Alfonso Cuarón wins Oscar for best director

'Gravity' takes six awards, while 'Frozen' wins animated feature and original song.

Hollywood newcomer Lupita Nyong'o finished off her Cinderella story with an emotional flourish.

Nyong'o captured the best-supporting-actress award at the 86th annual Academy Awards for her performance as an abused plantation worker in 12 Years a Slave.

'It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's,' a teary Nyong'o said of her role as Patsey - in her first film, straight out of Yale's drama school. 'This has been the joy of my life. I'm certain that the dead standing about you are watching and are grateful, and so am I.

'When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid.'

LIST: PHOTOS: The 2014 Academy Awards red carpet All of the winners from the 2014 Academy Awards

Jared Leto also had a great finish to a rich awards season, while Frozen put all its animated competitors on ice and Gravity proved to be a marvel with six Oscars.

Leto was named best supporting actor for his portrayal of a transgender AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club, following up significant wins at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.

The actor thanked his mother, a teenage high school dropout and single mom from Louisiana who taught her children 'to be creative, work hard and be special.' Leto also dedicated his Oscar 'to those who have ever felt injustice for who you are or who you love.'

'Frozen' producer Peter Del Vecho and directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck accept the Oscar for best animated feature.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Disney's blockbuster musical cartoon Frozen has been ruling the box office and was honored with the Academy Awards for best animated feature and best original song. The movie's Let It Go songwriter Robert Lopez added an Oscar to his career Emmy, Grammy, Tony wins, and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez paid tribute to their two children. 'This song is inspired by our love for you and the hope that you never let fear or shame keep you from celebrating the unique people you are.'

Gravity went into the night tied with a leading 10 nominations with American Hustle, and the white-knuckle space thriller won for original score, cinematography, film editing, sound mixing, sound editing and visual effects. Visual-effects supervisor Tim Webber noted director Alfonso Cuarón's 'audacity and courage' in letting the FX crew work their magic and thanked stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock for 'filling our visual effects with life and emotion.'

Gravity composer Steven Price shared his win with Cuarón, he said. 'You inspired every frame of this and every note I composed.'

Dallas Buyers Club also won the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling - makeup artist Robin Mathews thanked Leto and co-star Matthew McConaughey for 'letting us torture you and transform you' - and Catherine Martin won two Oscars, for costume design and production design, for The Great Gatsby, directed by Martin's husband, Baz Luhrmann.

The Italian movie The Great Beauty followed up its Golden Globe win with the Oscar for best foreign film. Director Paolo Sorrentino took time to thank Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese and Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona.

Mr. Hublotgarnered the Oscar for animated short, Helium won for live-action short, The Lady In Number 6 was awarded best documentary short subject and 20 Feet from Stardom, a movie about backup singers in the music industry, garnered best documentary. Darlene Love belted out a tune for the crowd, and director Morgan Neville dedicated the Oscar to producer Gil Friesen, who died two years ago: 'Today I know he's celebrating with us.'

The race for the best-picture Oscar - the night's top prize - looks like it's down to a three-horse finish.

Will Gravity or the stylish crime flick American Hustle prevail with the top prize? Or does the period drama 12 Years a Slave have one more emotional victory to eke out? Others in the category include Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena, Nebraska, Her, Captain Phillips and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Jared Leto accepts the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in 'Dallas Buyers Club.'(Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images)

McConaughey is up for best actor along with Christian Bale ( American Hustle), Bruce Dern ( Nebraska), Golden Globe comedy actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio ( The Wolf of Wall Street) and Chiwetel Ejiofor ( 12 Years a Slave).

Blue Jasmine star Cate Blanchett is the odds-on favorite for best actress, though she has stiff competition - Amy Adams ( American Hustle) has five Oscar nominations and no wins, and Bullock, Judi Dench ( Philomena) and Meryl Streep ( August: Osage County) have each won the category before.

Each of the three leading movies has its filmmaker up for best director, too, with Cuarón, Steve McQueen ( 12 Years a Slave) and David O. Russell ( American Hustle) in the mix with Alexander Payne ( Nebraska) and Martin Scorsese ( The Wolf of Wall Street).