Irish animation Wolfwalkers was pipped to the Best Animated Feature award at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Wolfwalkers, from Kilkenny-based animation studio Cartoon Saloon, was Ireland’s only hopeful at the 93rdAcademy Awards.
Nominated alongside Onward, Over The Moon, and A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Wolfwalkers was beaten on the night by Disney/Pixar’s Soul.
This achievement marked Pixar’s 17th win at the Oscars and the third award for Soul’s co-director Pete Doct er (Up, Inside Out).
Wolfwalkers nomination marked co-director Tomm Moore’s third project to be nominated for an Oscar following The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, while it was the first for co-director Ross Stewart. An Apple Original film, Wolfwalkers was produced by Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, and Stéphan Roelants.
Cartoon Saloon now have five Oscar nominations to date following Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner, executive produced by Angelina Jolie, and Louise Bagnall’s Late Afternoon.
Read our interview with Wolfwalkers co-directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart.
Nomadland picked up the highest accolade of the night for Best Picture at a ceremony that signed off on a year, which saw global box office sales plummet with cinemas all over the world remaining mostly closed for the past 12 months.
However, history was made when Nomadland director Chloe Zhao was the first women of colour to win the Best Director award, beating David Fincher, Thomas Vinterberg, Emerald Fennell, and Lee Isaac Chung in the process.
Frances McDormand picked up the awards for Best Actress for Nomadland, while Anthony Hopkins received the Best Actor award for The Father.
Best Supporting Actor went to Daniel Kaluuya for his impressive performance in Judas and the Black Messiah, while Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung picked up the Best Supporting Actress award.
Netflix’s fascinating hit documentary My Octopus Teacher picked up the Best Documentary Feature award on the night, while Thomas Vinterverg’s Danish film Another Round starring Mads Mikkelsen won the International Feature Film award.