Oscar Results - Rango and Morris Lessmore Take Home Awards

Last night was the 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, emanating from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, celebrating the greatest achievements in cinema over the past 12 months.

Taking home the most prolific awards of the night, including Best Picture, Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius) and Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), was, unsurprisingly, The Artist. The french, black-and-white, silent film drew with Martin Scorsese's Hugo for total number of awards won, at 5 each. However, Hugo took home the more technical awards, including Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.

In terms of animation, the Gore Verbinski directed western flick, Rango, took home the award for Best Animated Feature, beating out A Cat in Paris, Chico and Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots. Upon winning the award, Verbinski (pictured top with the statue) said:

"Someone asked me if this film was for kids. I don’t know, but it was certainly created by a bunch of grown-ups acting like children."

The Best Animated Short Film award was this year given to The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, by Shreveport based Moonbot Studios. Directors William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg (pictured above) were on hand to accept the honour. It's a huge honour and great sign of recognition for the studio's first short film; read more on Moonbot's website.

Bret McKenzie also took home the Best Original Song award for Man or Muppet, it's just a shame The Muppets didn't snag more nominations.

Nonetheless, congratulations to all involved in all of the films that won and those nominated. Read the full list of winners here.

84th Academy Awards Nominations Revealed

Earlier today, the nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards (to be hosted by Billy Crystal) were announced. The reveal, as expected, saw a glut of nominations for Martin Scorsese's Hugo (11 nominations) and silent film (and Best Picture frontrunner) The Artist (10 nominations), however it also saw some controversial decisions, and the animation category was no exception.

The nominees for Best Animated film are:

• A Cat in Paris
• Chico & Rita
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rango

Now, the Academy does often throw some lesser known, critical hits into the mix, so it shouldn't be too great a surprise that Chico & Rita and A Cat in Paris have cropped up. However, what is somewhat of a surprise, is the omission of The Adventures of Tintin. This isn't simply due to personal preference (although I think you all know by now how much I enjoyed Tintin) but Tintin recently took home the Golden Globe and the Producers Guild Award in the same category - as well as being nominated for the BAFTA - so the Oscar omission is somewhat bizarre. Also of note is the absence of a Pixar film on the list - the first time since the award's conception in 2001 that the Emeryville studio haven't snagged a nomination - and whilst it isn't too great a surprise to see Cars 2 missed off (although it would definitely have been deserving in my eyes), it is weird to not see Pixar as a frontrunner this year.

It now seems likely that Nickelodeon and ILM's Rango will take home the coveted prize, although I'd like to see DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda 2 get some recognition.

Also, in terms of animation, the nominations for Best Animated Short Film are:

• Dimanche (Sunday)
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
• La Luna
• A Morning Stroll
• Wild Life

Whilst it's a shame that the Looney Tunes short, I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat didn't make the cut, it's nice to see Pixar get at least some presence at the show.

Also, 'Real in Rio' from Blue Sky Studios' Rio is one of only two nominations for Best Original Song this year - competing with 'Man or Muppet' from Disney's The Muppets.

This year's Oscars will be broadcast from the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood on February 26.

National Board of Review Recognises Rango

The National Board of Review, a collection of top film experts, have announced their annual awards, with Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed Hugo scooping the top prize of Best Film. However, in the animation category, the NBR recognised Nickelodeon Movies and ILM's Rango, starring Johnny Depp, which is a heavy favourite going into award season due to its wit and satire.

Rango really was a fun and clever film, whilst not in my opinion the best of the year, it's still a good choice that may very well be repeated by the Academy come February.