Walt at the Oscars

The Walt Disney Studios has been heavily represented at the Academy Awards over the decades but did you know that Walt Disney himself holds the record for both nominations and wins by a single person? What is even more interesting is that there are discrepancies to the exact number of wins between the Walt Disney Company and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Both agree that he received an impressive 59 nominations, but disagree on the number of wins. According to the Walt Disney Company, Walt received 27 wins in competitive categories and 5 honorary awards, totalling 32 awards. According to the Academy, he received 22 wins in competitive categories and 4 honorary awards, totalling 26 awards.

The majority of Walt’s nominations were in short-subject work and documentaries, both in animation and live action. He also received a nomination for Best Picture for Mary Poppins in 1965. The first Oscar Walt ever won was in 1932 at the 5^th Academy Awards for the Short Subject  Cartoon Flowers & Trees. The Silly Symphony Flowers & Trees, which was released in July of 1932, was Walt’s first cartoon to appear in colour. His first Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature was in 1954 for The Living Desert. This documentary was released in November of 1953 and features the day-to-day life of the flora and fauna of the American Southwest. It was the first full length feature in the True-Life Adventures series. The last Oscar win for Walt was presented posthumously in 1969 for Short Subject Cartoon for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

During his lifetime, Walt received 4 honorary awards. In 1932 he was recognized for his creation of Mickey Mouse and in 1939, Walt received his famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs statuettes for “a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon.” At the 1942 Academy Awards, Walt received two honorary awards. One was a Special Technical Award for “outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures through the production of Fantasia.” The other was the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for “the most consistent high quality of production achievement by an individual producer.”

Another honorary award that was presented to the Walt Disney Studios, though the Walt Disney Company lists it as a personal award for Walt, was for the invention of the multiplane camera in 1938.

There were 5 other awards presented to the Walt Disney Studios or to other producers at the Studios, which the Company lists as Walt’s personal awards:

1. Best Visual Effects won by 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea – Walt Disney Studios
2. Best Short Subject – Live Action won by The Wetback Hound – Larry Lansburgh, Producer
3. Best Documentary Feature won by White Wilderness – Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
4. Best Documentary Short won by Ama Girls – Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
5. Best Documentary Feature won by The Horse with the Flying Tail – Larry Lansburgh, Producer

Here are some other records and fun facts about Walt Disney at the Oscars:

• Record for the most awards won by a single person in one year. At the 26^th Academy Awards in 1954, he won four awards out of his six nominations: Best Documentary Feature for The Living Desert, Best Documentary Short for The Alaskan Eskimo, Best Short Subject Cartoon for Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom, and Best Short Subject Two-Reel for Bear Country.
• Record for the most wins in consecutive years. Between 1931 and 1939, Walt won at least one award at every ceremony for a total of 10 awards.
• Record for the most consecutive Short Subject Cartoon wins with eight awards between 1931 and 1939.
• Record for the most consecutive wins for Short Subject Two-Reel between 1950 and 1953 with 4 awards.
• Record for most consecutive wins for Documentary Feature with two wins in 1953 and 1954.
• The majority of Walt’s Oscars are on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.
• Walt made a bracelet for his wife, Lillian out of 20 miniature Oscars. Each one has a tiny engraving of the film he won them for.
• Walt was an award presenter 3 times. In 1937, he presented the Short Subject awards. In 1943, he presented the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer Sidney Franklin. In 1953, Walt presented the music awards at the first ceremony to be televised.
• The Walt Disney Studios and its subsidiaries have won almost 120 Academy Awards.