21 Oscar-winning feature films
Educational Program Cinema / / December 30, 2020
The award for Best Animated Feature Film appeared at the Oscars relatively recently - in 2002. Prior to that, cartoons could either compete in the main categories along with feature films, or receive special awards.
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- USA, 1937.
- Fantasy, adventure, musical.
- Duration: 83 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.6.
The retelling of the Brothers Grimm's classic fairy tale about a young princess fleeing an evil stepmother and finding shelter in a dwarf hut became one of the first full-length cartoons in history. Before him, only lesser-known projects, like the now-lost "Apostle" by Quirino Christiani, were released in this format.
Walt Disney committed technological breakthroughby doubling the number of frames per second drawn. And at the same time he proved that children will be interested in a cartoon that lasts an hour and a half. The huge investment of one and a half million dollars for that time paid off excellently.
And then Disney received an honorary Oscar with the following wording: βFor the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which captivated millions of viewers and opened up new horizons for the development of animated cinemaβ. Moreover, the academics acted wittily, giving him one large statuette and seven small ones.
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2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who framed roger rabbit
- USA, 1988.
- Detective, comedy.
- Duration: 103 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.7.
Detective Eddie Valiant doesn't like cartoons and everything connected with them. However, it is he who has to investigate the murder in Multtown, and at the same time protect Roger Rabbit, who is considered the main suspect.
This picture can hardly be called a cartoon, since it combines the usual filming of live actors and animation. But it is impossible not to mention it, because by the time "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was released, American animation was in terrible decline. It was the success of this creation by Robert Zemeckis that made it possible to re-interest the audience in cartoons, which led to an increase in the number of full-length drawn works.
They invested a huge, even by today's standards, $ 70 million. But it was even more difficult to agree on cooperation between different studios. However, the authors succeeded, so you can see the heroes of Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount and Universal in the frame. The investment paid off with interest, and then the picture was nominated for an Oscar in as many as six categories. The film took three of them, additionally the authors were awarded a special prize for the creation and development of animation.
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3. History of toys
Toy Story
- USA, 1995.
- Fantasy, adventure, comedy.
- Duration: 81 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.3.
Young Andy Davis has a lot of toys. And they all come to life when the boy leaves the room. Andy's favorite has always been the mechanical cowboy Woody, but with the arrival of fashion astronaut Buzz Lightyear, priorities may change.
Debut studio project Pixar became another milestone in the development of animation. After all, "Toy Story" is the first 3D cartoon entirely created on a computer. In addition, the authors dared to move away from the typical Disney stories about princesses and the obligatory musical numbers, making the picture interesting for both children and adults.
As a result, director John Lasseter received a special Oscar for the creation of the first full-length computer animated film.
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4. Shrek
Shrek
- USA, 2001.
- Fantasy, adventure, comedy.
- Duration: 90 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.8.
A huge green ogre named Shrek lived for many years in a swamp far from everyone. But once the evil Lord Farquad drove all the fairy-tale characters into his forest, breaking the giant's solitude. However, the ruler promised to return Shrek's ownership if he gets him the beautiful princess Fiona, who was captured by a fire-breathing dragon.
Cartoon Dreamworks Pictures became the first Oscar winner in the new Best Animated Feature Film category, which was introduced in 2002. The ironic story perfectly combines many fairy-tale characters, which are often the opposite of classic images. No wonder the main character is not a knight or a prince, but an ogre.
An unusual approach and excellent graphics for that time allowed Shrek to overtake even Pixar's Monsters, Inc.
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5. Spirited Away
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
- Japan, 2001.
- Fantasy, adventure.
- Duration: 125 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.6.
Chihiro moves with his mom and dad to a new house by car. On the way, the family goes astray and stops in a strange, deserted city. Seeing a table full of groceries, the girl's mom and dad pounce on the food and suddenly turn into pigs. It turns out that they were bewitched by the evil Yubaba. And now Chihiro needs to serve the witch and come up with a plan to save his family.
Against the background of the increasing development of computer animation, a classic cartoon from the legendary Hayao Miyazaki gained unexpected popularity. It became the highest grossing project in Japan and was a worldwide success. And in the fight for the Oscar, Miyazaki's creation managed to bypass such hits as "Ice Age" and "Lilo and Stitch".
6. Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
- USA, 2003.
- Fantasy, adventure, comedy.
- Duration: 101 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.1.
The clownfish Marlin lives near the Great Barrier Reef with his son Nemo, who was attacked by a barracuda as a child. A curious child goes on an excursion to the open ocean and falls into the hands of a diver. Then Marlene takes Dory, a positive fish surgeon, who suffers from memory problems, and goes in search of Nemo.
Pixar animators approached the development of this cartoon with the utmost care. They dived themselves on the Great Barrier Reef and attended ichthyology courses to gain a better understanding of fish physiology. Although, of course, in the end, the authors went for some artistic changes.
At the Oscars, the cartoon had no high-profile competitors, so it was considered in advance the favorite of the race. And starting this year, the vast majority of Academy Awards began to take away creations Disney and Pixar, only occasionally yielding to other projects.
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7. The Incredibles
The incredibles
- USA, 2004.
- Action, adventure.
- Duration: 115 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.0.
The famous superhero Mister Exceptional was tired of the constant lawsuits from the rescued. He got married, started a family and retired. But 15 years later, Mister Exceptional still misses his superhero past. And one day an interesting thing turns up for him.
For the first time, Pixar decided to make a cartoon where all the main characters are people. And although their new work received an age limit PG (it is recommended to watch with parents), it still became the fourth highest grossing project of the year, losing only to the sequel "Shrek". But at the Oscars, the continuation of the story of the green ogre lost to the cartoon about superheroes. Well, the "Underwater lads", obviously copied from the painting "Finding Nemo", was originally considered an outsider.
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8. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Werewolf Rabbit
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
- UK, USA, 2005.
- Comedy, adventure.
- Duration: 85 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.4.
In another story about an unlucky inventor and his clever dog, Wallace and Gromit decide to help their neighbors prepare for the annual giant vegetable contest. They form the Anti-Pesto company, helping farmers to fight rodents. But the partners cannot cope with the creepy monster eating all the vegetables. And as a result, the organizer of the competition promises a huge prize to the one who catches the monster.
British animator Nick Park, who is engaged in plasticine cartoons, has already twice become the owner of "Oscar" for the short films "In the Animal World" and "The Wrong Pants" (the latter is dedicated to the same Wallace and Gromit).
"The Curse of the Werewolf Rabbit" became one of the highest grossing puppet cartoons of all time, second only to "Chicken Run", filmed by the same Park. And at the Oscars, the cartoon bypassed even Miyazaki's new work "Howl's Moving Castle" and "Corpse Bride" by Tim Burton.
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9. Run away
Happy feet
- USA, Australia, 2006.
- Comedy, adventure, musical.
- Duration: 104 minutes.
- IMDb: 6.4.
In the emperor penguin tribe, couples in love have always found each other through singing. But one day the chick Mumble was born, who did not fall into the notes at all, but he knew how to dance perfectly. At first, the penguin became an outcast, but over time he managed to interest his fellow tribesmen with his talent.
Warner Bros. Studio I tried to make not just another cartoon with dances and songs. Happy Feet is a real musical. Most of the scenes were rendered using motion capture technology from real dancers. And the vocals were performed by such musical stars as Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The cartoon confidently took the "Oscar", ahead of "Cars" from Pixar.
True, Happy Feet is the only Warner Bros. animated work to date to receive an Academy Award. Disney had already bought Pixar by this time and became the clear leader in the production of cartoons.
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10. Ratatouille
Ratatouille
- USA, 2007.
- Adventure, comedy.
- Duration: 111 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.0.
Remy the Rat loves to cook. He watches cooking shows and is always on the lookout for interesting condiments to eat. Of course, his relatives disapprove of his hobbies. One day, Remi meets a young man Linguini, who works in a restaurant, but does not know how to cook at all. And it turns out that these two can help each other.
And again, the animators decided to completely immerse the viewer in the atmosphere. To do this, they went to Paris, where the action of the cartoon takes place, and examined not only the streets of the city, but also the sewers. In addition, the creators of Ratatouille worked with Thomas Keller, chef of the French Laundry restaurant, to learn how to cook. They also consulted with rat experts and observed the behavior of the rodents to make sure Remi moved as believably as possible.
At the Oscars, Ratatouille competed with the Catch the Wave cartoon about surfer penguins, clearly copying the ideas of last year's winner. Also among the applicants was the work by Marjan Satrapi "Persepolis" about the Islamic revolution in Iran. But the prize, as expected, went to the story of the rat.
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11. WALL I
WALL E
- USA, 2008.
- Science fiction, adventure.
- Duration: 98 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.4.
By the beginning of the XXII century, mankind made the Earth uninhabitable, filling it with non-recyclable waste. As a result, people flew to space, leaving on the planet WALL-I cleaning robots. After 700 years, only one of them has not broken. The last WALL-E became emotional (almost like a human) and, upon meeting the research robot EVA, immediately fell in love with her.
Future authors came up with the idea of ββthis cartoon back in the mid-90s. But the wait, as well as the long study of various dumps and garbage, helped the animators a lot to create a realistic feeling of huge landfills with waste. It is also important that WALL Β· I is not just an entertaining cartoon. He touches on the serious topic of garbage recycling and environmental neglect.
At the Oscars, this Pixar work not only won the award for Best Animated Feature, but was also nominated in the rare Best Original Screenplay category for cartoons.
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12. Up
Up
- USA, 2009.
- Adventure, comedy.
- Duration: 96 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.2.
Karl Fredriksen and his wife have dreamed of traveling all their lives. But old age came, and they never fulfilled their desire. And then his wife died, and an elderly grumpy Karl tied thousands of balloons to his house and went on a journey. True, he accidentally took Russell's chatty scout with him.
The creators of "Up" acted very bravely, because it is no secret that such cartoons are primarily aimed at children. But the authors were not afraid to make the main character of an elderly person, who is associated with grandparents among the young audience. And in the end, they managed to show that at any age you can continue to dream and move towards adventure.
At the Oscars, Up had serious competitors: Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson, "Coraline in Nightmare Land" based on the book by Neil Gaiman, and "The Princess and the Frog", made in the style of classic hand-drawn animation. Still, the prize went to the authors of the Up cartoon. He was also nominated even in the main category for Best Picture, along with Avatar and Inglourious Basterds. Previously, only Beauty and the Beast had such an honor.
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13. Toy Story: The Great Escape
Toy Story 3
- USA, 2010.
- Adventure, comedy, fantasy.
- Duration: 103 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.3.
Toy owner Andy is already a teenager. He's about to leave college and only wants to bring Woody with him. The rest of the heroes mistakenly end up in the trash. But the cowboy again saves his friends, and together they go to the kindergarten "Solnyshko".
It's a rare case that there has been such a long hiatus in the animation franchise: 10 years have passed since the release of the second part. But, oddly enough, it went "Toy Stories"Only for the benefit. The authors decided not to dwell on the same topics, and in the third part they started talking about the growing up of children and the reflection of their guardians. That is why many adults liked The Big Escape so much.
At the Oscars, the third part of "Toy Story" also received a nomination in the category "Best Film", but expectedly gave way to the drama "The King Speaks!" But among the animation, the cartoon practically did not have competitors.
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14. Rango
Rango
- USA, 2011.
- Fantasy, adventure.
- Duration: 107 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.2.
Chameleon Rango has lived in a terrarium all his life, considering himself a tough hero. But one day he fell out of the car and ended up in a town called Dirt. There he will have to become a kind of sheriff in the Wild West and face the villains.
The first full-length cartoon by the studio Industrial Light & Magic, once founded by George Lucas, is not only plays out numerous stereotypes of westerns, but also repeatedly refers to films with Johnny Depp. It was this famous actor who became the prototype of the main character, and at the same time voiced the character.
Rango was partly lucky that Disney and Pixar for 2011 presented only the sequel to Cars and another cartoon about Winnie the Pooh. But nevertheless, the ironic presentation and excellent picture quality allowed him to honestly bypass all competitors, among which was the spin-off of "Shrek" about Puss in Boots.
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15. Brave
Brave
- USA, 2012.
- Fantasy, adventure.
- Duration: 93 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.1.
Princess Merida is forced to follow the rules in everything and wait for a worthy groom to appear, although she herself dreams of horseback riding and shooting a bow. Desperate to escape from the court routine, the girl goes to the witch and asks to cast a spell on the queen. But the consequences are dire.
In 2012, Pixar released its first cartoon with a female character in the title role. Although it is much more important how subtly the studio approached the development of the characters. Unlike most similar stories, where the characters almost always wear the same outfits, Merida alone in Braveheart has five different dresses, and her father Fergus has nine outfits. And for each Scottish clan, the animators came up with their own pattern, unlike the others.
At the Academy Awards, the Pixar cartoon fought against Disney's Ralph and Tim Burton's Frankenwinny. But the story of the brave princess turned out to be closer to the academicians.
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16. Cold heart
Frozen
- USA, 2013.
- Fantasy, adventure.
- Duration: 102 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.5.
Princess Elsa knew how to control the cold since childhood, but she always tried to restrain her abilities, fearing to harm someone. However, after a quarrel with her sister Anna, she accidentally almost froze the whole kingdom, after which she decided to retire to her ice castle. Anna, on the other hand, was going to bring Elsa home and went on a journey with the brave Kristoff and his faithful deer Sven.
For many years, Disney has been developing the film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. But for a long time the authors were stopped by the fact that the main character would turn out to be a villain. As a result, the plot was completely rewritten, making Elsa a positive character.
And at the same time, the studio decided to move away from the traditional romantic line, replacing it with the relationship of sisters. It's also interesting that each character has its own animation team working to make the characters really different in character.
Β«Cold heartβGrossed over a billion dollars at the box office and became a real hit. No one even doubted his victory at the Oscar, although in the same year another cartoon by Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises, was released.
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17. City of heroes
Big hero 6
- USA, 2014.
- Science fiction, action, comedy.
- Duration: 105 minutes.
- IMDb: 7.8.
The young genius Hiro Hamada, who lives in futuristic San Francisco, is most passionate about robot fighting. Soon he was invited to enter the university ahead of schedule. Hiro has grandiose plans, but an unexpected tragedy changes his life and forces the young man to become the protector of the city.
Disney decided to film the not-so-famous Marvel comic series, announcing in advance that City of Heroes would not be included in the general cinematic universe. As usual, the production involved a lot of work: the animators put everything into a special program. maps of San Francisco, which became the prototype of a futuristic city, and registered about 700 unique characters. Well, in the scene after the credits, according to the tradition already established for the film adaptations of Marvel comics, the great himself appeared Stan Lee.
The "City of Heroes" did not even have serious competitors at the "Oscars". The second part "How to Train Your Dragon" and the new work of Studio Ghibli were clearly losing to a large project.
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18. Puzzle
Inside out
- USA, 2015.
- Comedy, drama.
- Duration: 95 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.2.
In the mind of a typical 11-year-old girl, Riley, five basic emotions coexist: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. Every day, they help her cope with problems. But when the heroine begins to have severe stress due to moving to a large metropolis, discord sets in in her head.
The creators of this cartoon decided to try to understand a little better the feelings of a person, and they did it in a simple and funny way: each emotion is very interestingly visualized. For example, Sadness is like a tear, Joy is like a star, and Disgust is like broccoli.
At the Academy Awards, Puzzle was a clear favorite among mainstream cartoons. But she had to compete with the serious dark cartoon "Anomalysis" from the famous Charlie Kaufman. However, the award traditionally went to Pixar.
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19. Zootopia
Zootopia
- USA, 2016.
- Detective adventure.
- Duration: 108 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.0.
The cheerful rabbit Judy Hopps goes to work in the police of the huge city of Zootopia, inhabited by a variety of animals. At first, the harsher colleagues are lenient towards her. But soon Judy takes on the disclosure of a serious conspiracy, and her partner becomes the cunning fox Nick Wilde.
Disney only for the third time decided to shoot a cartoon in which absolutely all the characters are anthropomorphic animals (before that there were "Robin Hood" and "Chicken Chicken"). But this did not prevent the creation of a real twisted detective story, moreover, it makes you think about serious topics: in Zootopia they talk about bias at work, segregation and corruption.
The cartoon became the record holder in the box office in many countries. For example, in Russia he collected more than two billion rubles. Nobody even doubted the victory of this work at the Oscar. Moreover, the main competitor of Zootopia in the nomination was Moana from the same Disney studio.
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20. Coco's Secret
Coco
- USA, 2017.
- Science fiction, adventure.
- Duration: 105 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.4.
Young Miguel dreams of becoming a musician, but in his family this occupation is considered a shame. One day, the boy discovers a mysterious connection with the late famous singer and goes to the land of the dead to meet his idol. And the spirits of deceased ancestors help him in this.
Pixar animators had to work hard to tell about the world of the dead. The skeletons in the cartoon are somewhat different from the real ones in order to seem livelier and more attractive. And the authors have completely redesigned the program for creating clothes, because on the bones the tissue looks completely different from the usual human body.
Still, the main merit of "The Secret of Coco" lies in its plot. The children's cartoon touches upon such important topics as death and farewell to loved ones. And so he was emotionally close to audiences of all ages. And although in the same year another wonderful cartoon was nominated for an Oscar "Van Gogh. Love, VincentPainted entirely in oil paints, Coco's Secret turned out to be a favorite.
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21. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
- USA, 2018.
- Science fiction, adventure, action.
- Duration: 117 minutes.
- IMDb: 8.4.
Schoolboy Miles Morales lives in a world where everyone adores Peter Parker, known as Spider-Man. But after the death of the superhero, it is the teenager who will have to become the new defender of the city. Versions of Spider-Man from different worlds will help him to fight evil. And sometimes very strange.
The striking superhero story from Sony Pictures was the first cartoon since 2011 to break Disney and Pixar's monopoly on Best Animation Oscars. And victory "Spiderman"Quite justified: the studio introduced a completely new technology, showing comics coming to life on the screen. Coupled with the rental in 3D, this created an amazing immersion for the viewer in the action.
And besides, this is just a witty and dynamic cartoon, making fun of the cliches of the many superhero stories that have filled the screens.
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