In case you hadn't heard or didn't watch the 88th annual Academy Awards last night, you should know that odds-on favorite Pixar won the award for Best Animated Feature for the eighth time last night (since the prize started being given in 2001) for the much acclaimed Inside Out. The Emeryville-based animation company's history at the Oscars dates back to 1995's Toy Story, and they've also collectively taken home Best Animated Feature trophies for Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3, and Brave.
In giving his brief acceptance speech, writer/director Pete Docter said, "This film was really born out of watching our kids grow up, which is not easy." He added, "Anyone out there who is in junior high [or] high school, working it out, suffering, there are days you're gonna feel sad, you're gonna feel angry, you're gonna feel scared. That's nothing you can choose. But you can make stuff. Make films, draw, write. It'll make a world of difference."
Hear him below.
Get More: Oscars 2014, Oscar Winners
This is Docter's second Oscar for writing and directing a Pixar feature, the first being for 2009's Up, though he was also one of the key animators who worked on the original Toy Story. He is also best known for Monsters Inc., which was nominated for the Oscar in 2001, but lost out to Shrek.
Docter has worked at Pixar since the age of 21, in 1989, and he admitted in a 1999 interview with Radix Magazine that he based the look of the character of Buzz Lightyear on his own face, using a mirror on his desk while drawing him.
Inside Out was produced by Jonas Rivera, who also took home a prize last night, and co-directed by Ronnie Del Carmen. It was co-written by Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley.
It tells the tale of a young girl's inner journey from childhood into puberty as her emotional life grows more complex, with the core emotions of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust all personified as characters in a control room in her head.
As the Independent noted, in the scroll of extra thank yous that ran underneath the acceptance speeches last night a new, CNN-like feature that Oscar producers came up with to further shorten the speeches Docter surprised his kids Nick and Ellie by telling them "Okay yes, let's get a dog."
Pete Docter's Hidden Message in Oscar Thank You Promises a Dog For His Family https://t.co/9NRk2ANOFV pic.twitter.com/qqoqaTJgmt
— Pixar Post (@ThePixarPost) February 29, 2016