The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the 92nd Oscars ceremony Sunday night in Hollywood, with the animation winners striking a balance between old favorites and powerful new voices.
Pixar sequel Toy Story 4 snagged the Best Animated Feature honors, while Kickstarter phenom turned Sony-backed short Hair Love marked down a win for diverse storytelling. Continuing its award season momentum, World War I epic 1917 took the visual effects prize, as well as the awards for cinematography (Roger Deakins) and sound mixing (Mark Taylor & Stuart Wilson).
Hair Love director Matthew A. Cherry and producer Karen Toliver created heartwarming buzz by bringing DeAndre Arnold — the black Texas high school senior who made headlines when his school told him to cut his dreadlocks or be denied his graduation walk — as their Oscars guest. Cherry is the second black filmmaker to win the animated short Oscar, following Kobe Bryant (Dear Basketball).
A few words from a winner… #Oscars pic.twitter.com/5hyp0J7wNr
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020
The big win for Toy Story 4 tallies up the 10th Best Animated Feature Oscar for Pixar Animation Studios. It is also the second win for the popular franchise, making Toy Story the first animated film series to score multiple wins in the category, and a remarkable first for Josh Cooley, who made his feature directorial debut on the film after working on multiple Pixar movies and shorts since 2004’s The Incredibles.
A few words from a winner… #Oscars pic.twitter.com/uKMxpUTDSU
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020
The win for 1917 is the second for Guillaume Rocheron, who previously won for Life of Pi (2012), and the first for co-nominees Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy, who had both been nominated before.
Going hostless for 2020, the lineup of presenters included Mahershala Ali, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Zazie Beetz, Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Colman, James Corden, Penélope Cruz, Beanie Feldstein, Will Ferrell, Jane Fonda, Josh Gad, Gal Gadot, Zack Gottsagen, Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek, Oscar Isaac, Mindy Kaling, Diane Keaton, Regina King, Shia LaBeouf, Brie Larson, Spike Lee, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, George MacKay, Rami Malek, Steve Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sandra Oh, Natalie Portman, Anthony Ramos, Keanu Reeves, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Maya Rudolph, Mark Ruffalo, Kelly Marie Tran, Taika Waititi, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Wiig and Rebel Wilson.
Delivering top cinema musical moments from the past year were performers Idina Menzel and AURORA with “Into The Unknown” from Frozen II (music & lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez), Elton John with “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman (music by Elton John, lyric by Bernie Taupin), Chrissy Metz with “I’m Standing with You” from Breakthrough (music & lyric by Diane Warren) and Cynthia Erivo with “Stand Up” from Harriet (music & lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo) — with a surprise appearance by Eminem, who took the stage to perform “Lose Yourself” 17 years after it won best original song (8 Mile). Janelle Monae kicked off the event with an enlivening rendition of beloved Mister Rogers theme “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.”
During the ceremony, Tom Hanks announced that the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open to the public on Monday, December 14, 2020. Major construction has been completed on the building, designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano and located on Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile. The Academy Museum recently announced that it has reached the 95% mark in its $388 million pre-opening campaign, and installation of four floors of immersive, innovative exhibitions is now beginning. Among the highly anticipated opening exhibitions will be a focus on iconic Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.
Best Animated Feature:
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World | Dean DeBlois, Bradfor Lewis and Bonnie Arnold (DreamWorks/Universal)
I Lost My Body | Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice (Xilam/Netflix)
Klaus | Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román (SPA Studios, Netflix) Missing Link | Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight (LAIKA/United Artists)
WINNER: Toy Story 4 | Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera (Pixar/Disney)
#Oscars Moment: See the winner for Best Animated Film: @Pixar's @ToyStory 4. pic.twitter.com/2xyTHyP0Yo
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020
Best Animated Short:
Dcera (Daughter) | Daria Kashcheeva (Czech Republic)
WINNER: Hair Love | Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver (U.S.A.)
Kitbull | Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson (U.S.A.)
Memorable | Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre (France)
Sister | Siqi Song (U.S.A.)
#Oscars Moment: Hair Love wins Best Animated Short Film! pic.twitter.com/LjInB0ejmy
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020
Best Visual Effects:
Avengers: Endgame | Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick
The Irishman | Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli
The Lion King | Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman
WINNER: 1917 | Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy
#Oscars Moment: Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy accept the Oscar for Best Visual Effects for @1917. pic.twitter.com/gb9rKXllox
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020
Music (Original Song):
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from Toy Story 4 | Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
WINNER: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman | Music by Elton John; Lyric by Bernie Taupin
“I’m Standing with You” from Breakthrough | Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Into The Unknown” from Frozen II | Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
“Stand Up” from Harriet | Music and Lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo
