Special Achievement Academy Award
Not to be confused with Academy Achievement Award.
The Special Achievement Award is an Academy Award given for an achievement that makes an exceptional contribution to the motion picture for which it was created, but for which there is no annual award category. Such award shall only be conferred, however, for achievements in productions that also qualify as an eligible release for distinguished achievements and meet the Academy's eligibility year and deadlines requirements.
Award recipients
This table displays the individuals who received the Special Achievement Oscar for their contributions to film. The category was inaugurated in 1972 and discontinued in 1995; Toy Story was the last Special Achievement award given at the Oscars.
| Year | Recipient(s) | Achievement | Film |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 (45th) | L. B. Abbott A. D. Flowers |
Visual Effects | The Poseidon Adventure |
| 1974 (47th) | Frank Brendel Glen Robinson Albert Whitlock |
Earthquake | |
| 1975 (48th) | Peter Berkos | Sound Effects | The Hindenburg |
| Albert Whitlock Glen Robinson |
Visual Effects | ||
| 1976 (49th) | Carlo Rambaldi Glen Robinson Frank Van der Veer |
King Kong | |
| L. B. Abbott Glen Robinson Matthew Yuricich |
Logan's Run | ||
| 1977 (50th) | Ben Burtt | Alien, Creature and Robot Voices | Star Wars |
| Frank E. Warner | Sound Effects Editing | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | |
| 1978 (51st) | Les Bowie Colin Chilvers Denys Coop Roy Field Derek Meddings Zoran Perisic |
Visual Effects | Superman |
| 1979 (52nd) | Alan Splet | Sound Editing | The Black Stallion |
| 1980 (53rd) | Brian Johnson Richard Edlund Dennis Muren Bruce Nicholson |
Visual Effects | The Empire Strikes Back |
| 1981 (54th) | Ben Burtt Richard L. Anderson |
Sound Effects Editing | Raiders of the Lost Ark |
| 1983 (56th) | Richard Edlund Dennis Muren Ken Ralston Phil Tippett |
Visual Effects | Return of the Jedi |
| 1984 (57th) | Kay Rose | Sound Effects Editing | The River |
| 1987 (60th) | Stephen Flick John Pospisil |
RoboCop | |
| 1988 (61st) | Richard Williams | Animation Direction | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| 1990 (63rd) | Eric Brevig Rob Bottin Tim McGovern Alex Funke |
Visual Effects | Total Recall |
| 1995 (68th) | John Lasseter | First Feature-Length Computer-Animated Film | Toy Story |
