Tonight is one of the most highly anticipated nights for the film industry — the 89th Annual Academy Awards. Pixar’s Piper took home the Annie Award earlier this month and has now capped off the adorable short film’s successes by winning the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, making it the studio’s fourth film to win the category (Previous wins include: Tin Toy, Geri’s Game and For The Birds).
Accepting the award was director Alan Barillaro and producer Marc Sondheimer who graciously thanked the crew and their families. Alan noted, “We’re only here because of the kind support and mentorship of many. I have to thank John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lindsey Collins, Jim Morris, and Ed Catmull — my family, my parents, my wife, Nancy, and my three little Pipers at home who inspired this story — I love you, and may you always have the courage to face your fears.”
Marc followed Alan’s wonderful comments with, “We share this award with everyone who worked on Piper. Thank you so much, especially in light of the great work of our fellow nominees, we are so deeply honored to accept this award tonight. To my family and friends, I love you. To all of you who enjoyed Piper out there and wished us well throughout, thank you so much.”
Side Note – we also enjoyed that Gael Garcia Bernal introduced the Best Animated Short Film category since he’ll be voicing the character of Hector in Coco. Additionally, the official Academy Awards Twitter enjoyed Alan’s quote regarding courage and tweeted a special image of his inspiring words.
The LA Times also shared this great photo of Alan and Marc backstage.
