"Las Piñatas," the comedic tale of two piñatas at the mercy of a candy-crazed gang of children, is the latest animated short flick from BYU's animation program to earn a student Emmy.

The prize, which will be awarded later this month in Los Angeles, makes it four straight years BYU students have won the College Television Awards.

"Las Piñatas" is not only the most advanced film to come out of the animation program, it also is the first with a speaking character: Poncho, the cowboy piñata.

"The quality of the animation blows the [previous BYU films] away," said Kelly Loosli, who heads the LDS Church-owned school's animation program. "It doesn't seem like a student film."

BYU students now have collected five of the 12 student Emmys handed out the past four years in the 3-D animation category. The Provo school also snagged the top prize in the 2-D category for 2005's "Faux Paw."

"These awards are a testament to the quality of students we have in the program," industrial design professor Brent Adams said Wednesday.

"Las Piñatas" chronicles the brief escape attempt of Poncho and his not-so-bright toro friend from the baton-wielding demons - children - taking whack after whack.

Students spent 18 months producing the 4 1/2 -minute comedy, which features impressive details - the newsprint of the apparently papier-mâché piñatas is faintly visible - and original music from a BYU music major.

In addition to the student Emmy, the piñata adventure has landed prestigious screenings across the globe, including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France, the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival in South Korea and the Sagunt ShortFilm Festival in Spain.

"Everything on the whole film was raised to a new level," said junior Blake Johnson, of Bountiful, who did character animation on the film. "I really love this film. I've seen it probably 30 or 40 times, and I still enjoy it."

Laboring on the flick also helped some students score industry jobs.

"Las Piñatas" director Thomas Leavitt now is at Blue Sky Studios, the animation group behind the "Ice Age" hits, and co-producer Kamy Leach is working on "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" for Digital Domain.

Alums of BYU's program also have had a hand in the digital effects for popular films such as "I, Robot" and "King Kong."

"We know if we want to have an impact on the types of media produced, we need to get people out there," Loosli said. "We need to flood the entertainment industry with high-quality graduates."

Students in BYU's six-year-old animation program now will focus on their next animated short: "Pajama Gladiator."

toddh@sltrib.com

A winning tradition

BYU's past student Emmy award-winning animated short films:

* "Lemmings," 2004

* "Pet Shop," "Faux Paw" (traditional animation), 2005

* "Turtles," "Noggin," 2006