Oscars 2020: 'Hair Love' wins Best Animated Short and Matthew A Cherry dedicates the award to Kobe Bryant
The 92nd Academy Awards are set to bring in all the razzmatazz on February 9 night and as the big names in the celebrity world come together, all eyes are on the Oscars 2020 award categories. The Best Animated Short Award went to 'Hair Love' by Matthew A Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver.
In the heartwarming film, an African American father gets a lesson in cosmetology when he tackles doing his little girl's hair for the first time. Before the win, filmmaker Cherry expressed his desire to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short to honor Kobe Bryant. The NBA legend died in a helicopter crash on February 2, along with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. Cherry is also a former NFL pro.
In an interview with Associated Press, Cherry said, "I know they say awards don’t matter and everything, but I really would love to win, especially since it’s the same category. ... I would love to win so I could shout out his name to honor him and continue his legacy." It's the second time in three years that a professional athlete won this category. Kobe Bryant and animation legend Glen Keane won the trophy in 2018 for Dear Basketball.
No sooner did the movie clinch the trophy, fans couldn't stop talking about it on Twitter. "I’m so glad #HairLove won it was so good. #Oscars2020," one tweet read and another said, "Hair Love was such a sweet short...Glad it won." Another viewer wrote: "Hair Love winning an Oscar is the epitome of Black Excellence."
Other nominees in the category include:
'Dcera (Daughter)' — Daria Kashcheeva
'Kitbull' — Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson
'Memorable' — Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre
'Sister' — Siqi Song
At 6.30 pm, the red carpet special began and it was hosted by Billy Porter, Tamron Hall, Lily Aldridge and film critic Elvis Mitchell. Moreover, the red carpet started at 7.30 pm, which was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Like last year, Oscars decided to go hostless this time around as well. The ceremony is being held at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center on Sunday, February 9, 2020 and you can catch all the live updates on ABC.