A very good year. (editor's note).

It was a good year for computer graphics animators and visual effects artists at the 2002 Academy Awards. (It was also a good year for Computer Graphics World with respect to covering the animations and visual effects that were recognized by the Academy.) And it was a good year for the Academy, itself, at least in the eyes of artists and animators, who, on the whole felt the winners were wall chosen, which has not always been the case in past years.

For best animated feature, a new award category this year, the Oscar went to Shrek from PDI/DreamWorks, which raised the bar in terms of crafting more varied, complex, and detailed animated characters and settings than audiences had seen before (see Computer Graphics World, April 2001 cover story). The other nominees included Monsters, Inc. from Pixar/Disney, which raised fur and cloth simulation to new heights (October 2001 cover story), and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius from O Entertainment, which gave characters a novel, "retro-future" look (see January 2002, pg. 34). In the animated short film category, also new this year, the Oscar were to "For the Birds," yet another tour de force from Pixar (January 2001 cover story).

The winner of this year's Oscar for visual effects, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring from Weta Digital, encompassed perhaps the widest range of effects ever filmed (December 2001, pg. 18). The other nominees were Pearl Harbor from Industrial Light & Magic, which blended spectacular digital explosions, water, ships, and planes with live-action footage in perhaps the most seamless way yet (June 2001 cover story), and AI: Artificial Intelligence, also from ILM, which combined CG and practical effects to build some of the most creative futuristic cities and characters to date (July ...