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Academy Award for Visual Effects
This is a list of films that have received an Oscar for Visual Effects. The category was called Best Special Effects when it was created in 1939. In 1963, the category was split into two: Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects. In 1972, the Academy stopped giving out awards for Visual Effects and instead gave Special Achievement Awards. However, this only happened for a handful of years; the category soon became an annual competitive award. The category was changed again in 1996 when it beame simply Best Visual Effects. For a film to be nominated for this award, the effects artist must have created something not available for filming. For example, an entirely digital Empire State Building could not make a movie eligible, since one can easily film the building; on the other hand, a recreation of anicent Rome could, since it is impossible to film. However, movies are judged on the quality of all of their effects shots, not just one scene.List of Winners
| Year | Winner |
| 1939 | The Rains Came |
| 1940 | The Thief of Bagdad |
| 1941 | I Wanted Wings |
| 1942 | Reap the Wild Wind |
| 1943 | Crash Dive |
| 1944 | Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo |
| 1945 | Wonder Man |
| 1946 | Blithe Spirit |
| 1947 | Green Dolphin Street |
| 1948 | Portrait of Jennie |
| 1949 | Mighty Joe Young |
| 1950 | Destination Moon |
| 1951 | When Worlds Collide |
| 1952 | Plymouth Adventure |
| 1953 | War of the Worlds |
| 1954 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
| 1955 | The Bridges at Toko-Ri |
| 1956 | The Ten Commandments |
| 1957 | The Enemy Below |
| 1958 | Tom Thumb |
| 1959 | Ben-Hur |
| 1960 | The Time Machine |
| 1961 | The Guns of Navarone |
| 1962 | The Longest Day |
| 1963 | Cleopatra |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins |
| 1965 | Thunderball |
| 1966 | Fantastic Voyage |
| 1967 | Doctor Dolittle |
| 1968 | 2001: A Space Odyssey |
| 1969 | Marooned |
| 1970 | Tora! Tora! Tora! |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks |
| 1972 | The Poseidon Adventure (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1973 | No award given |
| 1974 | Earthquake (movie) (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1975 | The Hindenburg (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1976 | King Kong and Logan's Run (Special Achievement Awards) |
| 1977 | Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope |
| 1978 | Superman: The Movie (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1979 | Alien |
| 1980 | Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial |
| 1983 | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom |
| 1985 | Cocoon |
| 1986 | Aliens |
| 1987 | Innerspace |
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| 1989 | The Abyss |
| 1990 | Total Recall (Special Achievement Award) |
| 1991 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day |
| 1992 | Death Becomes Her |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park |
| 1994 | Forrest Gump |
| 1995 | Babe |
| 1996 | Independence Day |
| 1997 | Titanic |
| 1998 | What Dreams May Come |
| 1999 | The Matrix |
| 2000 | Gladiator |
| 2001 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 |
| 2005 | King Kong |
| 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest |
| 2007 | The Golden Compass |
| 2008 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron |
