On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, The Walt Disney Company received 22 nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today for the 95th Oscars, set to take place on Sunday, March 12, 2023. This means The Walt Disney Company has more Oscar nominations than other studios, showing just how far the Disney media conglomerate now reaches with the number of subsidiary production companies it owns.
Disney’s film studios led the way with two Best Picture nominations. The first nomination is for 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way of Water, from director James Cameron, who the Academy snubbed in the Best Director category. The second Disney film to receive a nomination is Searchlight Pictures’ The Banshees of Inisherin, by director Martin McDonagh, who was nominated for Best Director.
Both The Way of Water and The Banshees of Inisherin received a number of other nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well. Avatar: The Way of Water had four nominations, including Best Production Design (Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole), Best Sound (Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, and Michael Hedges), and Best Visual Effects (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett). Meanwhile, The Banshees of Inisherin received a total of nine nominations, including Best Actor (Colin Farrell), Best Supporting Actor (Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan), Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon), Best Original Screenplay (Martin McDonagh), Best Film Editing (Mikkel E.G. Nielsen), and Best Original Score (Carter Burwell).
Searchlight Pictures also secured a nomination for Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins) for Empire of Light, bringing its total to 10 Academy Award nominations. To date, Searchlight Pictures has secured a total of 21 Best Picture nominations.
Rounding out other nominations for The Walt Disney Company are Pixar’s Turning Red, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins), National Geographic Documentary Films’ Fire of Love, which secured a nomination for Best Documentary Feature Film (Sara Dosa, Shane Boris, and Ina Fichman), and Disney Branded Television’s Le Pupille for Best Live Action Short
