Special Achievement Academy Award


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. 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.

Recipients

This table displays the individuals who received the Special Achievement Oscar for their contributions to film. The category was inaugurated in 1972.
YearRecipientAchievementFilm
1972 L. B. Abbott
A. D. Flowers
Visual EffectsThe Poseidon Adventure
1974 Frank Brendel
Glen Robinson
Albert Whitlock
Visual EffectsEarthquake
1975 Peter BerkosSound EffectsThe Hindenburg
1975 Albert Whitlock
Glen Robinson
Visual EffectsThe Hindenburg
1976 Carlo Rambaldi
Glen Robinson
Frank Van der Veer
Visual EffectsKing Kong
1976 L. B. Abbott
Glen Robinson
Matthew Yuricich
Visual EffectsLogan's Run
1977 Ben BurttAlien, Creature and Robot VoicesStar Wars
1977 Frank WarnerSound Effects EditingClose Encounters of the Third Kind
1978 Les Bowie
Colin Chilvers
Denys Coop
Roy Field
Derek Meddings
Zoran Perisic
Visual EffectsSuperman
1979 Alan SpletSound EditingThe Black Stallion
1980 Brian Johnson
Richard Edlund
Dennis Muren
Bruce Nicholson
Visual EffectsThe Empire Strikes Back
1981 Ben Burtt
Richard L. Anderson
Sound Effects EditingRaiders of the Lost Ark
1983 Richard Edlund
Dennis Muren
Ken Ralston
Phil Tippett
Visual EffectsReturn of the Jedi
1984 Kay RoseSound Effects EditingThe River
1987 Stephen Hunter Flick
John Pospisil
Sound Effects EditingRoboCop
1988 Richard WilliamsAnimation DirectionWho Framed Roger Rabbit
1990 Eric Brevig
Rob Bottin
Tim McGovern
Alex Funke
Visual EffectsTotal Recall
1995 John LasseterFirst Feature-Length Computer-Animated FilmToy Story
2017 Alejandro González IñárrituVirtual RealityFlesh and Sand