The Academy Awards provided special reason to celebrate in the Computer Animation department at the Ringling College of Art and Design. In addition to seeing the Oscar for Best Animated Feature go to Disney’s Big Hero 6, a movie with more than 20 Ringling alumni on the crew, the Academy also gave an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film to Patrick Osborne, a graduate of Ringling’s Class of 2003.

“Thank you to the Academy for recognizing animated shorts,” Osborne said during the Oscar telecast. “They are my favorite thing to make and watch.” Osborne won the award for Feast, the short film he directed for Disney. He accepted the Oscar along with producer Kristina Reed. 

At Ringling College, faculty expressed excitement about the honor. “This is a huge accomplishment for an individual person,” said Jim McCampbell, Computer Animation department head for Ringling College. “I feel especially proud of this one as Pat was a student in my own class for his Senior year.” He said news of Osborne’s Oscar the big news on campus, even compared with the Big Hero 6 win.

Not to say the feature film wasn’t a point of pride as well. The Disney feature had 21 Ringling grads in its roster (see full list at SRQBacklot.com), more than any other film nominated for an Academy Award this year. “The curriculum in the Computer Animation Department is designed to create complete filmmakers,” McCampbell said. “Unlike most other programs that are meant to place graduates into the entertainment industry, we deliver a curriculum with just the right balance between conceptual and technical skills. Our students learn how to create and refine ideas, as well as the entire production pipeline for producing the final work. This gives them the ability to work their way into the role of creative leadership. It's an exhausting process as both students and faculty put in a lot of extra hours. And that's the other thing that makes them so successful.”

In fact, McCampbell notes, 24 of the 25 top-grossing animated feature films of all time now have had Ringling alums working on them. “The capability to place them in positions of creative authority has always been a strong source of pride and prestige for us,” McCampbell said. “The biggest source though has always been the satisfaction of having such a huge positive impact on the students personal and professional lives.”

Pictured: Kristina Reed and Patrick Osborne accept Academy Award for Feast