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On Oscar night, it helps to be animated.

It wasn't nominated for any of the big prizes. But Disney's latest smash hit won't be frozen out of the Oscars.

"Let It Go," an over-the-top, Broadway-style romantic ballad from "Frozen," took the award for best original song in a motion picture. "Frozen," an animated fairy tale, has been one of the runaway box office successes of the winter. Robert Lopez, one of the creators of "The Book of Mormon" and "Avenue Q," co-wrote "Let It Go" with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

The win had substantial precedent. Between 1989 and 1999, the Academy Award for best original song frequently went to a bombastic show tune from an animated movie — often one made by Disney. "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid," the title song from "Beauty and the Beast," "A Whole New World" from "Aladdin," "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?," from "The Lion King," "Colors of the Wind" from "Pocahontas," and "You'll Be in My Heart" from "Tarzan" all took the prize. Since '99, the Golden Globe has usually been awarded to a song from a live-action film, but in 2010, Randy Newman's theme from "Toy Story 3" was the winner.

Since the release of "Frozen," "Let it Go" has been enjoying chart success. Two versions of the song are currently on the charts: Idina Menzel's original version from the movie, and Demi Lovato's cover for the soundtrack album. The soundtrack from "Frozen," which also includes the minor hit "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?," has topped the Billboard 200.

Three other songs were nominated for the Oscar. "The Moon Song," an impressionistic piece from the technological romance "Her" earned a nod, as did U2's searching "Ordinary Love," which had taken a comparable prize at the Golden Globes. Pharrell Williams' blithe, goofy chart-topper "Happy" also earned a nod. "Happy" scored "Despicable Me 2," an animated fantasy; "Ordinary Love" was the theme to the biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom." "The Moon Song" was co-written and performed by Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O.

Last year's Oscar for best original song went to "Skyfall," the title theme from the James Bond movie of the same name. The "Skyfall" win reversed a long trend of great Bond songs rudely abused by the Academy: "Nobody Does it Better" lost to "You Light Up My Life" in 1977, "Live and Let Die" was bested by the soppy "The Way We Were" in 1973, and "For Your Eyes Only" was topped by the Arthur theme, an unaccountable juggernaut at awards shows in 1980 and 1981. Remarkably, neither "Goldfinger" nor "Diamonds are Forever" were even nominated for best Original Song. Adele's "Skyfall" is no "Goldfinger," but its win suggested that the musical tastes of Academy voters were better aligning with those of American audiences.

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