Every March heralds the Academy Awards, featuring a large selection of the past year’s best movies and performers. Also known as the Oscars, this award ceremony is known for being the most prestigious in all of Hollywood. Despite this, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is notorious for its lack of diversity when it comes to the films it honors.
One area where the Academy Awards fail to live up to expectations is its representation in regard to foreign films. This is particularly the case with Japanese animated films, which have been scarcely nominated in Oscar history despite their critical acclaim and cultural relevance. These films are currently the only anime that have ever been nominated at the Academy Awards.
Updated Jun 04, 2025, by Blaise Santi:It’s been a particularly good year for fans of anime films, as the esteemed Hayao Miyazaki came back to filmmaking for his nearly-ten-year project, TheBoy and the Heron.As is par for the course with the acclaimed director, the film was nominated at the 96th Academy Awards this past March, and actually took home an award forBest Animated Feature.Despite this massive win, it’s still rough out there for non-Miyazaki anime film directors, since it’s quite rare for the film medium to earn a nomination at the Oscars. However, the ones that have been nominated are still worth a watch for any cinephile, no matter how familiar they are with anime as a medium.
2002
Film That Won
Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki’sSpirited Awaywas the first Japanese animated film to be nominated for Best Animated Feature. Not only that, it’s one of only two anime films that has won in that category. The award is well-deserved,as many viewSpirited Awayas not only one of Miyazaki’s greatest films, but one of the greatest animated films ever made.
The movie follows a girl named Chihiro who finds herself navigating a world of Japanese folklore creatures. To free herself and her parents (who have been turned into swines), she begins working in a bathhouse, meeting many odd characters along the way. It’s a charming, albeit sometimes disturbing, portrait of Japanese mythology.
The ChubbChubbs!
In the same year asSpirited Away’s win, Koji Yamamura’sMt. Headwas alsonominated for Best Animated Short Film. It unfortunately lost toThe ChubbChubbs!, which premiered alongsideMen in Black IIandStuart Little 2. However, at only ten minutes long,Mt. Headtells a simplistic yet effective story.
This short film is based on a Japaneserakugo, an art form consisting of a lone performer sitting and telling a story that usually involves multiple characters.Mt. Headfollows a man who, surprisingly, is able to grow a tree on his head. However, he is forced to deal with the noisy people congregating around said tree.
2005
Wallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Howl’s Moving Castleis another of Hayao Miyazaki’s most beloved films. It follows a woman named Sophie who is cursed by a witch to become an old woman. Looking to break the curse, Sophie turns to a mysterious wizard named Howl, who travels in a moving castle. The film takes inspiration from Miyazaki’s disapproval of the US’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Unfortunately,Howl’s Moving Castlelost the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature toWallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. However, Miyazaki has stated as recently as 2013 thatHowl’s Moving Castleis his favorite film he’s ever made, and rightfully so.
2008
Le Maison en Petits Cubes
This film, whose title translates to “The House of Small Cubes,” is the only Japanese animated short film to win an Academy Award. Directed by Kunio Katō, the film also won many other awards, including the Hiroshima Prize at the 2008 Hiroshima International Animation Festival.
This short film follows an old man whose house becomes flooded, causing him to relive scenes from his life. The art-style looks very rustic and old-fashioned, which adds to the melancholy of the piece. It’s easy to see how a film that is animated so beautifully could impress voters at the Academy Awards.
2013
Mr Hublot
Possessionsis a short anime film directed by Shuhei Morita. It was part of multimedia project titledShort Peacethat was released between 2013 and 2014.Short Peaceincludes three other short anime films, as well as a video game calledRanko Tsukigime’s Longest Day. However, only thePossessionsshort earned an Oscar nomination.
Possessions, also titled “Tsukumo” in Japan, follows a traveler in a storm who stumbles upon an abandoned shrine where he takes refuge. There, the traveler encounters several spirits who terrorize him. Other entries in theShort Peacecollection include separate, anthology stories that areset in other points of Japanese history.
Frozen
Hayao Miyazaki’s wartime dramaThe Wind Riseswas nominated for Best Animated Feature in 2014, but unfortunately lost the award to Disney’sFrozen, an expected win for one of Disney’s biggest hits.The Wind Risesis a stand-out in Miyazaki’s filmography, trading his fantastical depictions of mythology and folklore for an animated biopic.
The film follows the fictionalized story of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the aircraft planes used by the Japanese army during World War II. It works as a parable about Jiro’s love of flight being taken advantage of for violent purposes.The Wind Risesalso tellsthe heartbreaking love story between Jiro and his wife, Naoko.
2014
Big Hero 6
This historical fantasy film was the last film directed by Isao Takahata before he passed away in 2018. While the film lost 2014’s Best Animated Feature award toBig Hero 6, it’s also considered by many one of the greatest animated films of all time. Its release coincided with fellow Studio Ghibli filmThe Wind Rises, and the production of both films is the subject of the documentaryThe Kingdom of Dreams and Madness.
The Tale of Princess Kaguyais based on an old tale of Japanese folklore titled “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.” The film is about an old man and his wife, who discover a tiny girl inside a piece of bamboo. As the movie progresses, the titular Princess Kaguya slowly grows into a beautiful young woman.
2015
Inside Out
When Marnie Was Thereis another film by Studio Ghibli, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. In Japan, the film was calledOmoide no Mānī, which roughly translates to “Marnie of My Memories.” The film lost the Academy Award forBest Animated Feature to Disney-Pixar’sInside Out.
The film follows a young girl named Anna who goes to live with her relatives in the Kushiro wetlands after an asthma attack at school. There, Anna encounters the mysterious Marnie, with whom she grows close over the summer as they keep each other’s secrets. It’s a beautiful film, which is par for the course for Studio Ghibli.
2016
Zootopia
The Red Turtleis an exception on this list, as it was directed by a Dutch animator named Michaël Dudok de Wit. However, it was co-produced by Studio Ghibli’s Toshio Suzuki, who shared a nomination with de Wit at the 89th Academy Awards. The film still lost, however, to Disney’sZootopia, directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore.
This simplistic yet visually stunning film follows a man who is stranded on a deserted island. There, he comes across the titular red turtle, and falls in love with the red-haired woman inside it.The film has no dialogue, yet it tells a beautiful storyabout this man and the woman he finds inside a turtle, as absurd as that may sound.
2018
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
The most recent Japanese animated film to be nominated at the Academy Awards isMirai, which was released in 2018. It is also the first non-Studio Ghibli anime film to be nominated at the Academy Awards. However, the film lost to the wildly popularSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Miraifollows a young boy named Kun who discovers a secret garden in his house that transports him back in time. On Kun’s adventures, he interacts with his relatives at different points in history. Many critics praisedMiraifor its simplistic yet beautiful visuals, as well as its emotionally resonant story.
