The only surprise at the seventy-sixth annual Academy Awards was the extent of the reign of The Return of the King, which was a perfect eleven for eleven, winning in all nominated categories including Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Song, Best Score, Best Editing, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Makeup, Costume Design, and Art Direction.  Only Ben Hur and Titanic have grabbed as many golden statuettes as the final chapter in Peter Jackson's epic fantasy trilogy.  As the parade of ROTK winners, many of whom like director Peter Jackson are from New Zealand, continued unabated, host Billy Crystal quipped, 'It's now official, there is no one left in New Zealand to thank.' 

 

The Return of the King is the first fantasy film to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar, a fact alluded to by Peter Jackson in his acceptance speech in which he referred to fantasy as 'an 'f' word that doesn't need a five second delay.' The record-tying performance of The Return of the King should lengthen its theatrical run and ensure a sterling performance on DVD for the film, which has already earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.  ROTK's success will only intensify Hollywood's growing interest in fantasy properties (see 'Chasing the Rings').

 

The awards in categories in which ROTK was not nominated went pretty much according to form with Sean Penn and Tim Robbins winning Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for their work in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, while Charlize Theron's bravura, de-glamorizing performance in Monster also won as was expected.  Finding Nemo, another heavy favorite, won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.