'Crackers! We've won a fourth Oscar!'
Last updated at 16:42 06 March 2006
Nick Park and Steve Box have revealed their joy at winning the best animated feature Academy Award on Sunday for 'Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit' - the fourth time the plasticine duo have been honoured.
"It's a great boost to treat the animated feature category as a proper film," Box said.
"From the earliest days we wanted to make movies. For Wallace and Gromit actually to come here and win, it's just amazing. All our references are from the real movies and from movie history."
The movie, distributed by DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, is based on a well-loved British cartoon featuring a cheese-loving inventor and his silent dog.
Park and co-director Box festooned their golden statuettes with oversized striped bow-ties to match their own shortly after taking the stage. "We just happened to have these," Park joked.
"Crackers and cheese, Gromit!" Box said, in a reference to Wallace's favorite snack.
Asked why the film has been so successful around the world, he said: "I think Nick's great invention was Gromit because he's a character that doesn't speak. So many films these days seem to be full of wise-cracking comedians desperate to keep their job. People can experience the film through Gromit's eyes on a kind of deeper level. It rises above words."
The pair were philosophical about the warehouse fire last year which destroyed many of their props.
"It was sad but, you know, these things happen. It was very touching just to see how the English and the people around the world actually treated it as a great loss. I didn't realise it was very valuable to people," they said.
The duo also explained their choice of bow ties.
Designer Paul Smith made theirs - and Box's wife made the mini versions for the Oscar statuettes to wear.
He said: "My wife made these when we were over here waiting. It was kind of a last minute idea. We were very nervous about it because we know how sacred the Oscars are. So we thought, what the heck."
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