“Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” were the big winners Sunday night with four Oscars each, but the shot-in-Santa Clarita “Whiplash” was right behind them with three, and a CalArts grad picked up the trophy for Best Animated Feature.

Filmed in part throughout Newhall and the Valencia Industrial Center, “Whiplash” is the story of a 19-year-old music conservancy student who is mentored by a hard-driving instructor who uses humiliation and fear to challenge him to succeed.

The instructor is J.K. Simmons, who adds his first Oscar statuette for Best Supporting Actor to his growing trophy wall that already includes the Golden Globe, BAFTA (British Academy), SAG and other awards for the role.

The “Whiplash” team of Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley took the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing, while Tom Cross picked up his first Oscar for Film Editing – besting the Santa Clarita duo of Joel Cox and Gary Roach, who were nominated for their work on “American Sniper.”

“American Sniper,” partially shot at the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in Saugus, has been a winner at the box office, but you wouldn’t have known it Sunday night. It was nominated for six Academy Awards but came away with just one: Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman received the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.

“Big Hero 6” from Walt Disney Animation Studios had some big competition, but it turned into a big evening for creator Don Hall, a 1995 graduate of California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.

“Once upon a time,” Hall said as he collected the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, “there was a freckle-faced little boy who told his mom and his dad that one day he was going to work at Walt Disney Animation, and they did something amazing: They supported him and believed in him. And from the bottom of his heart, he thanks them.”

“Big Hero 6” is the story of a 14-year-old science prodigy who develops fighting robots for underground competitions until his older brother introduces him to an eccentric group of young inventors who enlist the aid of a gentle healthcare bot named Baymax to fight a dangerous villain.

In January, the “Big Hero 6” crew of Michael Kaschalk, Peter DeMund, David Hutchins, Henrik Falt and John Kosnik took home Annie Awards for Animated Effects in an Animated Production.

Last but not least, the award for Best Animated Short Film went to former CalArts faculty member Patrick Osborne’s “Feast,” a 6-minute work that chronicles a man’s love life through the endless appetite of Winston, his Boston terrier puppy.