The only animated movies to be nominated for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival
When most fans think of the biggest awards show in the world of movies, the first thing that nearly always comes to mind is the American Academy Awards, which celebrate the greatest films of the past year just gone. However, as the Oscars steadily lose their grip over pop culture, many look to the Cannes Film Festival as the greatest judge of the finest movies being released by the most challenging directors.
Often celebrating the filmmakers who have made the most cinematic innovation in the 21st century, Cannes has showered praise over such directors as Ken Loach, Bong Joon-ho, Ruben Östlund, Justine Triet and Terrence Malick. Still, just like the Academy Awards, the Cannes Film Festival has always struggled with properly representing the world of animation, with none such film ever walking away with the coveted Palme d’Or.
Indeed, only seven animated movies have ever even been nominated for a Palme d’Or, with two of these being iconic Disney flicks in the form of 1941’s Dumbo and 1953’s Peter Pan. Both considered classics of the iconic animation company, the pair have since received live-action remakes in the hopes of recapturing the past magic, with Tim Burton recreating Dumbo in 2019 and David Lowery taking on Peter Pan in 2023.
The only other animated movie to receive a Palme d’Or nomination in the 20th century was Disney’s 1946 feature film Make Mine Music, which was quite simply an animation made to the tune of contemporary pop music, not dissimilar to how 1940’s Fantasia was timed to classical music.
Several decades passed until the animation medium would once again rear its head in the competition category of Cannes, with the world being in an entirely new millennium by the time Shrek was nominated for a Palme d’Or in 2001. A fully digitally-made animation, Dreamworks’ Shrek was a far cry from the hand-drawn style of Disney, becoming the first of its kind to be nominated for a Palme d’Or.
The festival loved the film so much that its 2004 sequel was also given the nod for a Palme d’Or nomination, with Shrek 2 arguably being superior to its beloved predecessor.
Elsewhere, the two other 21st-century animations that managed to achieve a Palme d’Or nomination were 2004’s Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, a sequel to the iconic 1995 anime, and the political flick Persepolis, which told the story of an outspoken Iranian girl who grows up during the Iranian revolution.
Despite the lack of representation for animation in the Palme d’Or category, plenty of other films of the same kind have opened or closed the festival, including 2023’s Elemental, 2008’s Kung Fu Panda and 2006’s Over the Hedge.
Take a look at the full list of the only seven eclectic animations to have received a Palme d’Or nomination, below.
Animated movies nominated for Palme d’Or:
- Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941)
- Make Mine Music (Robert Cormack, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Joshua Meador, 1946)
- Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson , Hamilton Luske, 1953)
- Shrek (Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson, 2001)
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (Mamoru Oshii, 2004)
- Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon, 2004)
- Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, 2007)
