture. Robinson's teammates were John Kahwaty, Suzan Kim and Tony Smeed.

The annual VES Awards recognize outstanding visual effects artistry in 24 categories of film, animation, television, commercials and video games.

"Every year, visual effects artists put their technical skill, ingenuity and passion to work in the creation of images that astound and move us," said Jeffrey A. Okun, chair of the Visual Effects Society. "We congratulate all of our nominees on their amazing accomplishments in — and contributions to — the worlds of film, animation, television, special venue and games."

In the game-hopping adventure, "Wreck-It Ralph," Ralph finds it harder and harder to do his thankless job as "The Bad Guy" in the arcade game Fix-it Felix Jr. Suffering from a classic case of Bad-Guy fatigue and hungry for a little wreck-ognition, he embarks on a wild adventure across an incredible arcade-game universe to prove that just because he's a "Bad Guy," it doesn't mean he's a bad guy.

On his quest, he makes his first real friend, the feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz from the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush. But everything changes when a deadly enemy is unleashed, threatening the entire arcade and Vanellope herself, finally giving Ralph his chance to save the day.

The film will be released March 5, 2013 on DVD and Blu-ray.