Honorable Mention – The Incredibles
Won for: Best Animated Feature, Best Sound Editing.
Also nominated for: Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Mixing.
While Pixar’s The Incredibles is an original concept from writer/director Brad Bird, it’s clearly heavily drawn from the grand tradition of comic book heroes (in particular, the titular team are heavily reminiscent of the Fantastic Four), so it deserves an honorable mention here. Regardless of its origins, The Incredibles stands as one of the most successful superhero movies, in terms of Oscar nominations, and is also one of very few to win more than one Academy Award.
First of all, the movie took home the coveted Best Animated Feature gong, beating out two DreamWorks films – Shrek 2 and Shark Tale. It was the second time that Pixar had won the award, something they would do again another six times and counting. Its second Oscar was for Best Sound Editing, where it beat fellow superhero movie Spider-Man 2.
Brad Bird’s excellent script also picked up a nomination for Best Original Screenplay, but it lost to Charlie Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.