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. Many of the film projects that received these awards were noted for breaking new ground in terms of technology, where an awards category simply did not yet exist for the given area. New awards categories were often opened in following years. For example, Toy Story was awarded a special achievement award as the first computer-animated feature film in 1996, before the Best Animated Feature Film category debuted in 2001 in which Shrek won the inaugural award.
The award may only be conferred for achievements in productions that also qualify as an eligible release for distinguished achievements and meet the Academy's eligibility year and deadlines requirements. Special Achievement Awards were primarily given between the 1970s and 1990s, with only a single award being given since 2000.
Recipients This table displays the individuals who received the Special Achievement Oscar for their contributions to film. The category was inaugurated in 1972. Year Recipient(s) Achievement Film 1972 (45th) L. B. AbbottA. D. Flowers Visual effects The Poseidon Adventure 1974 (47th) Frank BrendelGlen RobinsonAlbert Whitlock Earthquake 1975 (48th) Peter Berkos Sound effects The Hindenburg Albert WhitlockGlen Robinson Visual effects 1976 (49th) Carlo RambaldiGlen RobinsonFrank Van der Veer King Kong L. B. AbbottGlen RobinsonMatthew Yuricich Logan's Run 1977 (50th) Ben Burtt Alien, creature and robot voices Star Wars Frank Warner Sound effects editing Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1978 (51st) Les BowieColin ChilversDenys CoopRoy FieldDerek MeddingsZoran Perisic Visual effects Superman 1979 (52nd) Alan Splet Sound editing The Black Stallion 1980 (53rd) Brian JohnsonRichard EdlundDennis MurenBruce Nicholson Visual effects The Empire Strikes Back 1981 (54th) Ben BurttRichard L. Anderson Sound effects editing Raiders of the Lost Ark 1983 (56th) Richard EdlundDennis MurenKen RalstonPhil Tippett Visual effects Return of the Jedi 1984 (57th) Kay Rose Sound effects editing The River 1987 (60th) Stephen Hunter FlickJohn Pospisil RoboCop 1988 (61st) Richard Williams Animation direction Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1990 (63rd) Eric BrevigRob BottinTim McGovernAlex Funke Visual effects Total Recall 1995 (68th) John Lasseter First feature-length computer-animated film Toy Story 2017 (90th) Alejandro G. Iñárritu A virtual reality installation; "in recognition of a visionary and powerful experience in storytelling." Carne y arena
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