Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio wins at the Oscars with puppets made in Greater Manchester
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio has picked up the award for best animated feature at the Oscars, with puppets used in the film crafted in a studio in Greater Manchester.
Animation studio Mackinnon and Saunders made the original puppets for the film at their workshop in Altrincham.
The company's co-director Peter Saunders said: "We first became involved in the Pinocchio project in 2008.
"So we were actually one of the first companies to get on board."
Commenting on the success he added: "We are thrilled to have played a part in creating such a successful film which has been watched and loved by so many.
"It means the world to our team to have worked on an Oscar-winning film. It is also testament to what can be achieved through programmes like Made Smarter, who gave us such valuable technical support and facilitated our exploration of this game-changing technology.
"That support has kept us ahead of the game and given us great confidence to focus on the next big potential Oscar-winning productions."
Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is a dark, reimagined tale of the fabled wooden boy.
The film picked up the first Oscar of the night at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday 12 March.
Taking to the stage, the Mexican filmmaker said: "Animation is cinema, animation is not a genre and animation is ready to be taken to the next step."
Head of Costume at Mackinnon and Saunders, Amanda Thomas, was tasked by Netflix to make a tuxedo for Geppetto to wear to the BAFTAs first, and then the Oscars, turning him from a carpenter into a cool dude.
Amanda said: "Netflix told us that they did want a tuxedo.
"And I had to make him a little sticky roller, because he's going to the Oscars and the black fabric picks up every bit of fluff!
"It would be wrong to put Pinocchio in a tux, because he doesn't wear clothes anyway, so he just had a bow tie."
A lot of painstaking work goes into making the puppets, from moulding and sculpting to costume design and painting.
"They can take a huge amount of time, I think it surprises people but you know sometimes a puppet like Gepetto and Pinnochio, can take best part of 6 to 9 months just to make one puppet, and then we have to make 20 duplicates of them, so it’s a slow process," said Mr Saunders.
Work began on the film back in 2008, when Mackinnon and Saunders made some early prototypes, but the stop-motion technology wasn't ready until a few years ago.
Mr Saunders said: "We first got involved in 2008 with the project and it’s been a long time, 15 years, coming.
"There were times when we thought the film would never actually get made, but it did and in 2018 we were given the go ahead to be involved with it.
"We didn’t dream at all, it would ever get an oscar but it’s fantastic that it has done.”
The studios were founded by puppeteers Peter Saunders and Ian Mackinnon 30 years ago, and it has brought to life some of children’s most beloved TV characters including Bob the Builder, Postman Pat and the new Clangers.
Zoë Muldoon takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Altrincham studio
Sci-fi adventure film Everything Everywhere All at Once dominated the field at the Oscars, winning seven awards including Best Picture.
Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress for her role as Evelyn in the film. Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor and Jamie Lee Curtis took home her first ever Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for their roles in the film.
The film - which was nominated in seven categories - also picked up awards for Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Editing.