Today, the Academy Awards announced this year’s Oscar nominations… and as usual, there were a lot snubs.
Personally, I absolutely think that The Lego Movie belonged in the Animated Film category, and everyone involved with Interstellar was robbed. Also, how exactly did Selma get a Best Picture nomination without its director Ava DuVernay or its star, David Oyelowo receiving nods as well? Did the film make itself?!
But there are always good, and even great movies that are overlooked by the Academy. Genre films have it even tougher than most. However, Oscar wins by comic book inspired movies are extremely rare. Since 1977, only six comic book movies have taken home Oscar gold.
Granted, the ‘80s and ‘90s weren’t as comic book movie heavy as the 2000s have been. But still, six movies is a pretty low percentage. Well made indie-comic book adaptations like American Splendor and Ghost World received no love from the Academy. Even the first Spider-Man movie went home empty handed!
In terms of acting, only one performer in a comic book movie has ever been recognized at the Oscars. Would it have still happened if it wasn’t one of his last roles before his untimely demise?
Comic book movies will just have to settle for being some of the most wildly successful films in today’s box office landscape. Assuming that the overwhelming number of comic book films in the next five years doesn’t completely kill the public’s’ appetite for superheroes, we may someday see another comic book movie enjoy the critical acclaim that the Christopher Nolan Batman films received. Just keep in mind two of the three Dark Knight films weren’t Oscar winners despite receiving nominations.
There’s a good chance that Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past or Guardians of the Galaxy may pick up a Visual Effects award at this year’s Oscars, if they can top Interstellar and Dawn of The Planet of The Apes.
But in the interim, the following selections are the only six comic book inspired movies to ever win an Oscar.
6 Comic Book Movies That Took Home An Oscar
-
Superman - Best Visual Effects - 1979
The tagline for Superman was “You’ll believe that a man can fly.” And at the time, Superman delivered on that promise.
For their work on the film, Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings and Zoran Perisic won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. However, John Williams’ legendary score to Superman was defeated in the Best Original Score category.
Superman also came up short in the Best Film Editing category, but perhaps there’s a reality where Superman simply flew around the world enough times until he got the result that he wanted.
-
Batman - Best Art Direction - 1989
In 1989, there was a lot of buzz that Jack Nicholson would get an Oscar nod as Best Supporting Actor for his role as The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman.
Obviously, that didn’t happen.
But Peter Young and the late Anton Furst did take home the Oscar for Best Art Direction.
-
Dick Tracy - Best Original Song, Best Makeup & Best Art Direction - 1990
Among comic book films, Dick Tracy is the only one with three wins out of seven nominations. Technically, Dick Tracy is based on the newspaper comic strip created by Chester Gould, but this definitely belongs to the comic book movie genre.
Unlike Nicholson, Al Pacino did get a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Dick Tracy. He just didn’t win. However, Stephen Sondheim’s song, “Sooner or Later” won for Best Original Song, John Caglione, Jr. and Doug Drexler won for Best Makeup while Richard Sylbert and Rick Simpson shared the Oscar for Best Art Direction.
-
Men In Black - Best Makeup - 1997
Surprise!
Did you not know that Men In Black is based on a comic book series created by Lowell Cunningham? That’s understandable. Marvel purchased Malibu (the company that owned the rights to Men In Black) during the late ‘90s, and there hasn’t been a Men In Black comic book since then.
But the very first Men In Black movie was honored for Best Makeup, with the legendary Rick Baker and David LeRoy taking home the award. Sadly, Danny Elfman was denied in the Best Original Musical or Comedy Score.
The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction, but didn’t win.
-
Spider-Man 2 - Best Visual Effects - 2004
While its predecessor was snubbed, Spider-Man 2 (widely recognized as the best Spider-Man movie) won for Best Visual Effects, in an award shared by John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier.
It was their work that brought Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus to life on the big screen.
Spider-Man 2 was also nominated for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound mixing.
-
The Dark Knight - Best Supporting Actor & Best Sound Editing - 2008
Before The Dark Knight was released, Heath Ledger died from a drug overdose. This led to an increased anticipation for The Dark Knight, which featured Ledger as The Joker in one of his final roles.
Ledger’s performance lived up to the hype, and he was posthumously awarded the Best Supporting Actor award.
Richard King took home the Best Sound Editing award for his work on The Dark Knight. But the film did not win in its other nominated categories: Best Sound Mixing, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography,
Director Christopher Nolan was snubbed completely and the Academy did not nominate The Dark Knight for Best Film, despite its popularity with the critics and the general public.
This was also the last comic book inspired movie to win an Oscar, pending the outcome of the 86th Annual Academy Awards next month.
