The day after Slumdog Millionaire's big Oscar win, much of the cast that was flown from Mumbai enjoyed their success by celebrating in Disneyland (pictured left). But only recently was some of this film's great success rightfully shared with a couple of the young cast members who so magnificently brought the fairytale story and its characters to life.

Almost a month ago, UK periodical The Telegraph ran a story highlighting the unimproved livelihoods of two of the child actors. Rubiana Ali and Azharuddin Ismail who play the youngest versions of main characters Latika and Salim respectively, were discovered to still be living in impoverished conditions in Mumbai and apparently not compensated very well for their work in the film.

The article highlights support via money that continues to come each month for books (filmmakers did help to get the children into school for the first time) as well as food. The article also notes that a trust fund was established for the child actors to receive if they are still in school when they turn 18. However, the negative here is the payment for the actual work for filming. The child actors were paid considerably less than the comparable situation when poor Afghan children starred in the film The Kite Runner. This has resulted in Rubiana and Azharuddin to still be living in the slums.

Until now that is. Danny Boyle as well as a local housing association in Mumbai have both acted to provide the actors and their families with quality residences (as reported by UK's The Daily Mail). While this sentiment is very thoughtful and fantastic, my question is why the hell didn't this happen sooner? Fox Searchlight really couldn't afford to get these kids into a nicer place? Even a hotel would have been better than their former state (as you can see in pictures evidenced in the article itself). I could understand maybe some sort of delay or hesitation with as many kids that appeared in the film, but the other central child actors are either middle class or pretty well-off in their own right. In the meantime these children who worked to make this film the genuine spectacle and wonder that it was got the shaft.

I think it's great that movement has been made by Boyle, Fox Searchilight, and Mumbai officials to keep these children safe and nourished, but the fact that the action to get them into real residences is only now just happening after the Oscar win seems like damage control to me. Boyle was obviously aware of the problems that may arise from using or not using real children from the slums for the movie when he told The LA Times "It was a difficult moral question. Do you exclude kids from the slums? If you exclude them, then it feels morally wrong. But if you include them, it raises another set of moral questions -- how do you care for them after the movie is finished?" While they were aware of this predicament, it seems very odd and disappointing that there was even one minute after this movie was finished filming that these children had to return to their impoverished homes for anything other than to pack their stuff, collect their familes and live in a real home. Anyway, it's good to see these kids getting what they deserve.

Here we are updating live with the winners of the 81st Academy Awards! Reactions and ceremony review will be up shortly after! Stay Tuned!

Best Supporting Actress - Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Original Screenplay - Dustin Lance Black for Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Feature Film - WALL-E

Best Animated Short Film - La Maison en Petits Cubes

Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume Design - The Duchess

Makeup - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire

Short Film - Spielzeulgland (Toyland)

Best Supporting Actor- Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Documentary Feature Film - Man on Wire

Documentary Short Film - Smile Pinki

Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sound Editing - The Dark Knight

Sound Mixing - Slumdog Millionaire

Film Editing - Slumdog Millionaire

Original Score - A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire

Original Song - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire

Best Foreign Language Film - Departures (Japan)

Best Director - Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress - Kate Winslet for The Reader

Best Actor - Sean Penn for Milk

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

And that's it for our live coverage of the winners of the 81st Academy Awards. Tomorrow we'll have a review of the revamped ceremony and some reactions to the surprises (or mostly lack thereof) .

And so the 81st Academy Awards are upon us airing live tomorrow night on ABC at 8pm EST. While wardrobes are being finalized, performances rehearsed and nerves racked, those of us not involved with the telecast other than as observers are simply making predictions and waiting for what has been dubbed Hollywood's biggest night.

Below I've included my predictions for the major awards (including Best Foreign Film and Best Animated Film). I've included additional comments as far as who I think should win if it is contrary to my actual predictions. Feel free to sound off in the comments with any disagreements or with a full list of your own predictions.

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

• But I wouldn't be upset to see Milk take home the big prize

• Sean Penn took home the SAG award which is a pretty good indicator, and the more I think about it, the more impressive his role as Harvey Milk was. Rourke gave an excellent performance but really had a lot of personal hard times to inspire his rough around the edges, emotionally collapsing character portrayal in The Wrestler.
  

• If I had my way, I honestly would probably go with Meryl Streep for Doubt. Her performance struck me more, but that might only be because The Reader wasn't wholly remarkable as a film. But Winslet seems like the favorite.

• This is pretty much as close to a guarantee as you can get. The late Heath Ledger has the most buzz and has received all the right praise and awards to have this one in the bag.

• While she didn't get the SAG or Golden Globes, she certainly seems like the choice to win. My personal choice is Viola Davis for her brief role in Doubt. While her screen time was minimal, hers was a very powerful performance that really struck a chord.

• Same with picture, Gus Van Sant could easily snag this award for his directing Milk and I wouldn't be disappointed.

• With Slumdog Millionaire being an adapted screenplay I think that Black is almost as close of a shoe-in for this award as Ledger for Supporting Actor

• This is also almost a lock-in since Milk is an original screenplay and out of competition with Beaufoy

• This was most assuredly the best animated feature from last year and if it doesn't get it then for shame.

• I am not prepared to actually comment on any of the foreign film nominees this year, but this is getting all sorts of acclaim and thus it's my pick.

• Truly a hidden gem in the world of documentary films, this is a heavy favorite, and I really enjoyed seeing its narrative come to life thanks to the wonders of Netflix Instant Viewing.