Animation fans always want to see the best animated movies, and movies from the studios with the most Oscar nominations are a great place to start. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded for the animated films of 2001. Only seven studios have won the award in the last 20 years, but more than that have received multiple nominations.
There are nine studios with three nominations or more. Ties will be broken by the number of wins, and then by whichever studio achieved a win first. Five studios have received two nominations, but only one of those studios has won the award so that one beats out the rest. Netflix is technically credited with three nominations, but Netflix Animation didn’t actually produce this year’s nominee The Mitchells vs. the Machines, so they only have two nominations.
Nickelodeon Animation Studio – 2
Nickelodeon Animation Studio has released 13 theatrical films since 1998. They’ve only received two nominations, but one was during the first year the award was offered. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was nominated for 2001, and Rango was nominated for 2011. Rango won the 2011 award.
Nickelodeon is the only animation studio with a win from less than four nominations. They’re also the only studio to not have another nomination since winning. Rango is one of just four films from Nickelodeon Animation which isn’t based on one of Nickelodeon’s TV shows.
Les Armateurs – 3
Les Armateurs is a French animation studio. Of their 12 features, three have been nominated for an Oscar, though none have won. Their first nomination came for the 2003 film The Triplets of Belleville. Their second nomination, 2009’s The Secret of Kells, was a co-production with Cartoon Saloon.
Les Armateurs’ most recent nomination came for 2012’s Ernest & Celestine. As is the case with many international animated features, Ernest & Celestine wasn’t released in the U.S. until a year later, which is when it received its nomination. After taking many years off from feature films to make TV series, Les Armateurs released their first film since Ernest & Celestine with The Swallows of Kabul in 2019.
Cartoon Saloon – 4
Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation studio. Known for its beautiful 2D animation, the studio has seen its four solo-produced films all nominated for Oscars (two co-productions were not nominated). These nominated films include The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, and Wolfwalkers.
While an Oscar win has eluded the studio so far, they’ll have another shot soon. Their upcoming 2022 film My Father’s Dragon is directed by Nora Twomey, director of The Secret of Kells and The Breadwinner.
Sony Pictures Animation – 4
Sony Pictures Animation has had four nominations in the category. Their nominated films are 2007’s Surf’s Up, 2012’s The Pirates: Band of Misfits (shared with Aardman Animation), 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and 2021’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Their one win came from Into the Spider-Verse, which is also the highest ranked Sony Animation movie on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sony has had other hits that were surprisingly snubbed, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Arthur Christmas. 2022 could be another big year for them, with the planned release of Across the Spider-Verse, Part One. The studio won Best Animated Feature at the Annie Awards for Into the Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and they’ve been nominated for an additional eight Annie Awards.
Aardman Animation – 4
Aardman Animation has had four nominations and one win in the category. Their nominations came for 2005’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (which won the award and was shared with DreamWorks Animation), 2012’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits (shared with Sony), 2015’s Shaun the Sheep Movie, and 2019’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. Were-Rabbit is also the highest-ranked Aardman Animation film on IMDb.
Aardman is a studio that doesn’t miss. Chicken Run (which came out before the award existed at the Oscars), The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates!, Shaun the Sheep, and Early Man were all nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Annie Awards, with Were-Rabbit winning. Their only film not nominated for either award was Flushed Away, which was still well-received.
Laika – 6
Laika’s six nominations have been for their entire filmography of six features. These include 2005’s Corpse Bride, 2009’s Coraline, 2012’s ParaNorman, 2014’s The Boxtrolls, 2016’s Kubo and the Two Strings, and 2019’s Missing Link. Laika is the only animated studio to have all of its features (or even just the ones released since the award was created) nominated for the Oscar.
Despite having a perfect nomination record, the studio has yet to win the award. They’ve also received six nominations and no wins at the Annie Awards. Their next film is an adaption of the fantasy novel Wildwood, set for 2023.
Studio Ghibli – 6
Studio Ghibli is one of the biggest names in Anime and animation in general. The studio had already made multiple legendary films before the Oscar category even existed. Their six nominations have been for 2001’s Spirited Away (which won the Oscar for its 2002 American release), 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle, 2013’s The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, 2014’s When Marnie Was There, and 2016’s The Red Turtle (shared with Wild Bunch).
Notable classic Ghibli films that came out before the award existed are Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, and Princess Mononoke.
DreamWorks Animation – 13
Jumping from six nominations to 13, DreamWorks is one of three studios with nominations in the double digits. The nominated films include Shrek, Shark Tale, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (shared with Aardman), Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Puss in Boots, The Croods, and The Boss Baby along with sequels to these popular franchises.
The studio won the first Oscar for Best Animated Feature with Shrek, and they won again for The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The studio won the Annie Award for both of those films, as well as Kung Fu Panda and the first two How to Train Your Dragon films. They’ve received an impressive 22 Annie Award nominations as well. The first How to Train Your Dragon ranks as the top animation films from DreamWorks on Letterboxd.
Walt Disney Animation – 13
The oldest, longest-lasting studio in animation is Walt Disney Animation. Their 13 nominated films include Lilo & Stitch, The Princess and the Frog, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, and Encanto. The studio’s three wins came for Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia.
Disney may be looking at a fourth win with Encanto during this year’s ceremony. Disney also has a record 33 nominations for the Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature, with eight of those films winning the award. If this Oscars category had existed before 2001, Disney would certainly have the most nominations and wins, particularly because of the ’90s.
Pixar Animation – 16
Leading the way with an impressive 16 nominations and 11 wins is Pixar. Only four Pixar movies since 2001 weren’t nominated, and Pixar has been a safe bet for the Oscar in many different years. Their winning films are Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Brave, Inside Out, Coco, Toy Story 4, and Soul.
Every Pixar movie has been nominated for the Annie’s Best Animated Feature, except for a shocking snub of Monsters Inc. The studio has also won 11 times at the Annie Awards.
