Animated films have a rich history at the Academy Awards. Walt Disney received a special award in 1938 for the previous year’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was “recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon.”
Fifty years later, Richard Williams received a special achievement award for the animation direction of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film also won three competitive Oscars.
But it wasn’t until 1991’s Beauty and the Beast that an animated film was nominated for best picture. That same year, the rival Annie Awards added a category for best animated feature. Beauty and the Beast was their first winner, followed by such smash hits as Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1993-94), Pocahontas (1995) and Toy Story (1996).
Throughout the ’90s, the Oscars resisted adding a category for animated features, though John Lasseter received a special achievement award in 1995 “for his inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.” It wasn’t until 2001 that the Academy finally added a category for best animated feature.
This year’s nominees in that category are Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast and Turning Red. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio won the Annie Award in this category on Feb. 25 in a ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, which makes the Guillermo Del Toro-directed film the Oscar front-runner (though the two shows do not always agree, as you will see.)
Here’s a year-by-year recap of all the Oscar winners for best animated feature film.
Other Oscar Nods: adapted screenplay (written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman)
Notes: Shrek was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2020. The soundtrack reached No. 28 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It contains two hits by Smash Mouth, the 1999 smash “All Star” and a remake of The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” specifically for the movie.
2002: Spirited Away
Studio: Studio Ghibli Production; Buena Vista [Japan]
Oscar Went to: Hayao Miyazaki
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: none
Notes: Spirited Away is the only Japanese, hand-drawn and non-English language film to win in the category.
2003: Finding Nemo
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Production; Buena Vista
Oscar Went to: Andrew Stanton
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: original score (Thomas Newman); sound editing (Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers); original screenplay (screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds; original story by Andrew Stanton).
Notes: The soundtrack, Finding Nemo: Ocean Favorites, reached No. 156 on the Billboard 200.
2004: The Incredibles
Image Credit: Walt Disney/courtesy Everett Collection
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Production; Buena Vista
Oscar Went to: Brad Bird
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: sound editing (Michael Silvers and Randy Thom)
Other Oscar Nods: sound mixing (Randy Thom, Gary A. Rizzo and Doc Kane); original screenplay (Brad Bird).
2005: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Notes: Park and Box are the only creatives from the U.K. to win in this category. This is the only stop motion animated film to win.
2006: Happy Feet
Studio: Kingdom Pictures, LLC Production; Warner Bros. [Australia/U.S.A.]
Oscar Went to: George Miller
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: none
Notes: Miller is the only creative from Australia to win in this category. This was the only motion-capture-related computer-animated film to win before a rule change in 2010 disqualified such films. Happy Feet was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost to Cars. The soundtrack, which contained such songs as Prince’s “Song of the Heart” and The Beach Boys’ “Do It Again,” reached No. 51 on the Billboard 200. Prince’s song won a Golden Globe for best original song, but unfortunately wasn’t nominated for an Oscar.
2007: Ratatouille
Studio: Pixar Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Brad Bird
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: original score (Michael Giacchino); sound editing (Randy Thom and Michael Silvers); sound mixing (Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane); original screenplay (screenplay by Brad Bird; story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird)
Notes: Bird was the first two-time winner in the category. He also won for The Incredibles (2004).
2008: WALL-E
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Andrew Stanton
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: original score (Thomas Newman); original song (“Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman); sound editing (Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood); sound mixing (Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt); original screenplay (screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter)
Notes: WALL-E was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2021. Stanton was the second two-time winner in the category. He also won for Finding Nemo (2003). WALL-E was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost toKung Fu Panda. The WALL-E soundtrack reached No. 127 on the Billboard 200.
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: original score (Michael Giacchino)
Other Oscar Nods: best picture (Jonas Rivera, producer); sound editing (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers), original screenplay (screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter; story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy)
Notes: Up was the second animated film, following Beauty and the Beast, to receive a best picture nomination.
2010: Toy Story 3
Studio: Pixar Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Lee Unkrich
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: original song (“We Belong Together” by Randy Newman)
Other Oscar Nods: best picture (Darla K. Anderson, producer); sound editing (Tom Myers and Michael Silvers); adapted screenplay (screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
Notes: Toy Story 3 was the third animated film to receive a best picture nomination. This was the fourth consecutive year that a Pixar film won this award – a record. Toy Story 3 was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost to How to Train Your Dragon.
2011: Rango
Studio: Paramount Pictures Production; Paramount
Oscar Went to: Gore Verbinski
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: none
2012: Brave
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: none
Notes: Chapman was the first woman to win in this category. Brave was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost to Wreck-It Ralph. The Brave soundtrack reached No. 33 on the Billboard 200.
Studio: Walt Disney Feature Animation Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: original song (“Let It Go,” music and lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez).
Other Oscar Nods: none.
Notes: Lee was the second woman to win in this category. The Frozen soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks. Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” logged five weeks at No. 5 on the Hot 100.
2014: Big Hero 6
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: none
Notes: This was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost to How to Train Your Dragon 2.
2015: Inside Out
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: original screenplay (screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen)
Notes: Docter was the third two-time winner in the category. He also won for Up (2009).
2016: Zootopia
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: None
Other Oscar Nods: None
Notes: The soundtrack reached No. 121 on the Billboard 200.
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: original song (“Remember Me” by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
Other Oscar Nods: none
Notes: Anderson was the third woman to win in this category. Unkrich was the fourth two-time winner in the category. He also won for Toy Story 3 (2010). The Coco soundtrack reached No. 39 on the Billboard 200.
2018: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Studio: Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation Production; Sony Pictures Releasing
Oscar Went to: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: None
Other Oscar Nods: None
Note: Ramsey was the first African American to win (or even just to be nominated) in this category. The soundtrack reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Post Malone & Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” was the first song from an animated film to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from Trolls (2016). “Sunflower” also received a Grammy nod for record of the year.
2019: Toy Story 4
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: None
Other Oscar Nods: original song (“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” by Randy Newman)
Notes: Toy Story is the only franchise with two wins in this category. Rivera was the fifth two-time winner in the category. He also won for Inside Out (2015). Toy Story 4 was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost to Klaus. The soundtrack, which included Chris Stapleton’s “The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy,” reached No. 122 on the Billboard 200.
2020: Soul
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Pete Docter and Dana Murray
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: original score (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste)
Other Oscar Nods: sound (Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker)
Notes: With this film, Docter became the first three-time winner in the category. He had previously won for Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015). Murray was the fourth woman to win in the category.
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Production; Walt Disney
Oscar Went to: Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer
Film’s Other Oscar Wins: none
Other Oscar Nods: original score (Germaine Franco); original song (Lin-Manuel Miranda for “Dos Oruguitas”)
Notes: Merino is the only creative from Mexico to win in this category. She was the fifth woman to win in the category. Spencer and Howard had previously collaborated on Zootopia, the 2016 winner in this category.The Encanto soundtrack logged nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” logged five weeks atop the Hot 100. Encanto was nominated for an Annie Award for best animated feature, but lost to The Mitchells vs. the Machines.
