Disney and Pixar have long been leaders in animated films, but they’ve faced a surprising challenge over the past four years. The 2020s have proven difficult for both studios, with the pandemic affecting movie theater attendance and some films not performing as well as expected. While sequels like Moana 2, Inside Out 2, and Zootopia 2 have been very successful, original movies such as Elemental, Turning Red, Wish, and Strange World haven’t reached the same level of popularity.
While a movie being popular with audiences doesn’t always lead to awards recognition, Disney and Pixar haven’t been as dominant in recent years as they once were. Other studios have improved and are now often more innovative. The fact that KPop Demon Hunters won Best Animated Feature Film at the 2026 Golden Globes highlights this shift—it’s been four years since a Disney or Pixar film last won that award, with their last win being for Encanto in 2022, as detailed below.
| Year | Disney/Pixar Nominee(s) | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Turning Red | Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio |
| 2024 | Elemental, Wish | The Boy and the Heron |
| 2025 | Inside Out 2, Moana 2 | Flow |
| 2026 | Elio, Zootopia 2 | KPop Demon Hunters |
Will Disney Reclaim Its Animation Awards Crown?
Disney and Pixar had already gone three years without winning this award – a new record, especially considering Pixar previously won the first five awards starting in 2007. Now, that losing streak continues. The same pattern is likely to repeat at the Oscars, as Disney’s last win was with Encanto. With the massive popularity and quality of KPop Demon Hunters, it’s hard to imagine any other film winning the Best Animated Feature award.
Could Disney or Pixar return to their award-winning roots with their films in 2026? There are some exciting projects on the horizon. Pixar will kick off the year with a brand new movie, Hoppers, releasing on March 6th, 2026. It’s a unique love story about an animal whose mind ends up inside a beaver. While Pixar’s recent animated films have had varying levels of success—often prioritizing box office numbers over artistic quality—Hoppers might be what they need to rediscover their creative spark.
A fifth Toy Story movie seems like the most probable next winner. The Academy Awards didn’t start giving out an animated feature Oscar until 2002, which meant the original Toy Story and its sequel weren’t able to compete. However, both Toy Story 3 and 4 have since won the Oscar, establishing a strong track record for the series. If Toy Story 5 is as good as those films, it will likely be a top contender. The Golden Globes tell a slightly different story, though: while Toy Story 3 won there, Toy Story 4 didn’t.
Disney is releasing a new animated film called Hexed around Thanksgiving. The story centers on a young girl with magical abilities who finds herself in a world where she can fully embrace them. If Hexed captures the hearts of audiences, critics, and awards voters like Encanto did, it could signal a return to animation dominance for Disney by 2026. However, 2026 is shaping up to be a competitive year for animated movies, with potential hits like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island, and Sony’s Goat all vying for attention.
Disney and Pixar have several sequels planned for the future. While Toy Story has been an exception, the Academy Awards and Golden Globes rarely recognize sequels – films like Incredibles 2 and Frozen II didn’t win any major awards, and Frozen II wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar. The studio is working on sequels to those films, as well as a Coco sequel, but they’ll need to overcome past trends if they want to win. Pixar is also developing Gatto, an original story about a cat in Venice involved with the local cat mafia, which could be a strong contender. It’s been a while since an original Pixar film won an award – Soul was the last one – but it’s likely they’ll win again soon.
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2026-01-12 21:10