The Lion King, The Irishman and The Rise of Skywalker are nominated for the Oscar in visual effects, alongside 1917 and Avengers: Endgame. In five of the last 10 years, the winner of the VES' top category for outstanding VFX went on to win the Oscar in VFX. Industrial Light & Magic completed the work on The Rise of Skywalker. Weta was behind Alita. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker claimed the award for effects simulations and Alita: Battle Angel was honored for animated character. Accepting the top prize, Legato saluted the 1600 artists that worked on the movie.Īlso Wednesday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, The Irishman –-which this year grabbed attention for its de-aging work and was led by Industrial Light & Magic VFX supervisor Pablo Helman–won trophies for supporting VFX and compositing. The team that won the virtual production trophy included the film's six-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. The Lion King won two additional trophies, for outstanding creating environment and virtual production. Jones, and the work was created at VFX house MPC.

The award went to Robert Legato, Tom Peitzman, Adam Valdez and Andrew R. The photoreal retelling of the Disney animated classic - made using newly-developed virtual production techniques - bested a field of nominees that also included Alita: Battle Angel, Avengers: Endgame, Gemini Man and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Jon Favreau's The Lion King won the Visual Effects Society Awards' top category for outstanding VFX in a photoreal feature.

Disney's The Lion King by Don Ferguson