CalArts graduates brought home Oscars Sunday night after “Coco” won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, and “Dear Basketball” picked up Best Animated Short Film at the 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony.

Adrian Molina, a 32-year-old graduate from the California Institute of the Arts, co-directed the colorful Day of the Dead movie, Coco. The Pixar film tells the story of 12-year-old boy named Miguel Rivera who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead.

“Pixar gets back to its roots with ‘Coco,’ which wraps two universal themes — pursuing one’s dreams, and how we remember loved ones — in a colorful, culturally specific package,” said a CNN review of the film following its release. “As the animation powerhouse has increasingly turned to the comfort of sequels, this look at the afterlife represents a lively original concept, one that powers through its flat patches with a whole lot of heart.”

Photo courtesy of CNN.

An adventure that begins with the protagonist stealing a magical guitar, to him trying to help his friends that are ghosts to him learning about his ancestors, Coco communicates a complex children’s story that stresses the importance are of not denying what “one is meant to be.”

During his acceptance speech, Molina thanked not only those closest to him, but his community, which was the inspiration behind his award-winning movie.

“Love and thanks to my family, my Latino community, to my husband, Ryan (Dooley) for expanding my sense of what it means to be proud about who you are and where you’re from,” Molina said in his acceptance speech. “We hope the same thing for everyone who connected with this film.”

In addition to Molina, a 1974 CalArts Grad, Glen Keane, won in the Best Animated Short Film category for his animated retelling of Kobe Bryant’s poem that the future Hall of Fame Laker wrote regarding his retirement from basketball.

“Thank you Academy, thank you, Gennie Rim, Max Keane, our entire crew for your incredible talents, to my wife, Linda, for her years of love and support, and to Kobe for writing ‘Dear Basketball,’” Keane said. “It’s a message for all of us: Whatever form your dream may take, it’s through passion and perseverance that the impossible is possible.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr3dX6__-hU

The Oscar nomination and subsequent win was the first for both Keane and Bryant, and had already garnered a large amount of recognition after winning the 2018 Annie Award for “Best Animated Short Subject.”

A 2015 CalArts graduate, Amir Konjani, was recognized for his work on “The Silent Child Film,” which won in the Short Film — Live Action category.

Konjani composed the score for the the film, which tells the story of a deaf 4-year-old-girl who lives in silence until a social worker teaches her how to communicate.

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