A Midleton College graduate will be jetting off to the Oscars later this year after an animated short film that he directed was nominated in the Best Animated Short Film Category on Tuesday. Nicky Phelan, Character Designer and Animation Director with the Dublin animation studio Brown Bag Films, directed the hugely successful Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, which was nominated this week for the coveted prize.

The six-minute film of 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' is produced by Darragh O'Connell and written and performed by comedian Kathleen O'Rourke. It tells the story of a seemingly sweet old lady who terrifies her little granddaughter at bedtime with her dark version of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale.

Granny first came to life through Kathleen O'Rourke's comedy show and was later spotted by Brown Bags Films Animation Director Nicky Phelan, who was educated at Midleton College.

According to Nicky, Granny O'Grimm was a project of passion. "Short films are a labour of love and production was fit around everyone's day job of TV production - a lot of late evenings and weekends went into Granny. Now that the film has done really well at international film festivals, and with the added boost from the Oscar nomination, it's gratifying to think of audiences all over the world enjoying it," said Mr Phelan.

Granny O'Grimm, however, was less enthusiastic: "An Academy Award nomination is not going to boil the potatoes now is it?" Speaking about her Oscar experience, she said: "I'll maybe restrict myself to one chocolate gateau a day for the moment – so I can wear the frock that I bought for my husband's funeral. It has only one stain, I never could get the pink champagne mark out." Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty is one of five nominations in its category and battle against animation studios such as Pixar, creators of Up, Toy Story, WALL.E and Ratatouille. The company will also fight off stiff competition from Aardman, the makers of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

However, behind the scenes of the film, which also won the Galway Film Fleadh award and Irish Film and Television Award, another Corkman has been hard at work. Listed in the credits is Dave O'Brien, from Cork, a member of the postproduction team. Over 70,000 people have watched Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty on the Internet, while over 22,000 people viewed her Christmas greetings special.

To watch the award winning film, visit www.grannyogrimm.com.
The winners of the 82nd Academy Awards will be announced on Sunday 7 March and will be broadcast on RTÉ Two on Monday 8 March.

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