The category of ‘Best Animated Feature’ is relatively new in regard to Disney’s history. In 1937, when Snow White was awarded the ‘Honorary Academy Award for Screening Innovation’, it showed the progression of Animation being taken seriously in the world of full-length cinema. Still, Disney and other animation studios had a long way to go before the ‘Best Animated Feature’ category would be created for the 2001 Oscars. Before this, Beauty and the Beast had been the only Disney Animated feature to even be nominated for the ‘Best Picture’ category! Not to be forgotten, in another special category, 1989’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit and 1996’s Toy Story won the ‘Special Achievement Academy Award’.
Now, this does not say Disney has been without Academy Awards. The category of ‘Best Animated Short Film’ had been littered with Disney winners since the 1930s, as well as the category of ‘Best Original Score’ – which comes as no surprise since we all know the success of the Disney Musical. But though the Disney feature film would be recognized for their scores and their songs, the film itself would very, very, very rarely be amongst feature films nominated.
In 2001, the inaugural year of the ‘Best Animated Feature’ Category, Shrek would win the first award – beating out Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Monsters, Inc. A real tribute to how far animation had come. Spirited Away would win in 2002. Our first Pixar film would make it to the finish line in 2003 with Finding Nemo claiming the well-deserved award. It wouldn’t be until 2013 with Frozen that Walt Disney Animation would take home its first Best Animated Feature award.
Check out the Pixar and Disney Films that have won the coveted award below!
- 2003 – Finding Nemo (Pixar)
- 2004 – The Incredibles (Pixar)
- 2007 – Ratatouille (Pixar)
- 2008 – WALL-E (Pixar)
- 2009 – Up (Pixar)
- 2010 – Toy Story 3 (Pixar)
- 2012 – Brave (Pixar)
- 2013 – Frozen (Walt Disney Animation)
- 2014 – Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation)
- 2015 – Inside Out (Pixar)
- 2016 – Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation)
- 2017 – Coco (Pixar)
- 2019 – Toy Story 4 (Pixar)
- 2020 – Soul (Pixar)
- 2021 – Encanto (Walt Disney Animation)
Honorary Mention: 2018 – Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (Marvel, Sony)
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