Harry Potter Finally Gets an Oscar Thanks to a Throwback

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the prequel to the magical story of the ‘Boy Who Lived,' won the award for best costume design this year, all thanks to the work of Colleen Atwood. This makes the fourth Academy Award for the designer, who had already won three for her work in Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha and Alice in Wonderland.

The Harry Potter franchise had collected 12 nominations throughout the years, yet none of the eight films ever made it back home with the infamous little golden statue in their hands.

Considering the amount of work that went into each and every movie, the sudden realisation that the blockbusters never won an Oscar, was rather surprising — even for Atwood.

“I didn’t realise that — that’s shocking,” said Atwood after her win. “Because there’s so much incredible kind of artistry in the Harry Potter movies. I think maybe the fact that this movie, J.K. Rowling’s creation is set in the 1920s, which kind of keyed off a different sort of visual sense, might be the kind of obvious thing”.

Fantastic Beasts might have just had two elements in its favour: the setting, which is a 1920s New York City, and the main actor, Eddie Redmayne, whose looks, if you ask me, fit perfectly with the entire vibe of the movie.

At the Oscars, the prequel beat out Allied (Joanna Johnston), Florence Foster Jenkins (Consolata Boyle), Jackie (Madeline Fontaine) and the highly acclaimed La La Land (Mary Zophres). It was also nominated for best production design, but it went to Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and David Wasco for their work in La La Land.

Beasts came out last year and grossed a total of US$811 million at the worldwide box office. Following Rowling’s book, the prequel will be followed by four further instalments, the first of which is set to be released in 2018.