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{{Short description|Academy Award}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{distinguish|Academy Achievement Award}}
The '''Special Achievement Award''' is an [[Academy Awards|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. Many of the film projects that received these awards were noted for breaking new ground in terms of technology, where an awards category simply did not yet exist for the given area. New awards categories were often opened in following years. For example, ''Toy Story'' was awarded a special achievement award as the first [[computer-animated]] feature film in 1996, before the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Feature|Best Animated Feature Film]] category debuted in 2001.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/we-need-more-special-achievement-oscars-to-honor-what-is-interesting-in-cinema-43098b320a1f/ | title=We Need More Special Achievement Oscars to Honor What is Interesting in Cinema | date=23 February 2014 }}</ref>

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. Special Achievement Awards were primarily given between the 1970s and 1990s, with only a single award being given since 2000.

==Recipients==
This table displays the individuals who received the Special Achievement Oscar for their contributions to film. The category was inaugurated in 1972. 
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Recipient(s)
! Achievement
! Film
|-
| 1972 ([[45th Academy Awards|45th]])
| [[L. B. Abbott]]<br>[[A. D. Flowers]]
| rowspan="2" | Visual effects
| ''[[The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film)|The Poseidon Adventure]]''
|-
| 1974 ([[47th Academy Awards|47th]])
| [[Frank Brendel]]<br>[[Glen Robinson (visual effects)|Glen Robinson]]<br>[[Albert Whitlock]]
| ''[[Earthquake (1974 film)|Earthquake]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1975 ([[48th Academy Awards|48th]])
| [[Peter Berkos]]
| Sound effects
| rowspan="2" | ''[[The Hindenburg (film)|The Hindenburg]]''
|-
| [[Albert Whitlock]]<br>[[Glen Robinson (visual effects)|Glen Robinson]]
| rowspan="3" | Visual effects
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1976 ([[49th Academy Awards|49th]])
| [[Carlo Rambaldi]]<br>[[Glen Robinson (visual effects)|Glen Robinson]]<br>[[Frank Van der Veer]]
| ''[[King Kong (1976 film)|King Kong]]''
|-
| [[L. B. Abbott]]<br>[[Glen Robinson (visual effects)|Glen Robinson]]<br>[[Matthew Yuricich]]
| ''[[Logan's Run (film)|Logan's Run]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1977 ([[50th Academy Awards|50th]])
| [[Ben Burtt]]
| Alien, creature and robot voices
| ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''
|-
| [[Frank Warner (sound editor)|Frank Warner]]
| Sound effects editing
| ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]''
|-
| 1978 ([[51st Academy Awards|51st]])
| [[Les Bowie]]<br>[[Colin Chilvers]]<br>[[Denys Coop]]<br>[[Roy Field]]<br>[[Derek Meddings]]<br>[[Zoran Perisic (visual effects artist)|Zoran Perisic]]
| Visual effects
| ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]''
|-
| 1979 ([[52nd Academy Awards|52nd]])
| [[Alan Splet]]
| Sound editing
| ''[[The Black Stallion (film)|The Black Stallion]]''
|-
| 1980 ([[53rd Academy Awards|53rd]])
| [[Brian Johnson (special effects artist)|Brian Johnson]]<br>[[Richard Edlund]]<br>[[Dennis Muren]]<br>[[Bruce Nicholson]]
| Visual effects
| ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''
|-
| 1981 ([[54th Academy Awards|54th]])
| [[Ben Burtt]]<br>[[Richard L. Anderson (sound effects editor)|Richard L. Anderson]]
| Sound effects editing
| ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''
|-
| 1983 ([[56th Academy Awards|56th]])
| [[Richard Edlund]]<br>[[Dennis Muren]]<br>[[Ken Ralston]]<br>[[Phil Tippett]]
| Visual effects
| ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''
|-
| 1984 ([[57th Academy Awards|57th]])
| [[Kay Rose]]
| rowspan="2" | Sound effects editing
| ''[[The River (1984 film)|The River]]''
|-
| 1987 ([[60th Academy Awards|60th]])
| [[Stephen Hunter Flick]]<br>[[John Pospisil]]
| ''[[RoboCop]]''
|-
| 1988 ([[61st Academy Awards|61st]])
| [[Richard Williams (animator)|Richard Williams]]
| Animation direction
| ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''
|-
| 1990 ([[63rd Academy Awards|63rd]])
| [[Eric Brevig]]<br>[[Rob Bottin]]<br>[[Tim McGovern]]<br>[[Alex Funke]]
| Visual effects
| ''[[Total Recall (1990 film)|Total Recall]]''
|-
| 1995 ([[68th Academy Awards|68th]])
| [[John Lasseter]]
| First feature-length computer-animated film<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0195023.html|title=1995 Academy Awards|publisher=infoplease|access-date=January 31, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=King|first1=Susan|title=How 'Toy Story' changed the face of animation, taking off 'like an explosion'|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-toy-story-anniversary-20150930-story.html|access-date=September 30, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 30, 2015}}</ref><ref name="LasseterSpecial">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1996/02/01/STYLE8516.dtl|title=Three Pixar execs get special Oscars|date=February 1, 1996|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=March 12, 2009}}</ref>
| ''[[Toy Story]]''
|-
| 2017 ([[90th Academy Awards|90th]])
| [[Alejandro González Iñárritu]]
| Virtual reality
| ''[[Flesh and Sand]]''
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Special Achievement Academy Award}}
{{Academy Awards}}

[[Category:Honorary Academy Awards|Special Achievement Award]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1972]]
[[Category:Awards disestablished in 1995]]