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‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’

Richard Taylor, Peter King

In a category that, if nothing else, represents the ever-growing length of some movies’ titles, this year’s makeup nominees included a blend of the outlandishly fantastic and the starkly real.

For their work on the wide variety of creatures and creations -- hobbits, orcs and all manner in between -- necessary to bring Middle-earth to life in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” Richard Taylor and Peter King took home the Academy Award.

It was Taylor’s second award of the evening; he shared the award for costume design on the same film. For King, it was his first award and his first nomination.

They prevailed over the grisly battle injuries of “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” and the decomposing ghosts of “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

King thanked the usual above-the-line suspects; Taylor thanked team members Marjory Hamlin, Dominie Till, Jason Docherty and Gino Acevedo.

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‘I apologize for the rubbery faces and the

funny noses, but cheers to you all.’

Richard Taylor, accepting the best makeup award for ‘The Lord of the Rings’