As expected, Disney’s smash hit Frozen swept the Oscars last night, winning both of the categories in which it was nominated: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Also, the French-Luxembourgish short Mr Hublot took home the award for Best Animated Short Film.
Best Animated Feature Film: Frozen
It was no surprise when the envelope was opened for Best Animated Feature Film and Frozen was announced the winner. Producer Peter Del Vecho and directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck accepted the award.
Check out the video of the filmmakers accepting the award, as well as a Q&A they did later that night:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdrPB5KJaRM]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maScG3qqud8]
Earlier that day, Frozen passed the impressive billion dollar milestone in the worldwide box office, making it one of only two animated films ever to do so. That in itself would have been something worth pulling out all the stops to celebrate about. This has been such a whirlwind award season for the Frozen team and this Oscar win is the ultimate cherry on the top. Congratulations to the entire Frozen cast and crew for all their hard work, passion and dedication to this incredible project!
Also, we can’t forget that this is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ first win of the award since its inception in 2001. No doubt if the award were award in the 90s, Disney would already have a slew of these in its trophy cases back at the studio. Many thought that last year, Disney was robbed of the award when Brave won instead of Wreck-It Ralph. But, that’s in the past and we’re ecstatic that Disney finally won for Best Animated Feature. If there were any movie to do it, it seems Frozen would it be!
Best Animated Short Film: Mr Hublot
Regarding Best Animated Short Film, Mr Hublot took home the top prize. Directors Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares accepted the Academy Award. The short was up against some tough competition, including Disney’s Get A Horse! We are proud of this team and the hard work they did in creating Mr Hublot. We’re looking forward to more great things from this duo!
Watch the acceptance speech and a Q&A with the directors:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_tD5FCEOYE]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awbAr30n_n4]
Best Original Song: “Let It Go”
Frozen went two for two when it also won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez accepted the award in a well put together, clever and fun acceptance speech. In it they sang–to the tune of “Happy Birthday”–“Happy Oscars to you, let’s do Frozen 2!”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QQLQcuz3lY]
With this Oscar win, Robert Lopez also become the 12th person in history to earn the EGOT, joining the ranks of Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg and Mel Brooks. The EGOT is an acronym that for peolpe who have won all four American entertainment awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
“Let It Go” was the last of the Best Original Song nominees to be performed. Earlier in the the night, another animation contender “Happy” from Despicable Me 2 was performed by Pharrell Williams. The performance was great toe-tapping number, as Williams danced with various starlets like Amy Adams, Lupita Nyong’o and Meryl Streep. Check that fun song out below, trust me, it’ll make you happy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FEnu11AmQQ]
Who the Heck Is Adele Dazeem?
Also, right before Idina Menzel performed “Let It Go”, John Travolta introduced her. Unfortunately, apparently he has no idea who the great Queen Idina is because he called he, in what was an attempt to show respect, Adele Dazeem! If Idina were really Elsa, she should have zapped Travolta with her ice powers right then and there for his mistake.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1wGAoA7634]
Twitter blew up after this, with many people commenting, criticizing and joking about the sensation Adel Dazeem. My personal favorite was this one below:
DID JOHN TRAVOLTA JUST “PRINCE ABOOBOO” IDINA MENZEL
— Jade Elizabeth (@ShootTheWendy) March 3, 2014
Idina, dressed in a beautiful creme dress, stood under an Elsa-like chandelier as she belted out the famous and iconic Disney tune. Despite having performed on Broadway for decades, she seemed a bit nervous, but she killed the song like the talented professional that she is. She even got a standing ovation from her peers in the crowd.
Much to the disappointment of fans, Idina performed a shortened version of “Let It Go”, which seemed like a missed opportunity considering other non-nominated songs like “Over The Rainbow” got full performances. If you missed her show-stopping performance, check it out here:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO-ORfU7ids]
What was your favorite part of the Oscars last night?
All in all, it was a fabulous Oscar ceremony and night! 2013 was an incredible year for animation, so congratulations to all the nominees and winners!
