FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sony Pictures Imageworks Team Receives Academy Award<span style="font-size: medium;vertical-align: top;">®</span> Nomination For Outstanding Visual Effects In 'Alice In Wonderland'
Los Angles, Calif., January 25, 2011 — The team of Sony Pictures Imageworks artists led by creative head Ken Ralston was nominated today by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for an Academy Award® for Outstanding Visual Effects on Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
Nominated with Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston are Animation Supervisor David Schaub and Visual Effects Supervisors Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips. The quartet led an extraordinarily talented team of artists who created digital imagery and extensive character animation for more than 2000 complex and richly detailed shots in both 2D and 3D stereo. Their combined efforts fulfilled director Tim Burton's vision for the world of Wonderland.
"ALICE IN WONDERLAND was packed with many different looks and techniques. It wasn't a one trick pony. Every scene... every shot... had unique problems to solve while maintaining that specific Tim Burton artistry," said Ken Ralston. "Tim Burton trusted us with his vision and the work on the screen is the result of an amazing collaboration with hundreds of brilliant artists, including my fellow nominees and a great team on set."
Virtually all of ALICE IN WONDERLAND was shot on green screen stages in Culver City, California and required elaborate CG visual effects and animation. The film features a vast array of virtual environments and over 30 original CG characters, some fanciful and some realistic, and each with distinctive looks and personalities that fit perfectly into the unusual world of Wonderland.
In addition to its Academy Award nomination, ALICE IN WONDERLAND was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Visual Effects from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, a Critics' Choice Award for Best Visual Effects from The Broadcast Film Critics, two Visual Effects Society awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Compositing, and an Annie Award nomination for Best Character Animation. Imageworks won the Golden Satellite Award for best visual effects from the International Press Academy.
Since its release on March 5, 2010, ALICE IN WONDERLAND has been critically acclaimed around the world and commercially embraced, grossing over $1 billion to date. The movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 1, 2010.
The film is based on the Lewis Carroll beloved, imaginative books "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) and "Through the Looking-Glass" (1871) and captures the stunning, avant-garde visuals and the most charismatic characters in literary history.
The 83rd Annual Academy Awards, for outstanding film achievements of 2010, will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. ALICE IN WONDERLAND is nominated along with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, HEREAFTER, INCEPTION, and IRON MAN 2.
ABOUT THE MOVIE
From Walt Disney Pictures and visionary director Tim Burton comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. JOHNNY DEPP stars as the Mad Hatter and MIA WASIKOWSKA as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen's reign of terror. The all-star cast also includes ANNE HATHAWAY, HELENA BONHAM CARTER and CRISPIN GLOVER. The screenplay is by Linda Woolverton.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS
Sony Pictures Imageworks is the Academy Award® winning, state-of-the-art visual effects and animation unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions known for live-action visual effects and character animation, all-CG animation, and stereoscopic 3D imagery. The company is currently in production on THE GREEN LANTERN (3D), the hybrid live-action/animation film THE SMURFS (3D) and the animated feature ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (3D). Other recent credits include ALICE IN WONDERLAND (3D), ZOOKEEPER, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (3D), G-FORCE (3D) and WATCHMEN.
For more information, please visit http://www.imageworks.com.