<strong>Kunio Katō's</strong> "<strong>La Maison en Petits Cube</strong>" <a href="http://oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/?pn=detail&nominee=La%20Maison%20en%20Petits%20Cubes%20-%20Short%20Film%20(Animated)%20Nominee">took the Oscar</a> in the Best Animated Short Film Category in the <strong>81st Annual Academy Awards</strong> on Sunday Night, making it the first anime to win an Academy Award since 2003 when <strong>Spirited Away</strong> won Best Animated Feature.
"Katō's short was competing in the Oscars with <strong>Konstantin Bronzit's "Lavatory - Lovestory"</strong>, <strong>Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand's "Oktapodi,"</strong> <strong>Doug Sweetland's "Presto," </strong>and<strong> Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes' "This Way Up."</strong> Katō already <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-06-17/kato-tsumiki-no-ie-wins-annecy-cristal-jury-award">won</a> the Annecy Cristal and a Junior Jury Award at France's Annecy International Animated <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-02-22/kunio-kato-le-maison-en-petits-cubes-wins-oscar#">Film Festival</a> and Market in June, <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-12/country-doctor-tops-awards-at-hiroshima-animation-fest">as well as</a> the Hiroshima Prize and the Audience Prize at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in August."
<strong>La Maison en Petits Cube(House of Blocks</strong>) is being shown in a selection of theatres in the US at present along with the rest of the Animated Short films all nominated for an Oscar this year.
"Katō's short was competing in the Oscars with <strong>Konstantin Bronzit's "Lavatory - Lovestory"</strong>, <strong>Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand's "Oktapodi,"</strong> <strong>Doug Sweetland's "Presto," </strong>and<strong> Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes' "This Way Up."</strong> Katō already <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-06-17/kato-tsumiki-no-ie-wins-annecy-cristal-jury-award">won</a> the Annecy Cristal and a Junior Jury Award at France's Annecy International Animated <a id="KonaLink1" target="undefined" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-02-22/kunio-kato-le-maison-en-petits-cubes-wins-oscar#">Film Festival</a> and Market in June, <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-12/country-doctor-tops-awards-at-hiroshima-animation-fest">as well as</a> the Hiroshima Prize and the Audience Prize at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in August."
<strong>La Maison en Petits Cube(House of Blocks</strong>) is being shown in a selection of theatres in the US at present along with the rest of the Animated Short films all nominated for an Oscar this year.