February 25, 2008

A Delicious Oscar Win

Ratatouille wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

By Vickie An

Move over, Mickey. There's a new top rodent in town! Remy the rat cooked his way into the hearts of foodies everywhere in Disney/Pixar's summer smash, Ratatouille. Now, the tiny chef has won the respect of all of Hollywood, too.

DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC. Disney’s Enchanted, starring Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams, was nominated three times for Best Original Song.

The popular rat tale took home the prize for Best Animated Feature on Sunday at the 80th annual Academy Awards, held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California. The film, about a rat with big culinary aspirations, beat Surf's Up and Persepolis to bring home the golden statue.

Brad Bird, who wrote and directed Ratatouille, accepted the award. In his speech, Bird excitedly thanked "all of the dreamers who are supporting a rat who dreams." Bird also wrote and directed The Incredibles, which won an Oscar in 2005.

An Exciting Year for Youngsters

Oscar may be turning 80, but the talent keeps getting younger. At 13, Irish actress Saoirse (pronounced SEER-shah) Ronan was the evening's youngest Oscar contender. The newcomer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Atonement.

A group of kids from Harlem's IMPACT Reparatory Theater in New York City got the chance to shine in Oscar's spotlight, too. The choir is made up of singers between 13 and 21 years old. They performed "Raise It Up," a nominee for Best Original Song. It is one of three tracks the group recorded for the soundtrack of August Rush, which stars Freddie Highmore. The song didn't win, but the audience erupted with applause after the choir's powerful performance.

Disney's Enchanted scored three nods in the Best Original Song category. Actress Amy Adams, who plays Princess Giselle in the film, recreated her cheerful performance for the nominated "Happy Working Song." Songs titled "So Close" and "That's How You Know" were also nominated.

The Golden Compass took home the award for Best Visual Effects. Other nominees in the category included the swashbuckling Johnny Depp movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and the robot action-adventure film Transformers.

Oscar's Big Birthday

Because of a writer's strike that did not end until February 12, it was unclear if Hollywood's biggest awards ceremony would get to celebrate its 80th birthday on air. But the Writers Guild of America struck a deal with studios that ended the 100-day strike in the knick of time.

Clips of previous Academy Award-winning films, actors, actresses and directors were shown throughout the broadcast, and past winners shared their favorite Oscar-night memories.

The Academy also celebrated its golden night by going green. The Kodak Theater was stocked with recycled paper towels, toilet paper and napkins. Clean-up crews used environmentally safe cleaning products to scrub the theater at the end of the exciting evening.

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