FORMER UCA Farnham student Mark Waring has received his fourth Oscar nomination for Isle of Dogs, an animated film also tipped to win a BAFTA.

The film, directed by Wes Anderson, tells the story of orphan Atari, who goes in search of his canine pal Spots in a futuristic Japan. Following an outbreak of canine influenza, dogs have been exiled to an offshore island where they have developed their own complex society.

Having graduated with a BA (Hons) Animation from UCA’s founder college, the West Surrey College of Art & Design in 1989, Mark Waring was the animation director for the film.

He said: “This story is a completely new thing with the number of levels that it is playing at, with all the themes of leadership, authority, animal cruelty, the treatment of individuals and groups, and more. All those deeper levels are there, but it also works perfectly on the level of just being a really lovely journey of a boy and his dog.”

On working with Wes Anderson, Mark added: “He wants you to see the craft – don’t disguise it, embrace it. He likes to feel the pops and crackles in the animation. He wanted to see the crawl in the fur of the animals. He wanted to see the movement in the costumes and embrace all of that.”

This is the fourth time Mark has seen a film he has worked on receive an Oscar nomination, with the others being Corpse Bride, Fantastic Mr Fox and Frankenweenie.

Isle of Dogs has been nominated in the Animated Film categories of the 2019 BAFTAs and Oscars. The BAFTA award winners will be announced on February 10, with the Oscars award ceremony being held on February 24.

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in Farnham has helped launch the careers of many Oscar and BAFTA winning filmmakers and animators over the years.

Another alumnus Graeme Willetts picked up the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film just last year for his latest project The Silent Child. And a year earlier, in 2017, the latest film by ex-UCA Farnham student Michael Dudok de Wit, The Red Turtle, received an Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Feature Film category – pitting itself against the likes of hit Disney productions Moana and Zootopia.