Disney Does It Again: 'Big Hero 6' and 'Feast' Triumph at the Oscars
Previously we've seen The Lego Movie take top honours at the BAFTAs and Critics Choice, with How To Train Your Dragon 2 winning the Golden Globe and the Lion's share of the Annies. To many though, the Academy Awards are still the main event, and last night saw the ceremony take place at last.
Although Dean DeBlois's Dragons sequel seemed to have stronger buzz going in to the ceremony, on the night it was Chris Williams and Don Hall's Big Hero 6 that took home the little gold baldy. Much as the film is a worthy winner, the result won't help change many in the animation community's suspicions that a significant proportion of the Academy are ignorant of animation and will just vote for Disney or Pixar by default. But such discussions threaten to overshadow Big Hero 6's achievements- no other superhero movie can also manage to be a warm and heartfelt story about coping with loss. It also boasts a brilliantly diverse cast (including Disney's first bi-racial lead) and a pleasing pro-science stance. It's a wonderful film, and it's a shame that to many its victory will be forever marked with an asterisk, that it obviously should have been Lego Movie's award.
The Lego Movie was nominated elsewhere, with Everything Is Awesome nominated for best original song. It ultimately lost out to Selma, but the live performance of the song was considered a highlight for many.
Disney did one better than last year, as they also took home the best animated short for the charming Feast. If you caught Big Hero in the cinema, you likely caught Feast playing before it, and it's hard to argue with the fact that it deserved recognition. Admittedly, I didn't catch a chance to catch the other nominated shorts- I guess in that respect I'm a lot like around 80% of Academy voters. (BURN!)
