The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957.
From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, Best Short Subject, One-reel and Best Short Subject, Two-reel, referring to the running time of eligible short films: a standard reel of 35 mm film is 1000 feet, or about 11 minutes of run time. A third category "Best Short Subject, color" was used only for 1936 and 1937. From the initiation of short subject awards for 1932 until 1935 the terms were "Best Short Subject, comedy" and "Best Short Subject, novelty".
These categories were merged starting with the 1957 awards, under the name "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects", which was used until 1970. For the next three years after that, it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films". The current name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974.
Current Academy rules call for the award to be presented to "the individual person most directly responsible for the concept and the creative execution of the film. In the event that more than one individual has been directly and importantly involved in creative decisions, a second statuette may be awarded".(2007). Rule 19, Section III, Paragraph 7 80th Academy Award Rules for Distinguished Achievements . Retrieved March 29, 2008. The Academy defines short as being "not more than 40 minutes, including all credits".Rule Nineteen: Short Films Awards . Retrieved March 27, 2010. Fifteen films are shortlisted before nominations are announced.
List of winners and nominees
1930s Year Film Nominees1931–32(5th) RKO Radio was announced as a nominee for Stout Hearts and Willing Hands in Best Short Subject (Comedy), but the nomination was disqualified and replaced with RKO's Scratch-As-Catch-Can. The reason for the disqualification is unknown. Comedy The Music Box Hal Roach The Loud Mouth Mack Sennett Scratch-As-Catch-Can RKO Radio Novelty Wrestling Swordfish Mack Sennett Screen Souvenirs Paramount Publix Swing High Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1932–33(6th) Comedy So This Is Harris! Louis Brock Mister Mugg Warren Doane A Preferred List Louis Brock Novelty Krakatoa Joe Rock Menu Pete Smith The Sea Educational 1934(7th) Comedy La Cucaracha Kenneth Macgowan Men in Black Jules White What, No Men! Warner Bros. Novelty City of Wax Stacy Woodard and Horace Woodard Bosom Friends Skibo Productions Strikes and Spares Pete Smith 1935(8th) Comedy How to Sleep Jack Chertok Oh, My Nerves Jules White Tit for Tat Hal Roach Novelty Wings Over Everest Gaumont British and Skibo Productions Audioscopiks Pete Smith Camera Thrills Universal 1936(9th) Color Give Me Liberty Warner Bros. La Fiesta de Santa Barbara Louis Lewyn Popular Science J-6-2 Paramount One-Reel Bored of Education Hal Roach Moscow Moods Paramount Wanted, a Master Pete Smith Two-Reel The Public Pays Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Double or Nothing Warner Bros. Dummy Ache RKO Radio 1937(10th) Color Penny Wisdom Pete Smith The Man Without a Country Warner Bros. Popular Science J-7-1 Paramount One-Reel The Private Life of the Gannets Skibo Productions A Night at the Movies Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Romance of Radium Pete Smith Two-Reel Torture Money Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Deep South RKO Radio Should Wives Work? RKO Radio 1938(11th) One-Reel That Mothers Might Live Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The Great Heart Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Timber Toppers 20th Century-Fox Two-Reel Declaration of Independence Warner Bros. Swingtime in the Movies Warner Bros. They're Always Caught Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1939(12th) One-Reel Busy Little Bears Paramount Information Please RKO Radio Prophet Without Honor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Sword Fishing Warner Bros. Two-Reel Sons of Liberty Warner Bros. Drunk Driving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Five Times Five RKO Radio
1940s Year Film Nominees1940(13th) One-Reel Quicker'n a Wink Pete Smith London Can Take It! Warner Bros. More About Nostradamus Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Siege RKO Radio Two-Reel Teddy, the Rough Rider Warner Bros. Eyes of the Navy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Service with the Colors Warner Bros. 1941(14th) One-Reel Of Pups and Puzzles Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Army Champions Pete Smith Beauty and the Beach Paramount Down on the Farm Paramount Forty Boys and a Song Warner Bros. Kings of the Turf Warner Bros. Sagebrush and Silver 20th Century-Fox Two-Reel Main Street on the March! Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Alive in the Deep Woodward Productions, Inc. Forbidden Passage Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The Gay Parisian Warner Bros. The Tanks Are Coming United States Army 1942(15th) One-Reel Speaking of Animals and Their Families Paramount Desert Wonderland 20th Century-Fox Marines in the Making Pete Smith United States Marine Band Warner Bros. Two-Reel Beyond the Line of Duty Warner Bros. Don't Talk Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Private Smith of the U.S.A. RKO Radio 1943(16th) One-Reel Amphibious Fighters Grantland Rice Cavalcade of Dance with Veloz and Yolanda Gordon Hollingshead Champions Carry On Edmund Reek Hollywood in Uniform Ralph Staub Seeing Hands Pete Smith Two-Reel Heavenly Music Jerry Bresler and Sam Coslow Letter to a Hero Frederic Ullman Jr. Mardi Gras Walter MacEwen Women at War Gordon Hollingshead 1944(17th) One-Reel Who's Who in Animal Land Jerry Fairbanks Blue Grass Gentlemen Edmund Reek Jammin' the Blues Gordon Hollingshead Movie Pests Pete Smith Screen Snapshots' 50th Anniversary of Motion Pictures Ralph Staub Two-Reel I Won't Play Gordon Hollingshead Bombalera Louis Harris Main Street Today Jerry Bresler 1945(18th) One-Reel Stairway to Light Herbert Moulton and Jerry Bresler Along the Rainbow Trail Edmund Reek Screen Snapshots' 25th Anniversary Ralph Staub Story of a Dog Gordon Hollingshead White Rhapsody Grantland Rice Your National Gallery Joseph O'Brien and Thomas Mead Two-Reel Star in the Night Gordon Hollingshead A Gun in His Hand Chester Franklin and Jerry Bresler The Jury Goes Round 'N' Round Jules White The Little Witch George Templeton 1946(19th) One-Reel Facing Your Danger Gordon Hollingshead Dive-Hi Champs Jack Eaton Golden Horses Edmund Reek Smart as a Fox Gordon Hollingshead Sure Cures Pete Smith Two-Reel A Boy and His Dog Gordon Hollingshead College Queen George Templeton Hiss and Yell Jules White The Luckiest Guy in the World Jerry Bresler 1947(20th) One-Reel Goodbye, Miss Turlock Herbert Moulton Brooklyn, U.S.A. Thomas Mead Moon Rockets Jerry Fairbanks Now You See It Pete Smith So You Want to Be in Pictures Gordon Hollingshead Two-Reel Climbing the Matterhorn Irving Allen Champagne for Two Harry Grey Fight of the Wild Stallions Thomas Mead Give Us the Earth Herbert Morgan A Voice Is Born: The Story of Niklos Gafni Ben Blake 1948(21st) One-Reel Symphony of a City Edmund Reek Annie Was a Wonder Herbert Moulton Cinderella Horse Gordon Hollingshead So You Want to Be on the Radio Gordon Hollingshead You Can't Win Pete Smith Two-Reel Seal Island Walt Disney Calgary Stampede Gordon Hollingshead Going to Blazes Herbert Morgan Samba-Mania Harry Grey Snow Capers Thomas Mead 1949 (22nd) One-Reel Aquatic House Party Jack Eaton Roller Derby Girl Justin Herman So You Think You're Not Guilty Gordon Hollingshead Spills and Chills Walton C. Ament Water Trix Pete Smith Two-Reel Van Gogh Gaston Diehl and Robert Haessens The Boy and the Eagle William Lasky Chase of Death Irving Allen The Grass Is Always Greener Gordon Hollingshead Snow Carnival Gordon Hollingshead
1950s Year Film Nominees1950(23rd) One-Reel Grandad of Races Gordon Hollingshead Blaze Busters Robert Youngson Wrong Way Butch Pete Smith Two-Reel In Beaver Valley Walt Disney Grandma Moses Falcon Films, Inc. My Country 'Tis of Thee Gordon Hollingshead 1951(24th) One-Reel World of Kids Robert Youngson Ridin' the Rails Jack Eaton The Story of Time Roger G. Leffingwell Two-Reel Nature's Half Acre Walt Disney Balzac Les Films du Compass Danger Under the Sea Tom Mead 1952(25th) One-Reel Light in the Window Boris Vermont Athletes of the Saddle Jack Eaton Desert Killer Gordon Hollingshead Neighbours Norman McLaren Royal Scotland Crown Film Unit Two-Reel Water Birds Walt Disney Bridge of Time London Film Productions Devil Take Us Herbert Morgan Thar She Blows! Gordon Hollingshead 1953(26th) One-Reel Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor Johnny Green Christ Among the Primitives Vincenzo Lucci-Chiarissi Herring Hunt National Film Board of Canada Joy of Living Boris Vermont Wee Water Wonders Jack Eaton Two-Reel Bear Country Walt Disney Ben and Me Walt Disney Return to Glennascaul Dublin Gate Theatre Productions Vesuvius Express Otto Lang Winter Paradise Cedric Francis 1954(27th) One-Reel This Mechanical Age Robert Youngson The First Piano Quartette Otto Lang The Strauss Fantasy Johnny Green Two-Reel A Time Out of War Denis Sanders and Terry Sanders Beauty and the Bull Cedric Francis Jet Carrier Otto Lang Siam Walt Disney 1955(28th) One-Reel Survival City Edmund Reek 3rd Ave. El Carson Davidson Gadgets Galore Robert Youngson Three Kisses Justin Herman Two-Reel The Face of Lincoln Wilbur T. Blume 24-Hour Alert Cedric Francis The Battle of Gettysburg Dore Schary On the Twelfth Day George K. Arthur Switzerland Walt Disney 1956(29th) One-Reel Crashing the Water Barrier Konstantin Kalser I Never Forget a Face Robert Youngson Time Stood Still Cedric Francis Two-Reel The Bespoke Overcoat Romulus Films Cow Dog Larry Lansburgh The Dark Wave John Healy Samoa Walt Disney 1957(30th) The Wetback Hound Larry Lansburgh A Chairy Tale Norman McLaren City of Gold Tom Daly Foothold on Antarctica James Carr Portugal Ben Sharpsteen 1958(31st) Grand Canyon Walt Disney Journey Into Spring Ian Ferguson The Kiss John Patrick Hayes Snows of Aorangi New Zealand Screen Board T Is for Tumbleweed James A. Lebenthal 1959 (32nd) The Golden Fish Jacques-Yves Cousteau Between the Tides Ian Ferguson Mysteries of the Deep Walt Disney The Running, Jumping and Standing-Still Film Peter Sellers Skyscraper Shirley Clarke, Willard Van Dyke and Irving Jacoby
1960s Year Film Nominees1960(33rd) Day of the Painter Ezra R. Baker The Creation of Woman Charles F. Schwep and Ismail Merchant Islands of the Sea Walt Disney A Sport Is Born Leslie Winik 1961(34th) Seawards the Great Ships Templar Film Studios, Hilary Harris Ballon Vole (Play Ball!) Ciné-Documents The Face of Jesus Dr. John D. Jennings Rooftops of New York Robert Gaffney Very Nice, Very Nice National Film Board of Canada 1962(35th) Heureux Anniversaire (Happy Anniversary) Pierre Étaix and Jean-Claude Carrière Big City Blues Martina Huguenot van der Linden and Charles Huguenot van der Linden The Cadillac Robert Clouse The Cliff Dwellers Academy records note that The Cliff Dwellers was previously titled One Plus One. Hayward Anderson Pan Herman van der Horst 1963(36th) An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Paul de Roubaix and Marcel Ichac The Concert Ezra Baker Home-Made Car James Hill Six-Sided Triangle Christopher Miles That's Me Walker Stuart 1964(37th) Casals Conducts: 1964 Edward Schreiber Help! My Snowman's Burning Down Carson Davidson The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes Robert Clouse 1965(38th) The Chicken (Le Poulet) Claude Berri Fortress of Peace Lothar Wolff Skaterdater Marshal Backlar and Noel Black Snow Edgar Anstey Time Piece Jim Henson 1966(39th) Wild Wings Edgar Anstey Turkey the Bridge Marin Karmitz and Vladimir Forgency The Winning Strain Leslie Winik 1967(40th) A Place to Stand Christopher Chapman Paddle to the Sea Julian Biggs Sky Over Holland John Ferno Stop, Look and Listen Len Janson and Chuck Menville 1968(41st) Robert Kennedy Remembered Charles Guggenheim The Dove George Coe, Sidney Davis and Anthony Lover Duo National Film Board of Canada Prelude John Astin 1969 (42nd) The Magic Machines Joan Keller Stern Blake Bill Mason People Soup Marc Merson
1970s