Magical Nominations for the 2020 Academy Awards
A new year brings with it another awards season, and this year is looking promising for the crew and creatives behind some the Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies who have received nominations for the 2020 Academy Awards.
Composer John Williams, who wrote the scores for the first three Harry Potter movies, has been nominated for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for his work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which features Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley), and Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle). This nomination brings Williams up to a total of 52 Oscar nominations, which is the most of any living person. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Williams is second in all-time nominations only to Walt Disney, who received a total of 59 nominations over the course of his lifetime.
Williams is not the only magical composer in the Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) category. He will go up against Alexandre Desplat, who composed the scores for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Desplat has been nominated for his work on Little Women, which has another Wizarding World connection in the form of Emma Watson, who stars as Meg March in the movie. While Watson did not receive a nomination, overall, Little Women has been nominated in six categories, including Best Motion Picture of the Year.
Potter and Fantastic Beasts producer David Heyman has also received Best Motion Picture of the Year nominations for two of his 2019 projects. Heyman has been nominated along with Noah Baumbach for Marriage Story and with Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Although there have been no nominations for Wizarding World alumni, projects featuring our favorite stars have gained recognition. 1917 (which stars Harry Potter and the Cursed Child original cast member Jamie Parker) has received an incredible ten nominations.
In addition to the nomination for John Williams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker received nominations for Achievement in Sound Editing and Achievement in Visual Effects. Judy, featuring Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) and with costume design by Potter crew member Jany Temime, earned two nominations, and The Lighthouse, starring Robert Pattinson and executive produced by both Chris Columbus (director of the first two Potter films) and Eleanor Columbus (Susan Bones), received a nomination for Achievement in Cinematography.
There are some familiar voices in the Best Animated Feature Film of the year category, which includes Missing Link (starring audiobook narrator Stephen Fry and Professor Trelawney herself, Emma Thompson) and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which stars David Tennant (Barty Crouch, Jr.) and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (circus master Skender in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald).
Two wizarding world alumni projects are also nominated in the category for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song). Frozen II, starring Ciarán Hinds (Aberforth Dumbledore), and Rocketman, featuring Gemma Jones (Madam Pomfrey), are both up for this award. Finally, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, featuring Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Jen Murray (Chastity Barebone), and Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge), is nominated for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 9, 2020. Best of luck to all Wizarding World cast and crew and their nominated projects!
