Andrew Ford of Humboldt, Sask., has held the golden statuette so many people in film dream of winning.
In 2015, Disney hired Ford to be a character animator on Zootopia, the Oscar winner for the best animated feature at Sunday’s Academy Awards.
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The Oscar is “actually pretty heavy. It’s got some weight to it,” Ford told Global News over the phone.
Ford and a couple hundred Disney animators gathered to watch the awards Sunday on TV.
The next morning, they gathered for a toast to the team, directors and leadership in Disney and Disney Feature Animation.
“There’s not many opportunities for this. You can work a whole lifetime in movies and not have a chance,” Ford said.
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Another movie Ford worked on, Moana, was nominated for two Oscars, but didn’t take home any hardware.
The University of Saskatchewan alumnus is now working on Wreck-It Ralph 2, which is scheduled to come out next year.