WARRINGTON has its own unique link to this year's big Oscars winner.

At the Academy Awards, Guillermo del Toro's The Shape Of Water was named best picture.

Del Toro was also named best director for his story about a mute woman who falls in love with a sea creature in a lab.

It picked up the accolades for best production design and original score too.

But the man behind the film's monster was Dallam-born Mike Hill, who works on special effects and make up for Hollywood productions.

Del Toro described him as 'the father of the creature'.

Mike said: "Im absolutely overjoyed with the movie's success. Such a strange little tale, it proves that anything done with passion, no matter how 'out there' it seems will succeed if you stay true.

"It was surreal being up on that stage for the Oscars. A very special moment...until next time.

"Our fish-man is now part of the cinematic legacy of monsters. I could not be prouder."

Warrington Guardian:

Mike, who grew up in Higham Avenue in Dallam and Clough Avenue in Orford, made a career out of everything that goes bump in the night when he moved to Los Angeles in 2005.

The first person he worked with was his idol Rick Baker, who won the inaugural Academy Award for best make-up. They teamed up on The Wolfman and Men in Black 3.

He met del Toro almost 10 years ago when he sculpted some models for the director's personal collection.

The pair became friends and that lead to them collaborating on The Shape of Water.

The Cold War era film sees Sally Hawkins' lonely janitor Elisa form a unique relationship with an amphibious creature (Doug Jones) that is being held in captivity.

So while most of Mike's monsters have to be repulsive, this one had to be attractive.

Mike added: "Guillermo explained that even though he's a human-fish hybrid, he still was the leading man. He asked me to give it a soul and try to make it attractive.

"He had hired other artists to work on the creature before he contacted me. Although the previous ones were beautiful sculptures, they really didn't fit Guillermo's vision.

"He's got a really keen eye and knows exactly what will work. The first thing I changed was the entire face.

"Guillermo's insistence on this thing being 'handsome' was not easy when combining a man and a fish.

"It meant I had to give the thing kissable lips and build the face out from there – strong jaw, cleft chin and all the things that make a face look strong and heroic.

"Then I designed the body to be athletic and not too scaly. I drew a couple of sketches and Guillermo loved them."

The Shape of Water also won best direction, best film music and best production design at the BAFTAs.

And Mike was even nominated for a BAFTA himself. He was shortlisted in the special visual effects category when he competed against against the people who brought the likes of Dunkirk, The Last Jedi and Blade Runner 2049 to life.