Win ... Miller in Los Angeles yesterday.
Picture: JEFF RAYNER

By PETA HELLARD

Daily Telegraph, Wednesday February 28th, 2007. p. 9.

Happy Feet director George Miller has spent a lifetime trying to win an Oscar — and now he is going to give it away.
As soon as he arrives back in Sydney, Miller plans to give the Oscar to his 86-year-old mother Angela, who lives in Sydney’s north.

“I have this superstition that whenever I get an award I give it away to a loved one", he said.

“So this heavy little guy is going to my Mum, who has been such a good Mum.”

Miller, 61, said one of his three children had yet to find out that his dad had won Oscar gold, as he was away on school camp.

The filmmaker, whose penguin extravagan­za won best animated feature at the Academy Awards, was too busy celebrating to sleep.
“I’m still running on an adrenaline high —it’s all still a blur,” he told The Daily Telegraph in Los Angeles. “It was a really great night — certainly one of the best parties of my life.”

While Miller partied, a bunch of Sydney animators yesterday emerged as the unsung heroes behind Australia’s Oscars glory.
The group of UTS graduates and one student formed an important part of the 500-strong team working on Happy Feet.

“Winning was such a surprise, really, even though we knew the production was quality,” 33-year-old animator Aidan Sarsfleld said.

“It was a labour of love and It is satisfying to know our work has been celebrated.”

Student Evah Jacobson, 26, is currently in Singapore on a one-year stint with George Lucas’ 72-episode TV series of Star Wars, providing animation for the character Yoda.

“It is exciting, I’m so happy for the whole team,” he said.

The success of Sydney animators like Aidan and Evan can be attributed to the bold university program employed at UTS.
Thanks to cutting-edge technology and dedication to the art form, the university has produced a plethora of quality animators.