“Fantastic Beasts” Wins at the Oscars!

At last, the dedicated crew behind the wizarding world on screen has received an award that seemed out of their grasp before. And it’s all thanks to coats (well, mostly, we think)!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them costume designer Colleen Atwood was awarded the Academy Award for Costume Design. The film beat out fellow nominees Allied, Florence Foster Jenkins, Jackie, and nominee darling La La Land. It is Atwood’s fourth Oscar win.

Backstage, Atwood remarked that “there’s so much incredible kind of artistry in the Harry Potter movies,” she said, but suggested that having Fantastic Beasts set in the 1920s “keyed off a different sort of visual sense”  that may have helped this film win. However, she still said she was shocked that the design teams behind the Harry Potter films were never honored by an Oscar:  “I can’t believe they never won for that incredible clockwork creation of Stuart Craig in the Harry Potter movies.” (Unfortunately, Craig did not win the award for Production Design this year; but there are still four films to come!)

You can see Atwood’s full backstage speech below:

Atwood has previously spoken about the design process behind the gorgeous costumes. She especially noted how characters with magical powers were given slightly different fabrics, to set them apart from the No-Majs around them.

Newt better hold on to his Niffler; there’s a shiny new gold statue in the wizarding world!

From all of us here at MuggleNet, congratulations to Colleen Atwood and the entire costume team. A well-deserved win; we’re especially fond of those coats!