Zootopia has won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 89th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The Disney film, a buddy comedy between a rabbit police officer and a fox con artist set in a city full of anthropomorphic animals, was the frontrunner at Hollywood's biggest night, having won the Golden Globe, Annie, and Critics' Choice awards previously.

"Thank you Academy, this is an incredible honour. About five years ago, almost six now, we got this crazy idea about humanity with talking animals, in the hopes that when the film came out, it would make the world just a slightly better place," Byron Howard, co-director on Zootopia, said in his acceptance speech.

"And we are so grateful to the audiences over the world who embraced this film, with this story of tolerance being more powerful than fear of the other," co-director Rich Moore added.

Zootopia was one of our favourite movies from last year, not just for its heartfelt storytelling, but more so for how it tackled a variety of topical themes - gender stereotyping, xenophobia, and racial diversiry - in a kids' friendly package.

The critical acclaim it garnered has helped the movie to its multiple award wins, but Zootopia was also the most commercially successful Oscar nominee with its $1-billion-plus at the worldwide box office, beating out Moana, Kubo and the Two Strings, My Life as a Zucchini, and The Red Turtle.

Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, and co-directed by Jared Bush, the Disney animated adventure featured an extensive voice cast of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, and Shakira.

The Oscars are still on-going in Los Angeles, with some of the biggest awards - Best Picture, and Best Actor/ Actress among others - yet to be given out. Mahershala Ali won the first Oscar of the night - Best Supporting Actor - for his work on Moonlight. Suicide Squad took home Best Makeup and Hairstyling, while Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won Best Costume Design. </s> “We are so grateful to the audiences all over the world that embraced this film with this story of tolerance being more powerful than fear of the other,”said Zootopia co-director Rich Moore onstage tonight to big applause as the Disney pic snagged the Best Animated Feature at tonight’s Academy Awards. The remark by the filmmaker, who was joined by fellow director Bryan Howard and producer Clark Spencer was a clear but unnamed dig at the policies of Donald Trump on a night that has seen the President take a number of expected blows from Hollywood and host Jimmy Kimmel so far.

Politics aside, the Howard and Moore directed film was certainly seen as the favored contender going into tonight’s Oscars with big wins at the Annie Awards earlier this month. The multiple awards for the fourth highest grossing film of 2016 from its animated industry peers followed wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Animated Feature last month.

Having said that, Zootopia wasn’t the only Disney film nominated in the category this year with the House of Mouse’s Moana competing for the ‘toon prize too. Also nominated this year were My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle and Kubo and the Two Strings, with the latter also up for Best Visual Effects. Disney’s big hit sequel Finding Dory, which the President screened at the White House recently, was not in the running.

Released on March 4 last year after premiering at the Brussels Animation Film Festival the month before, the Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba and Jenny Slate voiced film about team-up between a law enforcement rabbit and a con man fox has snared more than $1 billion at the global box office. The win for Zootopia marks the fifth Oscars in a row that a Disney film or Disney-owned entity has won the Best Animated Feature. In 2012, Brave took the now 15-year old award, followed by Frozen in 2013, a surprise win for Big Hero 6 in 2014 and Inside Out last year.

Nominated for 11 Annie Awards, Zootopia took home half a dozen at the February 4 show at UCLA’s Royce Hall. </s> REUTERS - Animal cartoon "Zootopia," an exploration of bias through the comedic story of a bunny that becomes a police officer, won the Academy Award on Sunday for best animated feature film.

The movie from Walt Disney Co's DIS.N Disney Animation Studios was one of the year's biggest box-office hits, selling more than US$1 billion in tickets worldwide. </s> Disney Animation’s “Zootopia” has won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film — the studio’s fifth straight win in the category.

“Zootopia” topped an eclectic field that included Disney’s “Moana,” Studio Ghibli/Sony Pictures Classics’ dialogue-free “The Red Turtle” and a pair for stop-motion titles — Laika/Focus Features ‘ feature film “Kubo and the Two Strings” and Gebeka Films’ orphan tale “My Life as a Zucchini.”

“Zootopia” follows Disney victories for Pixar’s “Inside Out” last year,” Disney Animation’s “Big Hero 6” and Frozen and Pixar’s “Brave” in 2013.

“Zootopia” was a massive box office success, becoming one of only 28 films to top $1 billion in worldwide box office. Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, the comedy-adventure centered on the partnership between a rabbit police officer (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and a con-artist fox (voiced by Jason Bateman) to uncover a conspiracy in a mammal metropolis.

“Zootopia” had dominated during the awards season with victories at the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild of America and the Annies. “Kubo and the Two Strings” topped “Zootopia for the best animated feature trophy at the BAFTA Awards.

Pixar was shut out of nominations this year after dominating the animation category since 2004, when “Finding Nemo” won the Emeryville-based company’s first Oscar. Other winners include “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “Wall-E,” “Up,” “Toy Story 3,” “Brave” and last year’s winner “Inside Out.”

However, Pixar’s “Piper,” which played before “Finding Dory,” did receive a nomination in the short animated category this year. </s> Zootopia has recently added an Oscar to its list of recognitions as the animated film from Disney bags the Best Animated Feature Film of the year during the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Disney’s animation which served both as entertainment for kids as well as an eye-opener for adults on the issue of discrimination continues to make a mark after getting recognized at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, Annies, and many other award-giving bodies.

Now, 2016’s Zootopia bags recognition from the 89th Academy Awards after it was named the Best Animated Feature Film for its gentle presentation of “topical messages involving themes like bigotry, racism and prejudice,” according to ABC News Chicago.

According to the outlet, the animated movie from Disney has become an avenue for awareness of significant socio-political issues, specifically on the matter of inclusion.

Upon accepting the Academy Award, Zootopia directors Rich Moore and Byron Howard expressed their gratitude that their message came through.

“That’s always been the job of fairy tales and fables. To be able to put into a safe package, and an easy to approach package, very large ideas, and topics that might be harder to broach if you just start from square one,” Moore said.

Howard, on the other hand, admitted that Zootopia was a film that provides parents with the proper medium to speak with their children about equality and discrimination.

Zootopia revolves around the story of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny who goes on a quest to “make the world a better place” by becoming a police officer.

After succeeding in her studies and becoming part of the law enforcement, Judy realizes that her goal might be a bit more difficult to achieve especially since her vision of the world is far from reality.

As she tries her hardest to make a mark even after being assigned as a meter maid, Judy encounters Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a sly fox who makes a living out of conning other people. In a twist of fate, Judy finds herself seeking for Nick’s help in solving the case of missing predators in the city of Zootopia.

According to the Huffington Post, Zootopia’s message of the film focuses on “the dangers of stereotyping and discriminating in a multicultural world” whereas people of different races are represented by animals—the prey and predator.

While the film was released earlier in 2016, it proved to be relevant in the year’s most significant event in the United States: the November Presidential Elections.

The outlet believes that Disney’s animated movie became more relevant because of “the fear-based rise of President Donald Trump’s popularity.” This, says Howard, basically defines “[the film’s] entire third act is about” where the “villain is using fear to stoke division.”

“I don’t think we could have predicted it any closer with this film,” he added.

Relevance aside, Zootopia performed well in the box office since its March 2016 release with $340 million domestic earnings and over $1 billion all-in-all worldwide.

Because of this, fans have been waiting for Zootopia 2 to be released which may be sooner rather than later considering how Howard and Moore confirmed that there is enough material for a sequel, as reported by OPP Trends.

The Inquisitr also previously reported about speculations on Zootopia 2’s upcoming news-based theme which revolves around Judy and Nick becoming a mixed-race couple.

Do you believe Zootopia deserves the Academy Award? Let us know what your think via the comments section below. </s> Disney animation continues its streak of Oscar domination: Zootopia, co-directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, scooped up Best Animated Film from the Academy on Sunday. Producer Clark Spencer shared in the win.

“We are so grateful to the audiences all over the world who embraced this story of tolerance being more powerful than the fear of the other,” said Moore from the stage.

The inclusive sentiment echoed that of presenter Gael García Bernal, who delivered what appeared to be a comment on President Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the Mexican boarder.

“Flesh and blood actors are migrant workers,” Bernal said. “We travel all over the world. We construct families, we build life but we cannot be divided. As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being I’m against any form of wall that wants to separate us.”

Last year, Disney’s Pixar won Best Animated Feature Film for Inside Out. Before that, it was Walt Disney Animation’s Big Hero 6 in 2015, Frozen in 2014 and Pixar’s Brave in 2013. This year, Disney had two nominees in the category — Zootopia and Moana — alongside fellow contenders Kubo and the Two Strings, The Red Turtle and My Life as a Zucchini.

Zootopia, which also won Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes, told of a cop rabbit and a sly fox uncovering a conspiracy within a society of anthropomorphic animals. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman led an immense voice cast that included Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Shakira and Jenny Slate.

The 89th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, are airing live from Los Angeles on ABC. </s> The Golden Globe Awards looked past the big Hollywood studios Sunday to lavish most of its attention on Lionsgate, the mini-major whose crowdpleasing retro-musical “La La Land” took home seven statuettes, the most of any motion picture for the year. The independent distributor A24 also scored with a surprise win for “Moonlight,” a critical darling that won for best dramatic film.

In the television categories, FX was the big winner for the evening, with two awards each for its miniseries “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and freshman comedy series “Atlanta.”

Netflix also scored big with “The Crown,” which won for best dramatic series and lead actress Claire Foy, while AMC’s series “The Night Manager” won three acting awards.

In the feature film categories, the only major studio to take home multiple awards was Sony, which won two statuettes for the French film “Elle,” released by its Sony Pictures Classics division. The psychological thriller, directed by Paul Verhoeven, won for foreign film and lead dramatic actress Isabelle Huppert.

Disney won one award for “Zootopia,” for animated film. Also taking one award each was Paramount, for supporting actress Viola Davis in “Fences”; Universal, for supporting actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson in “Nocturnal Animals,” which was released by Focus Features; and Amazon, for lead dramatic actor Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea.”

Lionsgate, based in Santa Monica, has had a notable year with “La La Land,” which has so far grossed $51.7 million domestically as the studio has gradually expanded its release since it opened in December. The movie, which highlighted a number of vintage locations in Los Angeles, won for best comedic or musical film, as well as for its lead actors, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Writer-director Damien Chazelle won two awards, while the soundtrack also won two awards.

A24, the New York indie banner founded four years ago, has found critical success with “Moonlight,” an understated drama about a gay black man’s coming of age that has accumulated numerous critics prizes and has so far grossed $13.3 million in limited release.

Why Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s supporting actor win is an upset (sort of)

Janelle Monae, Pablo Larrain rhapsodize about the power of women, reflected in the Golden Globes nominees </s> The complete list of nominees for the 89th Academy Awards, the most prestigious award in Hollywood, have been announced today (via oscar.go.com). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees this morning via live broadcast and on their website. They've nominated many outstanding films, and lots of amazing performances from 2016, though there are always others that deserve recognition. There's no need to spend any more time introducing this, so let's get right into it! This year, The Academy selected a total of nine Best Picture nominees, including: La La Land, Moonlight, Arrival, Manchester by the Sea, Lion, Hidden Figures, and Hell or High Water. So without further ado, here is the full list of noms.

The 89th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 26th at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with a live telecast airing on ABC starting at 7PM (EST) / 4PM (PST). The upcoming 2017 ceremony is being hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Here's the complete list of 2016 Academy Awards nominees:

PICTURE:

 Arrival

 Fences

 Hacksaw Ridge

 Hell or High Water

 Hidden Figures

 La La Land

 Lion

 Manchester by the Sea

 Moonlight

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

 Mahershala Ali - Moonlight

 Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water

 Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea

 Dev Patel - Lion

 Michael Shannon - Nocturnal Animals

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

 Hell or High Water - Taylor Sheridan

 La La Land - Damien Chazelle

 The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

 Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan

 20th Century Women - Mike Mills

ANIMATED FEATURE:

 Kubo and the Two Strings

 Moana

 My Life as a Zucchini

 The Red Turtle

 Zootopia

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

 Fire at Sea

 I Am Not Your Negro

 Life, Animated

 O.J.: Made in America

 13th

VISUAL EFFECTS:

 Deepwater Horizon

 Doctor Strange

 Jungle Book

 Kubo and the Two Strings

 Rogue One

PRODUCTION DESIGN:

 Arrival

 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 Hail, Caesar!

 La La Land

 Passengers

COSTUME DESIGN:

 Allied

 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 Florence Foster Jenkins

 Jackie

 La La Land

ORIGINAL SONG:

 "Audition" from La La Land

 "Can’t Stop the Feeling!" - Trolls

 "City of Stars" - La La Land

 "The Empty Chair" - Jim: The James Foley Story

 "How Far I'll Go" - Moana

Congratulations to all of this year's nominees. What an exciting year! As expected, La La Land (my #1 movie of 2016) and Moonlight are the biggest nominees and that's fine with me - they're two of the best movies of the year. I'm also very happy for Kubo and the Two Strings and Viggo Mortensen from Captain Fantastic, since I love both of these movies. I am very, very surprised that Amy Adams did not get a nomination for Arrival, she really deserved it. I'm also surprised to see Michael Shannon nominated, but all the better. I'm intrigued to see Lion and Hacksaw Ridge getting so many noms, but they are both great films so that does make sense in the end. And sadly, no Deadpool anywhere. I'm very happy with these picks this year, but I'm sure there will be plenty of discussion/complaints about them as always. What do you think of these noms? </s> Animation is the bond that ties together all of this year's Valley-connected Oscar contenders.

Roger Ross Williams of Easton is nominated in the feature film Best Documentary category for the wonderful "Life, Animated." The movie is centered on journalist Ron Suskind and his son Owen, an autistic youngster who couldn't speak until he began memorizing the songs and dialogue from dozens of Disney cartoons.

Williams, who won an Oscar for the short documentary "Music By Prudence" in 2010, not only captures Owen's life-changing love for "The Jungle Book," "Hercules" and "Bambi" but also documents Owen's decision to move out of his parents' home and live on his own.

What really makes "Life, Animated" special is that, as you watch Owen mesmerized by "The Little Mermaid," you realize anew that movies do matter.

"Kubo and the Two Strings" features the artistry of Emmaus native Matthew Beightol, who worked as a compositor. Set in ancient Japan, the cartoon adventure is nominated for Best Animated Film.

A lovely example of the pleasures of stop-motion animation, "Kubo" tells the saga of a young boy (Art Parkinson) who is attempting to locate his father's sword and enchanted armor to battle the dastardly Moon King (Ralph Fiennes).

Kubo is aided on his journey by a grumpy Monkey (Charlize Theron) and a dim-witted Beetle (Matthew McConaughey). Even though the plot is ripped from myth, it feels surprisingly vital thanks to the artistry of the animators.

Beightol says a compositor brings together elements from many different departments.

"One of the most challenging things that I dealt with was the large crowd scenes at the beginning of the film," the animator said in 2016. "There were a few shots where we had computer-generated villagers standing right next to actual puppets and they have to look the same or it will really stand out."

Finally, there's "Moana," another contender in the Best Animated Film category. While Dwayne Johnson, a graduate of Bethlehem's Freedom High School, is not nominated, he's an enormous part of why the movie works so well.

In "Moana," a Polynesian girl (Auli'I Cravalho) sets sail for a fabled island, to fulfill her ancestors' unfinished quest. Along the way, she hooks up with the legendary demi-god Maui (Johnson) and together they cross the ocean, battling all kinds of creatures to return a treasure to an ancient diety.

It's rare for a movie to feature a girl as "the Chosen One" but "Moana" is all the better for pivoting on a female character who is brave and spirited. And the chemistry between Johnson and Cravalho is delightful.

So are any of the Valley-connected movies likely to win on Oscar night? Probably not. In the Best Animated Film category, "Zootopia" seems to be a lock.

The mammoth "O.J.: Made in America" is a front-runner in the documentary category, and it certainly deserves to win. If Academy members are daunted by the nearly five-hour running time, Ava Duvernay's equally essential "13th" is likely to take the top prize.

Both "Life, Animated" and "Kubo" are available on DVD and VOD. "Moana" is also available on VOD and will debut on Blu-ray and DVD in an extras-laden package on March 7.
Zootopia wins the Best Animated Feature.