Despite Vice President Gore’s exhortation to “go green,” last night’s 79th Academy Awards were the least earnest in recent memory. This year, Oscar decided not to take itself so seriously. The result was the most genuinely fun to watch ceremony in recent memory.

First-time host Ellen DeGeneres proved herself more than worthy to the task that Jon Stewart stumbled with last year. Her opening monologue was irreverent but not superior, and included some genuinely good jokes.

The award for “least likely sentence to appear in an article about the Academy Awards” goes to: The montages were thoroughly entertaining. The ceremony opened with a refreshingly unglamorous short film directed by Errol Morris. Nominees both famous and unknown spoke about their experiences against a white backdrop. The effect was minimalist, smart, and funny in the way these usually overwrought ceremonies rarely are.

A “sound effects choir” performed to a series of clips of films including “Psycho” and “Chicago.” Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Reilly performed a hilarious montage that lamented comic actors’ historic lack of success in the academy. (“Your movies may make millions, but your name they’ll never call.”) The dance troupe Pilobolus contorted behind a screen, twisting into shapes including penguins and the van from “Little Miss Sunshine.” Director Nancy Meyers compiled a lively montage of how writers have been depicted in films past.

Alan Arkin won the first major award of the night, for his role as a heroin-addicted grandfather in “Little Miss Sunshine.” “Pan’s Labyrinth” took home three early awards, for art direction, makeup, and cinematography. Other early awards went to Milena Canonero, for her costumes for “Marie Antoinette,” “Happy Feet” for best animated film, “The Danish Poet” for best animated short film, and “West Bank Story” for live action short.

The evening ended well for Martin Scorsese. On his sixth nomination for best director, Mr. Scorsese won his first Academy Award — and a standing ovation — for “The Departed.” He watched from off stage while the movie won the award for best picture.

Mr. Gore appeared with environmental activist (and Best Actor nominee) Leonardo DiCaprio to announce that this was the first Academy Awards ceremony to announce that “Environmentally friendly practices were integrated into planning and production.” While Melissa Etheridge sang her song “I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth,” which later won the Oscar for original song, a screen flashed environment-saving tips culled from Mr. Gore’s nominated documentary. It’s probably the first time an Oscar audience has been exhorted to “weatherize your house.”

Mr. Arkin’s win was an upset over Eddie Murphy, and Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen presented the award for best foreign language film to another surprise win: The German film “The Lives of Others.” “Pan’s Labyrinth had had the momentum until then, winning every award it had been nominated for.

As expected, Helen Mirren took home the award for best actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen.” In her speech, she paid good-humored tribute to the queen. “I salute her courage and her consistency, and I thank her, because I wouldn’t be here without her.” Forest Whitaker, also widely expected to win, won the award for best actor for playing Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.”

Jennifer Hudson, widely favored to win for her role in “Dreamgirls,” took home the award for best supporting actress. The teary former “American Idol” contestant spoke of her family in her acceptance speech, thanking the film’s director, Bill Condon.

Mr. Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” took home the award for best documentary. “My fellow Americans,” he said, drawing laughter in his brief acceptance speech. “We nedd to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue. … The will to act is a renewable resource. Let’s renew it.”

Composer Ennio Morricone accepted his honorary award in Italian, with presenter Clint Eastwood translating. Later award winners included Gustavo Santaolalla, who took home the award for best original score for “Babel”; Michael Arndt for original screenplay for “Little Miss Sunshine,” and Martin Scorsese’s longtime collaborator, Thelma Schoonmaker, for best editing for “The Departed.”

The awards began a half-hour later than usual, at 8:30 p.m. eastern time, and they lasted until after 12:15 a.m. When the cast of “Dreamgirls” sang an extended musical montage that included the nominated song “Patience” at around the 11:30 mark, it was a welcome reminder to sit back and enjoy the show. Oscar night only comes once a year.

BEST PICTURE
“The Departed”

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”

BEST ACTRESS
Helen Mirren, “The Queen”

BEST ACTOR
Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, “Little Miss Sunshine”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Lives of Others” (Germany)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Happy Feet”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michael Arndt, “Little Miss Sunshine”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
William Monahan, “The Departed”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo Navarro

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“An Inconvenient Truth,” Davis Guggenheim

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“The Blood of Yingzhou District,” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

BEST FILM EDITING
“The Departed,” Thelma Schoonmaker

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Babel,” Gustavo Santaolalla

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth,” Music and lyric by Melissa Etheridge

BEST ART DIRECTION
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Marie Antoinette,” Milena Canonero

BEST MAKEUP
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” David Marti and Montse Ribe

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“The Danish Poet,” Torill Kove

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“West Bank Story,” Ari Sandel

BEST SOUND MIXING
“Dreamgirls,” Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton

BEST SOUND EDITING
“Letters from Iwo Jima,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall

HONORARY ACADEMY AWARD
Ennio Morricone