The 2018 BAFTA Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) took place last night in Central London with Pixar Animation Studios honored in the Best Animated Feature category. The Coco team continued their award show stamina as the film was awarded the win for Best Animated Feature with director Lee Unkrich and President of Pixar Animation Studios, Jim Morris (who was in attendance on behalf of producer Darla K. Anderson) taking the stage. As Unkrich was handed his second BAFTA award (previously winning back in 2011 for Toy Story 3) he thanked the"legions of talented and passionate people" on his crew, including "an incredible cast anchored by Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt and our multi-talented young star, Anthony Gonzalez – you're the heart and soul of Coco and it was a tremendous honor to work with you."
As Unkrich concluded his acceptance speech, he stated "with Coco we tried to take a step forward towards a world where non-white children can grow up seeing characters in movies that look, and talk, and live like they do. Representation matters, marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong and I hope that we made a difference and I hope its just the beginning. Muchas gracias."
During the backstage press conference (post-win), President Jim Morris noted, "We're really proud of this film and so glad that BAFTA has recognized it. There's a lot of things going on in America now that are not about inclusion and diversity, and having a film that leans into that so heavily makes us very proud at this point in history and we're just very glad that everyone liked it here too."
View Lee's entire acceptance speech in the video below including a post-win backstage interview and the backstage press conference.
Congratulations to the entire Coco team on another incredible honor!
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