Disney, Pixar shut out of major animation awards Best Feature category for first time

"Wish" and "Elemental" shockingly weren't nominated in the Annie Awards top category for the first time since 1992.

For the first time in 32 years, Disney and Pixar films were completely shut out of the Best Animated Feature category at one of Hollywood's major animated awards bodies.

Though Disney released both Elemental and Wish to theaters in 2023, neither film landed among the nominees in the Annie Awards' top bracket, marking the first time that's happened since the category was introduced in 1992.

The Annie Awards honor the best in animated excellence each year, and are often a predictor of the Best Animated Feature Oscar contenders each year — with Disney and/or Pixar scoring big nominations (or victories) for Best Animated Feature at the Annies every calendar year for over three decades.

Wish and Elemental
'Wish' and 'Elemental'.

Disney/Pixar

Past Disney and/or Pixar contenders in the Annie Awards' category include iconic titles like Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Frozen, and Beauty and the Beast, which won the first-ever Best Animated Feature award.

The development marks another unfortunate turn for Wish, which the studio released as a celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the Walt Disney Company via a story filled with nods to characters and stories from Disney history. The film has thus far grossed $209 million at the global box office — a relatively low number when compared to past studio releases — on top of middling reviews from movie critics.

Released in the summer of 2023, Elemental, however, earned positive reviews and brought in just under $500 million in worldwide ticket sales.

Other films competing for the Annie Awards' Best Animated Feature category include Nimona, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Suzume, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and The Boy and the Heron.

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