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(NEXSTAR) \u2013 Animated films are among some of the most beloved, critically acclaimed and top-grossing movies in cinema history. And yet, very few have ever been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.<\/p>\n
The first animated film to receive the honor, Disney\u2019s \u201cBeauty and the Beast,\u201d was in the running for Best Picture at the 1992 ceremony \u2014 a full decade before the Academy added a specific Animated Feature category. That year, \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d would go on to win Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, but lose out to \u201cSilence of the Lambs\u201d for the night\u2019s top award.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy feeling is that had it not been for\u00a0\u2018Silence of the Lambs,\u2019\u00a0\u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019\u00a0could have won,\u201d Arlene Ludwig, a publicity director for the Walt Disney Company, told The Hollywood Reporter in a 2022 retrospective.<\/p>\n
Not everyone agreed, apparently. Kirk Wise, the co-director of \u201cBeauty and the Beast,\u201d remembered hearing less-than-kind words about his film being included among that year\u2019s Best Picture nominees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were those in the awards broadcast who had to be snarky and pooh-poohed the notion of a \u2018cartoon\u2019 being included with \u2018real movies,\u201d he told Vulture in 2023.<\/p>\n
At one point during the ceremony, Sally Field introduced a clip of \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d by pointing out how \u201cno actors appeared on screen,\u201d appearing to suggest its nomination was more of an anomaly than a milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe members of the Screen Actors Guild hope this doesn\u2019t become a trend,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n
Despite the film\u2019s failure to capture the Best Picture prize \u2014 and by multiple accounts, because of it \u2014 Disney and other Hollywood studios upped their game, sending their animation teams back to the drawing board for fresh, hopefully award-worthy material.<\/p>\n
Don Hahn, the producer of \u201cBeauty and the Beast,\u201d remembered the Best Picture nomination being a \u201cbig turning point.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a chance to say, \u2018Wow, we really did a very cool thing with this movie, and maybe changed the course of animation a little bit,\u201d he told Entertainment Weekly in a 2012 interview.<\/p>\n
Over the following decade, animated productions became more expensive and technically advanced. And with an abundance of these (sometimes groundbreaking) animated films hitting theaters in the \u201890s and early \u201800s, the Academy introduced an all-new category for Best Animated Feature. The news, however, came as both a blessing and a curse for studios, as it provided the Academy with an easy way to recognize animated films without considering those same films for the Best Picture category, members of the industry have theorized.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard rumblings within the Academy that that\u2019s really why that category was established. They did not want animated films competing for Best Picture,\u201d Disney publicist Christine La Monte told The Hollywood Reporter.<\/p>\n
Films including \u201cShrek,\u201d \u201cSpirited Away,\u201d \u201cThe Incredibles\u201d \u201cWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\u201d and \u201cWall-E\u201d were among early winners in the Best Animated Feature category. But none had received a nod for Best Picture.<\/p>\n
Then, in 2009, the Academy expanded the Best Picture category to include 10 nominees instead of the usual five. That year, Disney and Pixar\u2019s \u201cUp\u201d became the second-ever film to earn a Best Picture nod. And the following year, \u201cToy Story 3\u201d repeated the feat. Both films ended up winning in the Best Animated Feature category, but \u201cUp\u201d ultimately lost Best Picture to \u201cThe Hurt Locker,\u201d and \u201cToy Story 3\u2033 lost to \u201cThe King\u2019s Speech\u201d in the same category.<\/p>\n
Not a single animated film since \u2014 no matter how well reviewed \u2014 has been nominated for Best Picture. In 2022, the Academy was also accused of downplaying the appeal of animated films after presenters at the ceremony introduced the Best Animated Feature category by repeatedly suggesting the medium is for children.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuper cool to position animation as something that kids watch and adults have to endure,\u201d director and filmmaker Phil Lord (\u201cCloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,\u201d \u201cThe Lego Movie,\u201d \u201cSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse\u201d) said of their remarks and others.<\/p>\n
Filmmakers who believe in the appeal of animation, in the meantime, continue to push for the genre to be taken more seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a great year for cinema \u2026 and therefore it\u2019s been a great year for animation, because animation is cinema,\u201d Guillermo Del Toro began his speech at the Golden Globes in 2023, after winning the Best Animated Motion Picture award for \u201cPinocchio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnimation is not a genre for kids; it\u2019s a medium.\u201d<\/p>\n
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