Top 10 Animated Movies that Didn't Win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
These are the animated films that are revered for their greatness by audiences, but didn't receive the coveted Oscar gold. Some were beaten out by stiff completion. Some were absolutely stiffed by the committee. Some weren't even nominated for the award at all! Anyhow, this list basically serves as a best of the runners-up list for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. They may not have won the award, but they won many hearts across the world. These are only films that have been released after 2001, seeing as that's when the award was first introduced.
2010 Winner: Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon is, in my opinion, DreamWorks Animation's finest film. It has everything. Great humor, a fantastic story, relatable characters, and stunning animation. I love this movie dearly but I can totally see why Toy Story 3 won the award. 2010 was a great year for animated movies in general.
Why am I not surprised that almost all of the awards were stolen by DISNEY?
John Lasseter and Lee Unkrich or Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton should be sent to HTTYD world as punishment for creating and directing Toy Story, I'm glad Joe Ranft is dead, Death to Pixar and Disney.
2014 Winner: Big Hero 6
(The Lego Movie wasn't even nominated! )
The fact that The Lego Movie wasn't even nominated for this award will go down as one of the biggest Oscar shafts in animation history. You can even make a case that it should have WON the award, let alone be nominated for it. Anyway, this is a great, creative movie with an unforgettable sense of humor and fantastic message about the creative spirit.
Even if this movie did get nominated, Big Hero 6 would most likely still win the award.
Man, I usually prefer Disney/Pixar, but I was upset this great movie was beat out by Big Hero 6, a movie I also really like
2004 Winner: The Incredibles
DreamWorks constantly gets overshadowed by Pixar and Disney when it comes to the Academy awards. I don't really know why that is. Anyway, Shrek 2 is an overall great sequel to a great movie. In my opinion, it's actually BETTER than the original Shrek. It has great jokes, a great story, and a surprising surplus of heart, as well. However, it's hard to beat the absolute awesomeness that is Pixar's The Incredibles.
2001 Winner: Shrek
Monsters, Inc. is a classic for a reason. It has a genius concept for an animated movie, tons of great characters and jokes, as well as Pixar's signature brand of feels. Shrek just narrowly beat it in the first year the award was handed out.
2014 Winner: Big Hero 6
How To Train Your Dragon 2 was a great follow up to one of the greatest animated films ever. The characters continue their story with funny moments and dramatic moments galore. However, when it comes to Disney vs. DreamWorks, the committee will usually pick Disney every time.
2011 Winner: Rango
One thing that DreamWorks has really mastered is the ability to make high quality sequels that continue the journey of the protagonist. Kung Fu Panda 2 improves upon the original with tons of emotional scenes and stunning kung fu sequences. The western Rango just narrowly beat it out in 2011.
This movie was pure cinema, but so was Rango.
2012 Winner: Brave (unfortunately)
When Brave beat Wreck-it Ralph in 2012, many people (me included) were ticked off. It didn't feel right that one of Pixar's weakest films got the upper hand over one of the greatest movies that Walt Disney Animation Studios has ever made. Even though it didn't win, Wreck-It Ralph has a consolation prize for being remembered much more fondly today than Brave will ever be.
Oh my gosh, this film is just the best in the universe. This movie totally deserved to win against Brave. Brave was literally just Brother Bear! It probably only won because of Merida's hair anyway! Also I'm so sick and tired of people saying "wa this movie didn't have enough cameos I hate it so much" like come ON people! I really hope that the subplot in the sequel gets an animated short, that would be amazing! *writes cringey fanfiction anyway*
Wait the lego movie got higher than this? but felix is a better naive character than emmet and legos are for babies
2010 Winner: Toy Story 3
(Tangled wasn't even nominated! )
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I really like Tangled. The characters are lovable, the story is just genius, and the songs are pretty catchy, too. Without Tangled, we wouldn't have gotten Frozen, and I greatly respect this movie and its impact. It's really weird that it wasn't even nominated, though. "I See the Light" was even shafted the Best Original Song Oscar, too.
2002 Winner: Spirited Away
It feels really bad that when people think of Ice Age, they usually think of brainless, stupid kiddy films that are made just to make money. The thing is, the first Ice Age is actually really, REALLY good. All the characters are funny and work off each other well, the journey they go through is filled with adventure, and the movie actually has a lot of heart to it. An Ice Age movie with HEART?! What has the world come to?! While this movie is a classic of my childhood and still one of my favorite animated movies ever, it can't compete with the utter genius of Hayao Miyazaki.
2007 Winner: Ratatouille
(The Simpsons Movie wasn't even nominated! )
I love The Simpsons. It's one of my favorite T.V. shows and one of the greatest cartoons ever made. The movie is just a great adaptation and sums up everything that's so awesome, funny, and touching about the show. But since it's a T.V. to film adaptation, many Academy voters didn't necessarily think it was "Oscar material". And that's a shame because I think it could of actually have given Pixar and Ratatouille a run for their money. And that's saying a LOT.
Even if it did get nominated, it would most likely be hard for this movie to be the gold that is Pixar's Ratatouille
2010 Winner: Toy Story 3
(Megamind wasn't even nominated)
Pity any animated movie that came out the same year as the masterpiece Toy Story 3, as when going up against that they were doomed from the start. Any other year however this wonderfully quirky and fast paced superhero-villain movie would've easilly got a nomination, and maybe even a win.
2004 Winner: The Incredibles
(The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie wasn't even nominated)
To be honest guys, while this movie is great, it would still be hard to beat out The Incredibles.
It lost to Toy Story 4. Who wouldn't love to watch a movie with JK Simmons voicing Santa Claus?
I actually really enjoyed this movie, but it did not really deserve an award. A nomination? Possibly.
2004 Winner: The Incredibles
(The Polar Express wasn't even nominated)
If I had the Oscars my way, The Incredibles would still win the award, and Shrek 2 would still be nominated, but this would be nominated instead of Shark Tale, the worst Dreamworks film of all time, and no SpongeBob because that movie sucked at well.
