Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creating the film's visual effects since 1980.

History

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1929, presenting a plaque for "Best Engineering Effects" to the first Best Picture Oscar winner, the World War I flying drama Wings.

Producer David O. Selznick, then production head at RKO Studios, petitioned the Academy Board of Governors to recognize the work of animator Willis O'Brien for his groundbreaking work on 1933's King Kong. However, the Academy did not have a category to acknowledge its visual achievements at the time.

It was not until 1938 when a film was actually recognized for its effects work, when a "Special Achievement Award for Special Effects" was given to the Paramount film Spawn of the North. The following year, "Best Special Effects" became a recognized category, although on occasion the Academy has chosen to honor a single film outright rather than nominate two or more films. From 1939 to 1963, it was an award for a film's visual effects as well as audio effects, so it was often given to two persons, although some years only one or the other type of effect was recognized. For the 22nd Academy Awards, RKO was nominated for the work done on Mighty Joe Young (1949), and when they won, it was Willis H. O'Brien who went on stage to accept the statue. In 1964, it was given only for visual effects, and the following year the name of the category was changed to "Best Special Visual Effects".

Honorees for this award have been bestowed several times as a Special Achievement Academy Award. In 1977, the category was given its current name "Best Visual Effects." For decades, shortlisted finalists were selected by a steering committee. They are presently chosen by the visual effects branch executive committee. 1990 was the last year there were no official nominees. Back to the Future Part III, Dick Tracy, Ghost and Total Recall advanced to a second stage of voting, but only Total Recall received a requisite average and it was given a special achievement Oscar.

There have been three wholly animated films nominated in this category: The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993, Kubo and the Two Strings in 2016, and The Lion King in 2019. There have been three semi-animated films nominated, which also won: Mary Poppins in 1964, Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988. In 2024, Godzilla Minus One became the first non-English-language film ever to win in the category.

Rules

In 1979, there were five films nominated. For most of the next three decades, there were three nominees a year, although at some times there were two and at others, a single film was given the award outright.

In 2007, it was decided that a list of no more than 15 eligible films would be chosen, from which a maximum of seven would be shortlisted for further consideration. A vote would then proceed, with a maximum of three nominees. Since 2010, there are ten shortlisted finalists which, using a form of range voting, produce five nominees. No more than four people may be nominated for a single film.

According to the official Academy Award rules, the criteria are:

<blockquote>(a) consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and

(b) the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.</blockquote>

Filmmakers

A number of filmmakers have had their movies honored for their achievements in visual effects; i.e., seven by director James Cameron (who began his career in Hollywood as an effects technician), five films produced by George Pal, five by director/producer George Lucas, four by directors Richard Fleischer, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, three by directors Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Nolan, and Denis Villeneuve, and two by directors Clarence Brown, Cecil B. DeMille, Mark Robson, Ridley Scott, Robert Stevenson.

Only two directors have won in the same category: Four time Best Director nominee Stanley Kubrick's only Oscar win for 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki's first Oscar win for 2023's Godzilla Minus One. The credits for 2001 list four effects contributors, including Douglas Trumbull. However, according to the rules of the Academy in effect at the time, only three persons could be nominated for their work on a single film, which would have resulted in the omission of either Trumbull, Tom Howard, Con Pederson or Wally Veevers. Ultimately, it was Kubrick's name that was submitted as a nominee in this category, resulting in his winning the award, which many consider a slight to the four men whose work contributed to the film's success.

Engineering Effects Award

The table below display the Oscar nominees for Best Engineering Effects.

1920s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="15%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="55%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="3" |1927–28 (1st)

| Wings

| Roy Pomeroy

| colspan=2| Ralph Hammeras (photographic)

| colspan=2| Nugent Slaughter (photographic)

Special Effects Awards

The tables below display the Oscar nominees for Best Special Effects including the recipients of the Special Achievement Awards.

1930s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#91CFF6;"

!1938 (11th)

| Spawn of the North

| The Rains Came

| Fred Sersen (photographic); E. H. Hansen (sound)

| Gone with the Wind

| Jack Cosgrove (photographic); Fred Albin and Arthur Johns (sound)

| Only Angels Have Wings

| Roy Davidson (photographic); Edwin C. Hahn (sound)

| The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

| Byron Haskin (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)

| Topper Takes a Trip

| Roy Seawright (photographic)

| Union Pacific

| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings (photographic); Loren Ryder (sound)

| The Wizard of Oz

| A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic); Douglas Shearer (sound)

1940s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="14" |1940 (13th)

| The Thief of Bagdad

| Lawrence Butler (photographic); Jack Whitney (sound)

| The Blue Bird

| Fred Sersen (photographic); E. H. Hansen (sound)

| Boom Town

| A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic); Douglas Shearer (sound)

| The Boys from Syracuse

| John P. Fulton (photographic); Bernard B. Brown and Joseph Lapis (sound)

| Dr. Cyclops

| Gordon Jennings and Farciot Edouart (photographic)

| Foreign Correspondent

| Paul Eagler (photographic); Thomas T. Moulton (sound)

| The Invisible Man Returns

| John P. Fulton (photographic); Bernard B. Brown and William Hedgcock (sound)

| The Long Voyage Home

| R. T. Layton and Ray Binger (photographic); Thomas T. Moulton (sound)

| One Million B.C.

| Roy Seawright (photographic); Elmer Raguse (sound)

| Rebecca

| Jack Cosgrove (photographic); Arthur Johns (sound)

| The Sea Hawk

| Byron Haskin (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)

| Swiss Family Robinson

| Vernon L. Walker (photographic); John O. Aalberg (sound)

| Typhoon

| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings (photographic); Loren Ryder (sound)

| Women in War

| Howard J. Lydecker, William Bradford, and Ellis J. Thackery (photographic); Herbert Norsch (sound)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="9" |1941 (14th)

| I Wanted Wings

| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings (photographic); Louis Mesenkop (sound)

| Aloma of the South Seas

| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings (photographic); Louis Mesenkop (sound)

|<s>Dive Bomber</s>

| <s>Byron Haskin (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)</s>

| Flight Command

| A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic); Douglas Shearer (sound)

| The Invisible Woman

| John Fulton (photographic); John Hall (sound)

| The Sea Wolf

| Byron Haskin (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)

| That Hamilton Woman

| Lawrence Butler (photographic); William H. Wilmarth (sound)

| Topper Returns

| Roy Seawright (photographic); Elmer Raguse (sound)

| A Yank in the R.A.F.

| Fred Sersen (photographic); E. H. Hansen (sound)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="10" |1942 (15th)

| Reap the Wild Wind

| Gordon Jennings, Farciot Edouart, and William Pereira (photographic); Louis Mesenkop (sound)

| The Black Swan

| Fred Sersen (photographic); Roger Heman and George Leverett (sound)

| Desperate Journey

| Byron Haskin (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)

| Flying Tigers

| Howard Lydecker (photographic); Daniel J. Bloomberg (sound)

| Invisible Agent

| John Fulton (photographic); Bernard B. Brown (sound)

| Jungle Book

| Lawrence Butler (photographic); William H. Wilmarth (sound)

| Mrs. Miniver

| A. Arnold Gillespie and Warren Newcombe (photographic); Douglas Shearer (sound)

| The Navy Comes Through

| Vernon L. Walker (photographic); James G. Stewart (sound)

| One of Our Aircraft Is Missing

| Ronald Neame (photographic); C. C. Stevens (sound)

| The Pride of the Yankees

| Jack Cosgrove and Ray Binger (photographic); Thomas T. Moulton (sound)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="6" |1943 (16th)

| Crash Dive

| Fred Sersen (photographic); Roger Heman (sound)

| Air Force

| Hans Koenekamp and Rex Wimpy (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)

| Bombardier

| Vernon L. Walker (photographic); James G. Stewart and Roy Granville (sound)

| The North Star

| Clarence Slifer and Ray Binger (photographic); Thomas T. Moulton (sound)

| So Proudly We Hail!

| Gordon Jennings and Farciot Edouart (photographic); George Dutton (sound)

| Stand By for Action

| A. Arnold Gillespie and Donald Jahraus (photographic); Michael Steinore (sound)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="7" |1944 (17th)

| Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

| A. Arnold Gillespie, Donald Jahraus, and Warren Newcombe (photographic); Douglas Shearer (sound)

| The Adventures of Mark Twain

| Paul Detlefsen and John Crouse (photographic); Nathan Levinson (sound)

| Days of Glory

| Vernon L. Walker (photographic); James G. Stewart and Roy Granville (sound)

| Secret Command

| David Allen, Ray Cory, and Robert Wright (photographic); Russell Malmgren and Harry Kusnick (sound)

| Since You Went Away

| Jack Cosgrove (photographic); Arthur Johns (sound)

| The Story of Dr. Wassell

| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings (photographic); George Dutton (sound)

| Wilson

| Fred Sersen (photographic); Roger Heman (sound)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |1945 (18th)

| Wonder Man

| John P. Fulton (photographic); Arthur Johns (sound)

| Captain Eddie

| Fred Sersen and Sol Halperin (photographic); Roger Heman and Harry Leonard (sound)

| Spellbound

| Jack Cosgrove (photographic)

| They Were Expendable

| A. Arnold Gillespie, Donald Jahraus, and Robert A. MacDonald (photographic); Michael Steinore (sound)

| A Thousand and One Nights

| Lawrence W. Butler (photographic); Ray Bomba (sound)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1946 (19th)

| Blithe Spirit

| Thomas Howard (visual)

| A Stolen Life

| William McGann (visual); Nathan Levinson (audible)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1947 (20th)

| Green Dolphin Street

| A. Arnold Gillespie and Warren Newcombe (visual); Douglas Shearer and Michael Steinore (audible)

| Unconquered

| Farciot Edouart, Devereux Jennings, Gordon Jennings, W. Wallace Kelley, and Paul Lerpae (visual); George Dutton (audible)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1948 (21st)

| Portrait of Jennie

| Paul Eagler, Joseph McMillan Johnson, Russell Shearman, and Clarence Slifer (visual); Charles Freeman, and James G. Stewart (audible)

| Deep Waters

| Ralph Hammeras, Fred Sersen, and Edward Snyder (visual); Roger Heman (audible)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1949 (22nd)

| Mighty Joe Young

| RKO Productions

| Tulsa

| Walter Wanger Pictures

1950s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1950 (23rd)

| Destination Moon

| George Pal Productions

| Samson and Delilah

| Cecil B. DeMille Productions

|- style="background:#91CFF6;"

!1951 (24th)

| When Worlds Collide

| Walter Rossi (audible)

| The Spirit of St. Louis

| Louis Lichtenfield (visual)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1958 (31st)

| Tom Thumb

| Tom Howard (visual)

| Torpedo Run

| A. Arnold Gillespie (visual); Harold Humbrock (audible)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1959 (32nd)

| Ben-Hur

| A. Arnold Gillespie and Robert MacDonald (visual); Milo B. Lory (audible)

| Journey to the Center of the Earth

| L. B. Abbott and James B. Gordon (visual); Carl Faulkner (audible)

1960s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1960 (33rd)

| The Time Machine

| Gene Warren and Tim Baar (visual)

| The Last Voyage

| Augie Lohman (visual)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1961 (34th)

| The Guns of Navarone

| Bill Warrington (visual); Vivian C. Greenham (audible)

| The Absent-Minded Professor

| Robert A. Mattey and Eustace Lycett (visual)

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1962 (35th)

| The Longest Day

| Robert MacDonald (visual); Jacques Maumont (audible)

| Mutiny on the Bounty

| A. Arnold Gillespie (visual); Milo B. Lory (audible)

Visual Effects Awards

The tables below display the Oscar nominees for Best Visual Effects including the recipients of the Special Achievement Awards.

1960s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1963 (36th)

| Cleopatra

| Emil Kosa Jr.

| The Birds

| Ub Iwerks

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1964 (37th)

| Mary Poppins

| Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske

| 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

| Jim Danforth

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1965 (38th)

| Thunderball

| John Stears

| The Greatest Story Ever Told

| Joseph McMillan Johnson

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1966 (39th)

| Fantastic Voyage

| Art Cruickshank

| Hawaii

| Linwood G. Dunn

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1967 (40th)

| Doctor Dolittle

| L. B. Abbott

| Tobruk

| Howard A. Anderson Jr. and Albert Whitlock

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1968 (41st)

| 2001: A Space Odyssey

| Stanley Kubrick

| Ice Station Zebra

| Hal Millar and Joseph McMillan Johnson

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1969 (42nd)

| Marooned

| Robbie Robertson

| Krakatoa, East of Java

| Eugène Lourié and Alex Weldon

1970s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1970 (43rd)

| Tora! Tora! Tora!

| A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott

| Patton

| Alex Weldon

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="2" |1971 (44th)

| Bedknobs and Broomsticks

| Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett, and Danny Lee

| When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

| Jim Danforth and Roger Dicken

|- style="background:#91CFF6;"

!1972 (45th)

| The Poseidon Adventure

| L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers

|- style="background:#91CFF6;"

!1974 (47th)

| Earthquake

| The Jungle Book

| Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon

| Deepwater Horizon

| Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington, and Burt Dalton

| Doctor Strange

| Stéphane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli, and Paul Corbould

| Kubo and the Two Strings

| Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean, and Brad Schiff

| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

| John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, and Neil Corbould

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2017 (90th)

| Blade Runner 2049

| John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover

| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

| Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, and Dan Sudick

| Kong: Skull Island

| Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, and Mike Meinardus

| Star Wars: The Last Jedi

| Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould

| War for the Planet of the Apes

| Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, and Joel Whist

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2018 (91st)

| First Man

| Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm

| Avengers: Infinity War

| Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick

| Christopher Robin

| Chris Lawrence, Mike Eames, Theo Jones, and Chris Corbould

| Ready Player One

| Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler, and David Shirk

| Solo: A Star Wars Story

| Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Dominic Tuohy

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2019 (92nd)

| 1917

| Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy

| Avengers: Endgame

| Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken, and Dan Sudick

| The Irishman

| Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, and Stephane Grabli

| The Lion King

| Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Elliot Newman

| Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

| Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach, and Dominic Tuohy

2020s

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="30%" | Film

! width="65%" | Nominees

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" | 2020 (93rd)

| Tenet

| Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott Fisher

| Love and Monsters

| Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt, and Brian Cox

| The Midnight Sky

| Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon, and David Watkins

| Mulan

| Sean Andrew Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury, and Steve Ingram

| The One and Only Ivan

| Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones, and Santiago Colomo Martínez

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2021 (94th)

| Dune

| Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer

| Free Guy

| Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, and Dan Sudick

| No Time to Die

| Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner, and Chris Corbould

| Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

| Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker, and Dan Oliver

| Spider-Man: No Way Home

| Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, and Dan Sudick

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2022 (95th)

| Avatar: The Way of Water

| Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett

| All Quiet on the Western Front

| Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank, and Kamil Jafar

| The Batman

| Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, and Dominic Tuohy

| Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

| Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White, and Dan Sudick

| Top Gun: Maverick

| Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, and Scott R. Fisher

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2023 (96th)

| Godzilla Minus One

| Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima

| The Creator

| Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould

| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

| Stéphane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek

| Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

| Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould

| Napoleon

| Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2024 (97th)

|Dune: Part Two

|Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer

|Alien: Romulus

|Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan

|Better Man

|Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs

|Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

|Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke

|Wicked

|Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould

|- style="background:#FAEB86"

! rowspan="5" |2025 (98th)

|Avatar: Fire and Ash

|Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

|F1

|Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson

|Jurassic World Rebirth

|David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould

|The Lost Bus

|Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin

|Sinners

|Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean

Shortlisted finalists

Finalists for Best Visual Effects are selected by the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee. Beginning with a long list of up to 20 titles, the committee then advances ten films to the shortlist, where the full membership of the Visual Effects Branch is invited to view excerpts and is provided with supporting information at a "bake-off" where balloting determines the five nominees. Prior to the 80th Academy Awards, members of the Visual Effects Executive Committee would select an initial long list of anywhere between ten to twenty films, which would then be voted on to be narrowed down to a final list seven films, which would proceed to the bake off. For example, for the 77th Academy Awards, the long list had eighteen films. From 2007 - 2015, The Executive Committee settled on a long-list of fifteen semi-finalists each year. Starting in 2015, and continuing to today, the Academy expanded the long list to a set list of twenty films, although it is not always announced publicly.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|- bgcolor="#bebebe"

! width="5%" | Year

! width="95%" | Finalists

!Ref

! 1982

| The Dark Crystal, Das Boot, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Tron

! 1984

| Dune, Gremlins, The Last Starfighter, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

! 1993

| Addams Family Values, Alive, Hocus Pocus, Super Mario Bros.

! 1994

| The Hudsucker Proxy, Interview with the Vampire, The Lion King, Speed

! 1995

| Batman Forever, Casper, Jumanji, The Indian in the Cupboard, Waterworld

! 1996

| Mars Attacks!, Mission: Impossible, The Nutty Professor, Star Trek: First Contact

! 1997

| Batman & Robin, Contact, The Fifth Element, Men in Black

! 1998

| Babe: Pig in the City, Godzilla, Small Soldiers, The Truman Show

! 1999

| The Mummy, Sleepy Hollow, Wild Wild West, The World Is Not Enough

! 2000

| Cast Away, Dinosaur, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, X-Men

! 2001

| Black Hawk Down, Cats & Dogs, The Fast and the Furious, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Jurassic Park III

! 2002

| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Minority Report, Men in Black II, xXx

! 2003

| Hulk, Peter Pan, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, X2: X-Men United

! 2004

| First Round: The Incredibles, The Polar Express, Van Helsing Second Round: The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

! 2005

| First Round: Corpse Bride, Sin City, Stealth, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Second Round: Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

! 2006

| Casino Royale, Eragon, Night at the Museum, X-Men: The Last Stand

! 2007

| First Round: Beowulf, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Live Free or Die Hard, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Ratatouille, Spider-Man 3, Sunshine, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep Second Round: The Bourne Ultimatum, Evan Almighty, I Am Legend, 300

! 2008

|First Round: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Cloverfield, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Hancock, The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Quantum of Solace, The Spiderwick Chronicles Second Round: Australia, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

! 2009

||First Round: Angels & Demons, Coraline, Disney's A Christmas Carol, G-Force, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Sherlock Holmes, Watchmen, Where the Wild Things Are Second Round: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2012

! 2010

| First Round: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Clash of the Titans, The Last Airbender, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Shutter Island, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Unstoppable Second Round: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Tron: Legacy

! 2011

| First Round: Cowboys & Aliens, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Sucker Punch, Super 8, Thor Second Round: Captain America: The First Avenger, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Tree of Life, X-Men: First Class

! 2012

| The Amazing Spider-Man, Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises, John Carter, Skyfall

! 2013

| Elysium, Oblivion, Pacific Rim, Thor: The Dark World, World War Z

! 2014

| Godzilla, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Maleficent, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Transformers: Age of Extinction

! 2015

| First Round: Bridge of Spies, Chappie, Everest, Furious 7, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, In the Heart of the Sea, Jupiter Ascending, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Spectre, Terminator Genisys Second Round: Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Tomorrowland, The Walk

! 2016

| First Round: Alice Through the Looking Glass, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Deadpool, Independence Day: Resurgence, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Star Trek Beyond, Suicide Squad, Sully, Warcraft, X-Men: Apocalypse Second Round: Arrival, The BFG, Captain America: Civil War, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Passengers

! 2017

| First Round: Beauty and the Beast, Ghost in the Shell, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Justice League, Life, Logan, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman Second Round: Alien: Covenant, Dunkirk, Okja, The Shape of Water, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

! 2018

| First Round: Aquaman, Bumblebee, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Mortal Engines, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Paddington 2, A Quiet Place Second Round: Ant-Man and the Wasp, Black Panther, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Mary Poppins Returns, Welcome to Marwen

! 2019

| First Round: Ad Astra, The Aeronauts, Aladdin, Dumbo, Hobbs & Shaw, Ford v Ferrari, Jumanji: The Next Level, Men in Black: International, Midway, Spider-Man: Far From Home Second Round: Alita: Battle Angel, Captain Marvel, Cats, Gemini Man, Terminator: Dark Fate

! 2020

| Birds of Prey, Bloodshot, Mank, Soul, Welcome to Chechnya

! 2021

| Black Widow, Eternals, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Matrix Resurrections

! 2022

| First Round: Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Black Adam, Devotion, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Good Night Oppy, The Gray Man, Gigi & Nate, RRR, Thor: Love and Thunder Second Round: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Jurassic World Dominion, Nope, Thirteen Lives

! 2023

| First Round: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Barbie, The Boys in the Boat, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Marvels, Nyad, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Wonka Second Round: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Poor Things, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, Society of the Snow, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

! 2024

|First Round: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Fall Guy, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Here, A Quiet Place: Day One, Spaceman, The Substance Second Round: Civil War, Deadpool & Wolverine, Gladiator II, Mufasa: The Lion King, Twisters

! 2025

| First Round: Captain America: Brave New World, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, Mickey 17, A Minecraft Movie, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Predator: Badlands, The Running Man, Thunderbolts* Second Round: The Electric State, Frankenstein, Superman, Tron: Ares, Wicked: For Good

Artists with multiple awards

;8 awards

Dennis Muren

;6 awards

Joe Letteri

;5 awards

Gordon Jennings
Ken Ralston

;4 awards

L.B. Abbott
Richard Edlund
Paul Lambert
Glen Robinson

;3 awards

Richard Baneham
Randall William Cook
Farciot Edouart
John P. Fulton
Alex Funke
A. Arnold Gillespie
Andrew Lockley
Louis Mesenkop
Gerd Nefzer
Carlo Rambaldi
Jim Rygiel
Stan Winston
Robert Legato

;2 awards

Daniel Barrett
Neil Corbould
John Dykstra
Scott R. Fisher
A.D. Flowers
Paul Franklin
Charles Gibson
George Gibbs
Allen Hall
Thomas Howard
Ian Hunter
Brian Johnson
Andrew R. Jones
Eustace Lycett
Robert MacDonald
Tristan Myles
John Nelson
Warren Newcombe
Bruce Nicholson
Guillaume Rocheron
Stephen Rosenbaum
Loren L. Ryder
Eric Saindon
Fred Sersen
Douglas Shearer
Robert Skotak
Kenneth F. Smith
John Stears
Richard Taylor
Phil Tippett
Bill Westenhofer
Albert Whitlock

Artists with multiple nominations

;15 nominations

Dennis Muren

;13 nominations

Dan Sudick

;12 nominations

A. Arnold Gillespie

;11 nominations

John Frazier
Joe Letteri

;10 nominations

Richard Edlund
Farciot Edouart
Gordon Jennings

;8 nominations

Neil Corbould
Ken Ralston
Fred Sersen

;7 nominations

Nathan Levinson*

;6 nominations

John Bruno
Chris Corbould
Russell Earl
Scott Farrar
Roger Guyett
John Knoll
Douglas Shearer*
John Richardson
Phil Tippett
Stan Winston

;5 nominations

L.B. Abbott
Jack Cosgrove
John Dykstra
John P. Fulton
Roger Heman
Michael Lantieri
Robert Legato
Dan Lemmon
Neal Scanlan

;4 nominations

Daniel Barrett
Tim Burke
Lawrence Butler
Burt Dalton
Jonathan Fawkner
Charles Gibson
Allen Hall
Byron Haskin
Pablo Helman
Hal Hickel
Arthur Johns*
Paul Lambert
Chris Lawrence
Eustace Lycett
Louis Mesenkop
Thomas T. Moulton*
John Nelson
Glen Robinson
Ben Snow
James G. Stewart*
Patrick Tubach
Dominic Tuohy
Vernon L. Walker
Guy Williams

;3 nominations

Scott E. Anderson
Scott Benza
Ray Binger
Eric Brevig
Bernard B. Brown*
Stéphane Ceretti
Randall William Cook
Paul Corbould
Dan DeLeeuw
George Dutton*
Stefen Fangmeier
Scott R. Fisher
A. D. Flowers
Paul Franklin
Alex Funke
George Gibbs
Bryan Grill
E.H. Hansen*
Richard R. Hoover
Donald Jahraus
Joseph McMillan Johnson
Andrew R. Jones
Anders Langlands
Andrew Lockley
Robert MacDonald
Erik Nash
Gerd Nefzer
Warren Newcombe
Bruce Nicholson
Carlo Rambaldi
Stephen Rosenbaum
Loren Ryder*
Jim Rygiel
Eric Saindon
Roy Seawright
Dave Shirk
Janek Sirrs
Scott Squires
Richard Stammers
Michael Steinore*
Mark Stetson
Scott Stokdyk
Christopher Townsend
Douglas Trumbull
Bill Westenhofer
Albert Whitlock
Richard Yuricich

;2 nominations

Nicolas Aithadi
Matt Aitken
Richard Baneham
Craig Barron
Greg Butler
Matthew E. Butler
David Clayton
Simone Coco
Rob Coleman
Art Cruickshank
Jim Danforth
Nick Davis
Randal M. Dutra
Paul Eagler
Peter Ellenshaw
Joe Farrell
Michael L. Fink
Thomas L. Fisher
Bill George
Swen Gillberg
Alec Gillis
Roy Granville*
Ben Grossmann
Craig Hammack
Ralph Hammeras
Charley Henley
Thomas Howard
Ian Hunter
Joel Hynek
Andrew Jackson
Greg Jein
Harley Jessup
Brian Johnson
Michael Kanfer
Neil Krepela

Anthony LaMolinara
Danny Lee
Milo B. Lory*
Howard Lydecker
Derek Meddings
Michael J. McAlister
Patrick McClung
Grant McCune
Ben Morris
Tristan Myles
Gerd Nefzer
Dan Oliver
Zoran Perisic
Clay Pinney
Kelly Port
Elmer Raguse*
Guillaume Rocheron
Robert Skotak
Robert Skotak
Clarence Slifer
Kenneth F. Smith
John Stears
Richard Taylor
Jon Thum
Adam Valdez
Cameron Waldbauer
Tim Webber
Alex Weldon
Kit West
Jeff White
R. Christopher White
William H. Wilmarth*
Erik Winquist
Trevor Wood
Tom Woodruff Jr.
Hoyt Yeatman
Matthew Yuricich
Habib Zargarpour

Franchises

Multiple awards

;3 Wins

Avatar
Middle-earth
Star Wars

; 2 Wins

Alien
Dune
Indiana Jones
King Kong

Multiple nominations

;14 Nominations

Marvel Cinematic Universe

;10 Nominations

Star Wars

;5 Nominations

Alien
Middle-earth

;4 Nominations

Planet of the Apes

;3 Nominations

Avatar
Avengers
Batman
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Invisible Man
Iron Man
James Bond
Jurassic Park
King Kong
Oz
Pirates of the Caribbean
Spider-Man
Star Trek
Wizarding World

;2 Nominations

Blade Runner
Dune
Indiana Jones
Poltergeist
The Poseidon Adventure
A Space Odyssey
Superman
Transformers

Superlatives

For this Academy Award category, the following superlatives emerge:

Most awards: Dennis Muren 8 awards (resulting from 15 nominations)
Most nominations: Dennis Muren 15 nominations (resulting in 8 awards)
Most nominations without a win: Dan Sudick – 13 nominations

Age superlatives

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" |Record

! scope="col" |Recipient

! scope="col" |Film

! scope="col" |Age

!Note

|Oldest winner

|L. B. Abbott

|Logan's Run

|68 years, 288 days

|Special Achievement Award

|Oldest nominee

|John Frazier

|The Lone Ranger

|69 years, 115 days

|Youngest winner

| rowspan="2" |Tatsuji Nojima

| rowspan="2" |Godzilla Minus One

|25 years, 149 days

|Youngest nominee

|25 years, 102 days

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

History

Rules

Filmmakers

Engineering Effects Award

1920s

Special Effects Awards

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

Visual Effects Awards

1960s

1970s

2020s

Shortlisted finalists

Artists with multiple awards

Artists with multiple nominations

Franchises

Multiple awards

Multiple nominations

Superlatives

Age superlatives

See also

Notes

References