Updated: Chaminade Grad Comes Up Short In Oscar Bid

Updated 8:03 p.m.

The Chaminade community didn't need to wait too long into the Oscar evening to see if one of their own would win an Academy Award. Minkyu Lee, who directed "Adam and Dog", up for an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, lost out to Paperman, which, ironically, was produced by Lee's own employer, Disney.

Original Story:

One week after a pair of Chaminade College Prep grads were honored for their talents by participating in the NBA's All Star Weekend, another graduate finds himself in contention at the Super Bowl of Hollywood.

At the 2013 Academy Awards Sunday night, Minkyu Lee ('04) could very well walk across the red carpet, and then up the steps inside the Dolby Theater to accept an Oscar.

Minkyu Lee's film 'Adam and Dog' has been nominated for Best Short Film (Animated). The Los Angeles Times spoke to Lee and reported: 

“Adam and Dog” is a hand-drawn, 15-minute animation short that tells the story of the world’s first dog (named Dog) and his relationship with Adam in the Garden of Eden. The short, Lee said, tries to explain why dogs are so special to humankind.

The paper reports that Lee directed and made the film with $25,000 of his own money, and that he's a Disney character designer by day who also worked on "Wreck It Ralph" which was nominated for best animated feature film.

A Washington Post blogger called it "painterly and masterful," while Philadelphia Inquirer critic Steven Rea said it was "beautifully rendered, with lush tableaux of a natural world, the cartoon has a definite Miyazaki quality.

Mark Laury, one of Lee's teachers at Chaminade, described his pupil as gifted and soft-spoken and that Lee knew as a high school junior that he wanted to work for Disney.

Lee hails from South Korea and attended Chaminade through the school's residency program. Art must run in his genes. Laury said Lee's mother is the curator of a contemporary art museum in Japan.

"This really took him by surprise," Laury said, after being in touch with Lee since the nominees were announced. "He wasn't doing it to get an Oscar," he said. 

Laury screened the film for Chaminade's upperclassmen Wednesday. While it tackles issues of theology through the story of Adam and Eve, Laury said the film also works on another level as a tale of friendship, how friends can turn on one another and then come back to eachother.

Laury hopes to at some point connect Lee with current Chaminade students via Skype. 

"It's affirming," Laury said. "This is not something that happens to someone else. It can happen to you."

When does the show start?

The awards show will start at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC and is scheduled to last three hours.  It will be hosted by "Family Guy" and "Ted" star Seth MacFarlane and televised live in more than 225 countries.  

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