Australian Shaun Tan has nabbed the Oscar for best animated short at 83rd Academy Awards. Though it was considered a ‘longshot’ for the Oscars, the minutes-long movie created by Perth-born Melbourne artist has received pre-Oscar praises from critics.

Tan’s “The Lost Thing” according to the Australian Associated Press is a 15-minute computer-generated and handpainted movie.

The sweet surprise came when Tan admitted that the Oscar winning short film was not even intended for a big screen, adding that it was supposed to be just a picture book.

“Wow, this is quite surreal,” Tan said on stage, according to AAP.

He added, “Our film is about a creature that doesn’t get any attention so this is quite ironic”.

The animated film maybe short but it turned out Tan has got a long story to tell on how it was created. Talking to reporters backstage, Tan said he was jobless more ten years ago, saying he was an ‘unemployed illustrator and uncertain where his journey ends”.

"I started off as an illustrator with no formal training other than high school," Tan said, according to AAP, adding when he started to write the story.

"I originally wrote this story in 1998," he explained.

But things got better for the 37-year old Aussie born from Fremantle, Perth but now a resident of Melbourne.

He said, "Shortly thereafter it was exhibited at an international book fair in Italy, which is where [producer] Andrew [Ruhemann] came across the story."

Set in Melbourne, the story noted AP centers on a boy who, while collecting bottle caps near a beach, discovers a strange creature that seems to be a combination of an industrial boiler, a crab and an octopus.

Tan, who finished with joint honours in Fine Arts and English Literature from the University of WA in 1995 beat out fellow nominees in the category including, “Day & Night”; “The Gruffalo” ; “Let's Pollute”, and “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”.

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