Last night, some of film’s best and brightest were awarded for their contributions to this year’s movies at the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Among those awarded was songwriter Bret McKenzie, who wrote the music for last fall’s film The Muppets.
McKenzie, who is best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, was awarded the Oscar for Best Original Song for his song “Man or Muppet.” This is McKenzie’s first Academy Award.
“Wow, thank you, Academy,” McKenzie said during his acceptance speech. “I grew up in New Zealand watching ‘The Muppets’ on TV and never dreamed I’d get to work with them. I was genuinely starstruck when I met Kermit the Frog. But when you get to know him, he’s just a frog, and like many stars here, he’s shorter in real life.”
This win also marks the first Academy Award for the Muppets, who have previously been nominated for Best Original Song for “The Rainbow Connection” (1980) and “The First Time It Happens” (1982), as well as for Best Score for The Muppet Movie (1980) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1985).
While “Man or Muppet” was unfortunately not performed during the award show, the show was thankfully not completely Muppet-less. Present at the ceremony were none other than Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, who introduced a Cirque de Soleil performance.
Additionally, The Help, a Dreamworks film that was distributed and marketed by Walt Disney Studios, took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, which was awarded to Octavia Spencer for her performance in the film. For a complete list of winners, click here.
