Disney is well-established as the king of one category at the Academy Awards, but it will struggle to beat a depressing Oscars streak this year. Disney’s animated movies have a history of performing incredibly well at the yearly awards ceremony, and while the studio’s films dominated the Oscars throughout the 2010s, the same can’t be said for the 2020s.

The Academy Awards mostly celebrate animation in the Best Animated Feature category, but those movies are eligible for plenty of categories outside of that. Of the three animated movies that have been nominated for Best Picture, all of them were produced by Disney: 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, 2009’s Up, and 2010’s Toy Story 3.

However, those nominations outside the Best Animated Feature category are few and far between, and this is even more true for wins. This is one of the reasons why the category was established in 2001, leading to Disney’s incredible performance throughout its first 20 years. Lately, though, the studio’s star has diminished.

Zootopia 2 Is Disney’s Best Possible SH๏τ At Winning Best Animated Feature In 2026

Disney has struggled at the Oscars in recent years, as the studio hasn’t won Best Animated Feature since 2021. Disney won five of the nine Best Animated Feature Oscars in the 2000s and eight of the ten awards in the 2010s. However, it has only won the category two of the five times in the 2020s so far.

After winning for Soul in 2021 and Encanto in 2022, Disney’s Turning Red lost to Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio in 2023, Elemental lost to The Boy and the Heron in 2024, and Inside Out 2 lost to Flow in 2025. After a three-year losing streak, Disney undoubtedly hopes that it can regain momentum in 2026.

If the studio does want to win, Zootopia 2 is its best sH๏τ. The first Zootopia won the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2016, meaning that the franchise already has a great track record. Disney’s only other animated film this year is Elio, and its mixed reception means that it probably won’t fare well at the awards ceremony.

Unfortunately, Zootopia 2 has a lot of strong compeтιтion. Ne Zha 2 and KPop Demon Hunters have already proven to be mᴀssive critical successes, with the former having a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and the latter having 97%. Preadtor: Killer of Killers, Dog Man, and The Bad Guys 2 are also big contenders, and upcoming movies like The Twits could provide even more trouble.

In an already crowded year, Zootopia 2 has to really stand out in order to break Disney’s losing streak. However, their sequel track record doesn’t make this seem likely. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ three modern sequels—Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen II, and Moana 2—all lost Best Animated Feature.

Zootopia 2 will also have to do something that’s never been done before in order to break Disney’s Oscars losing streak. Though there is a good chance this movie will be as acclaimed as its predecessor, it’s already facing an uphill battle when it comes to awards attention.