Sir Peter Jackson's The Adventures of Tintin has won the best animated film award at the Golden Globes ceremony in Los Angeles.
The film, produced by Sir Peter and directed by Steven Spielberg, uses designs and digital work from New Zealand-based company Weta Digital to bring Herge's comic book characters to life.
The movie is the first in a proposed trilogy about young Belgian reporter Tintin, who finds a clue to an ancient treasure that belonged to Captain Haddock's ancestors.
The 69th Golden Globe Awards were held in Beverly Hills on Sunday. They are given out by the roughly 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and is widely seen as America's most important film event apart from the Oscars.
Black and white silent film The Artist was judged best comedy and won additional prizes for lead actor Jean Dujardin and its score. Last week, it was named 2011's best movie at the Critics' Choice Awards.
The Descendants was named best film drama and won a best actor award for its star George Clooney.
Other lead actor awards went to Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady and Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn.
Streep, who plays former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, thanked "everyone in England who let me come over there and trample over their history", the BBC reports.
She said she was honoured to win the award in a year full of incredible female performances.
Williams, recognised in the comedy section for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, thanked the Golden Globes for "putting in my hand the same award you put in Marilyn's hand more than 50 years ago".
Martin Scorsese was named best director for Hugo, a family film that marked his first 3D feature.
Veteran actor Christopher Plummer won the first honour of the night as best supporting actor in a movie for The Beginners. The 82-year-old won the Golden Globe for his portrayal of an elderly man who comes out as gay to his family.
Octavia Spencer won the best supporting actress award for The Help.
The award for best foreign language film went to A Separation from Iran.
Madonna was recognised for Masterpiece, the song she wrote for her historical drama W.E about American Wallace Simpson and Edward VIII, who later abdicated.
In the television categories, Homeland was voted best series drama, while Modern Family won the award for best series comedy.
Kelsey Grammar won best actor in a drama for Boss, while Clare Danes won best actress in a drama for Homeland.
British period drama Downton Abbey won the Golden Globe for best TV movie or miniseries, while Kate Winslett was named best actress in a television movie or miniseries for Mildred Pierce.
Gervais on form
All eyes and ears were on host Ricky Gervais who returned to the event this year after ruffling the feathers of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and more than a few stars with his caustic wit.
Earlier on the red carpet, he promised "more of the same" and did not disappoint, tweaking the ribs of Johnny Depp and his 2010 box office flop The Tourist and chiding Jodie Foster and her 2011 movie The Beaver, Reuters reports.
He also took some more jabs at the HFPA, which Gervais panned last year, by comparing the Golden Globes unfavourably to the Academy Awards.
It's "just like the Oscars, but without all that esteem. The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton, honestly," he said, comparing the American reality TV star and the Duchess of Cambridge.
