The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards have just been released, and Disney gained 15 nominations from its movies.
Out of all the Disney-adjacent movies nominated for the ceremony, A Complete Unknown from Searchlight Pictures received the highest number of nominations, with 8, including Best Picture, Best Director for James Mangold, Best Actor for Timothée Chalamet and Best Supporting Actress for Monica Barbaro.
For movies released under the Disney label, Inside Out 2 bagged a nomination for Best Animated Feature, similar to its predecessor (minus Best Original Screenplay). The movie is the nineteenth Pixar film to receive a Best Animated Feature nomination, following last year’s streak with Elemental.
As for movies from other Disney-owned studios, A Real Pain earned two nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin and Best Original Screenplay. While 20th Century Studios’ summer hits Alien: Romulus and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes gained one nomination each for Best Visual Effects.
Documentaries released by the studio were also recognized by this year’s Oscars, with Elton John: Never Too Late from Disney itself being nominated for Best Original Song and Sugarcane from National Geographic Films bagging a Best Documentary Feature nomination.
Unlike last year where Disney landed 19 nominations, Disney movies failed to make the same larger impression this year, despite their recovery from the box office.
Deadpool & Wolverine and Mufasa: The Lion King made it to several shortlists, including Best Visual Effects for both, but they failed to make the cut. Although it made waves with audiences that resulted in a billion-dollar gross, Moana 2 did not bag any nominations, unlike its predecessor, for the coveted Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.
Even more astounding is that after its win for Encanto, any animated effort from Disney and Pixar has made a slim impression for Best Animated Feature and Inside Out 2 faces stiff competition this year. For this year’s Best Animated Feature race at the Oscars, Disney will face rival DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot and the Latvitan animated film Flow, which scored three and two nominations, respectively.
Regardless, this Oscars race will be an interesting one and fans should expect the ceremony itself is hinted that it will pay more attention to the recent LA wildfires.
The 97th Academy Awards will air on ABC and live-streamed on Hulu in March 2, 2025.