I'm not an Academy Awards-aholic particularly, but I sure did love that neato opening animation to Sunday night's ceremony.  An ultra-exciting special effects thrill ride, it was a journey down Hollywood streets populated with characters from the movies, and it was a lot of fun. 

One of the most fun aspects is to try to identify all the images.  I was amazed to find so many monsters — my favorite things! — on the loose, but there were a few genuine old-time classic references include, too. 

Although I haven't found it posted "officially" anywhere — and boy, is some corporate suit sure missing an opportunity to spread a little joy among movie lovers — it's on YouTube where you can repeatedly enjoy its many-layered delights.  (We can't embed video here on Morlocks or I'd have put it on here for you!).  As a matter of fact, there's a version where most of the images are identified, found here, and the unfettered version where you can guess on your own.  Amusing, especially for classic movie fans here,  is that we can get a bead on the average YouTube demographic by the fact that in the "unidentified" category is the positive iconic Cary Grant image of him running in North by Northwest, this time being menaced by the Hulk, rather than a crop duster, though.  (It might be filled in by the time you check it out, though!)

Of all the aspects of the Awards, I thought this exciting little animation captured the sheer joy of the movies best of all, with the one exception of the amazing  production designer Robert F. Boyle who received an Honorary Oscar.  A bit to my surprise, the footage of his acceptance speech is still up on YouTube right now, if you missed it.  The lifetime achievements of this talented 98-year-old are well-documented in the footage, and we should all be so fortunate to keep it together as well as he has.   

Here are a few more images from that exhilirating opening sequence.  I was thrilled to see a nice line from my favorite Bonnie and Clyde ("I'll bet you're a movie star") and perhaps you saw your own favorites sprinkled throughout the brief — less than two minute — tribute.

I would definitely recommend revisiting the charming achievement of that intro animation.  It's seldom that we can have our abstract love of movies made real and portrayed the way many of feel about movies, that is, with all our favorite characters inhabiting some incredibly exciting place inside our own heads. 

I wish I could have better photos here, but again, even in this day of shared content and all that, sometimes you just have do it yourself, don't you?  I think this is something that needs to be seen again and appreciated, and I hope you feel the same.