The All-Time, All-Disney Academy Awards

[SNERWW22785]

With the annual "Rich People Giving Each Other Awards" Festival known as the Oscars behind us, I got to thinking about what films might dominate an All-Disney version of the awards. It intrigued me in the same way the Top Films Countdowns have on the UltimateDisney website.
Here were my nominees in all categories, under the following rules:

1) All films originally released theatrically under the Walt Disney Studios banner were eligible; this of course excluded TV movies, even ones which recived theatrical release like Davy Crockett, and also films from Disney junior companies and production partners, such as Touchstone, Miramax, Pixar, etc.

2) Films of all kind were eligible for Best Picture, naturally only the 43 animated classics were eligible for Best Animated Feature.

3) In the acting categories, animation performances were eligible and the credit went both to the voice talent and the lead animator.

4) The toughest categories were the short features, so I went for actual Oscar-winners as nominees, or personal favorites of mine.

And the nominees are...

BEST PICTURE

"Mary Poppins"
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
"Beauty & the Beast"
"Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"
"Old Yeller"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

"Beauty & the Beast"
"Sleeping Beauty"
"Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"
"Fantasia"
"Dumbo"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

James Mason as Captain Nemo in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
Fred MacMurray as Prof. Ned Brainerd in "The Absent-Minded Professor"
Tim Allen as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus in "The Santa Clause"
Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Carribbean"
Denzel Washington as Coach Boone in "Remember the Titans"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins in "Mary Poppins"
Hayley Mills as Pollyanna in "Pollyanna"
Barbara Harris as Mrs. Andrews in "Freaky Friday ('77)"
Paige O'Hara/James Baxter as Belle in "Beauty & the Beast"
Angela Lansbury as Egaltine Price in "Bedknobs & Broomsticks"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Kirk Douglas as Ned Land in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
Mickey Rooney as Lampie in "Pete's Dragon"
Dick Van Dyke as Bert in "Mary Poppins"
Robin Williams/Eric Goldberg as Genie in "Aladdin"
Brian Keith as Mitch Evers in "The Parent Trap ('61)"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Dorothy McGuire as Katie Coates in "Old Yeller"
Eleanor Audley/Marc Davis as Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty"
Betty Lou Gerson/Marc Davis as Cruella DeVil in "101 Dalmatians"
Sigourney Weaver as The Warden in "Holes"
Michelle Lee as Carole Bennett in "The Love Bug"

BEST DIRECTOR

Richard Fleischer, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
Robert Stevenson, "Mary Poppins"
David Swift, "The Parent Trap"
Kirk Wise & Gary Trousdale, "Beauty & the Beast"
Steven Lisberger, "Tron"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Greg Allan Howard, "Remember the Titans"
Ed Naha & Tom Schulman, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"
Malcom Marmostein, "Pete's Dragon"
Irene Mecchi, Jonathon Roberts, and Linda Wolverton, "The Lion King"
Steven Lisberger, "Tron"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

David Swift, "The Parent Trap"
Bill Walsh & Don DaGradi, "Mary Poppins"
Earl Felton, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio, "Pirates of the Carribbean"
Laurence Watkin, "Darby O'Gill & the Little People"

BEST SCORE

Paul Smith, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
Alan Menken, "Beauty & the Beast"
Alan Menken, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
George Bruns, "Sleeping Beauty"
Richard & Robert Sherman, "Mary Poppins"

BEST SONG

Alan Menken & Howard Ashman, 'Beauty & the Beast'
Richard & Robert Sherman, 'Chim-Chim-Cheree'
Frank Churchill, 'Some Day My Prince Will Come'
Terry Gilkyson, 'The Bare Necessities'
Alan Menken & Howard Ashman, 'Friend Like Me'

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

"Mary Poppins"
"Tron"
"Pollyanna"
"The Watcher in the Woods"
"Old Yeller"

BEST ART DIRECTION

"Pirates of the Carribbean"
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
"Mary Poppins"
"The Muppet Christmas Carol"
"Sleeping Beauty"

BEST EDITING

"Remember the Titans"
"Iron Will"
"Tron"
"Old Yeller"
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"

BEST SOUND

"Pirates of the Carribbean"
"Tron"
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
"Swiss Family Robinson"
"Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"

BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING

"Tron"
"Pirates of the Carribbean"
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

"Mary Poppins"
"Pollyanna"
"Pirates of the Carribbean"
"Treasure Island"
"Bedknobs & Broomsticks"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

"Tron"
"Pirates of the Carribbean"
"Escape to Witch Mountain"

BEST MAKEUP

"Mary Poppins"
"The Parent Trap"
"Pollyanna"
"Swiss Family Robinson"
"Pirates of the Carribbean"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

"Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day"
"Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom"
"Flowers & Trees"
"Steamboat Willie"
"The Three Little Pigs"

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

"Beaver Valley"
"Grand Canyon"
"On Seal Island"

BEST DOCUMENTARY

"The Living Desert"
"Men Against the Arctic"
"Donald in Mathmagic Land" - I love this thing, and it WAS nominated in 1960 for the Best Documentary Award, so there ya go.


Of course, by no means is this what could be called a definitive list, just my personal nominations. Anybody got nominations of thier own?

[Luke]

Interesting! It's a bit tough to compare the whole bunch of Disney films, which span so many genres and decades. I think your picks aren't bad.

[Captain Hook]

I'd personally like Peter Pan and Swiss Family Robinson up there a bit more... you know, more pirate stuff. However, I agree with most of your picks.

[Ludwig Von Drake]

why not have a a thread where we all nominate and vote what movies should be in each catagory.

[SNERWW22785]

I agree. I posted this secretly hoping it could be the next vote thing, third in the series after the Top Animated and Top Live-Action films.

PS - Obviously the general rule of them is five actors per category, and of course there are more than five great performances in each situation. Both Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa) and Hans Conreid/Frank Thomas (Capt. Hook) were on the short list for Best Supporting Actor, so I was thinking pirate while making this.

[Captain Hook]

Both Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa) and Hans Conreid/Frank Thomas (Capt. Hook) were on the short list for Best Supporting Actor, so I was thinking pirate while making this.

This makes me feel much better! I like your signature too, SNER, it's funny!

But you want to know why I got a headache?

(thinking about Eisner staying at Disney)

[Uncle Remus]

i would think of Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins in the Best Actor catagory than in the Best Supporting Actor catagory.

i have always thought about Disney doing an awards show giving awards to the movies that made Disney famous. the only time i think that will happen is somewhere from 2028 to 2037 to celebrate 100 years of Disney movies and short films.

[AwallaceUNC]

I like this too, and your picks aren't too bad, though of course, I'd change a couple here and there. I agree, we should play this! Would we all vote to nominate, and then vote for winners from the nominees?

-Aaron

[Loomis]

Interesting! It's a bit tough to compare the whole bunch of Disney films, which span so many genres and decades. I think your picks aren't bad.

I tend to agree. A GREAT selection of films there, SNERWW22785 - but how do you even start to compare them?

That was part of the problem I found with this year's Academy Awards (or any year). Now I'm not saying LOTR: ROTK didn't deserve to win all those awards (although I do think it was the least of the three), but how do you even begin to compare it, or elements of it, to Lost in Translation or 21 Grams? The latter are two low key films that were really good, LOTR was the high-profile (but good) picture.

I find comparing any films unfair, because you 1) force a comparison; 2) are judging films made 40 years apart in some cases. I might love Dawn of the Dead and The Godfather equally, but how the hell do I compare them? I can give them both 5 stars, but what happens if a better film comes along? What basis do I have for awarding Beauty and the Beast (my favourite animated from the main list) over 20,000 Leagues (my live action choice)? I can't say one is better than the other, because they are very different. ...

See, this is why I dislike awards ceremonies

[karlsen]

This sounds great, I am also suporting the idea that we first vote for nomines and then the real things starts.

I can do the job here if nobody has anything against that?

[SNERWW22785]

That should be the way it works - an initial nomination process and then a second vote based on the top vote-getters.

While you are correct that it can sometimes be very hard to compare films from different eras, the same argument could be made about how the Top Film countdowns went. There were a few films which, in my opinion, ranked a little higher than maybe they should have because they are modern and consequently more fresh in the voter minds.

In making these picks, I tried to stay as balanced as I could and not lean too heavily towards one period of films but to put together a broad range. Ultimately, if it was a stunning performance in 1954, it still is in 2004 - that is the nature of film as an art form.

This is also why I think it would be a good vote topic, cause it sparks some great discussion.

[Just Myself]

Dude! No "Lion King" noms? You gotta be kidding me!!!!!!

[SNERWW22785]

It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

I know I will get some hate mail for this, but I think it is one of the more overrated Disney films. It is a very good film, but it wouldn't make my top 5, so to speak.