Movie Musings: Disney and More

Oscar-Winning Archives Part 2

When it comes to Oscars, let’s be honest…actors get most of the credit. But, composers, makeup artists, costume designers and other non-actors have achieved great things as well, and many of them in a record-setting fashion. They contribute to a movie’s appeal, and make the actors look better! In this blog, I would like to feature some of these important contributions to film…  

One of Oscar’s biggest winners is probably someone you’ve never heard of! Rick Baker is a Makeup Artist who has won seven of 12 nominations Oscars for transforming actors into a variety of human and non-human characters on screen. Wins: An American Werewolf in London (1981), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Ed Wood (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), Men in Black (1997), Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and The Wolfman (2010). In addition to winning the Best Makeup Oscar for “The Nutty Professor,” with Eddie Murphy, Baker was also the makeup artist on several other “Eddie Murphy” comedies, including Coming to America (1988), Life (1999), The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps (2000), and Disney’s The Haunted Mansion (2003). Baker also served as the Special Makeup Effects Artist on Enchanted (2007) and Maleficent (2014).

Alan Menken is a composer who won eight oscars in the categories of both Best Original Score and Best Original Song, and is credited for resurrecting both Disney’s beloved animated films, and perhaps even the American musical. Wins: Best Original Score and Best Original Song “Under the Sea,” in The Little Mermaid (1989), Best Original Score and Best Original Song “Beauty and the Beast,” in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Best Original Score and Best Original Song “A Whole New World,” in Aladdin (1992), Best Original Score and Best Original Song “Colors of the Wind,” in Pocahontas (1995). Menken also wrote new songs for the Broadway adaptations of The Little Mermaid (2008) Beauty and the Beast (1993) Aladdin (2014) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2013), and Newsies (the film of that musical was released in 1992, the same year as “Aladdin,” and was readapted for Broadway in 2012) as well as this year’s live-action film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Despite never winning, Thomas Newman is a composer who received 13 Best Original Score nominations for writing the music for a variety of classic films. He was very fortunate to land his first job with John Williams, who has been a close family friend of the Newman family for years. Williams gave Newman the job of orchestrating some music for Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (1983). His primary work in the film can be heard in the scene where Darth Vader dies. Newman’s nominations include: The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Little Women (1994), Unstrung Heroes (1995), American Beauty (1999), Road to Perdition (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), The Good German (2006), Wall-E (2008), Skyfall (2012), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Bridge of Spies (2015), and Passengers (2016). Newman also co-wrote the song from “Down to Earth,” from “Wall-E,” which earned him an additional nomination for Best Original Song. Newman’s cousin, Randy Newman, has also written music for great films including The Natural (1984), Parenthood (1989), and the Toy Story Franchise (1995-2019).

Edith Head won eight academy awards for costume design in black-and-white and color films, many of which are considered classics. Wins: The Heiress (1949), Samson and Delilah (1949), All About Eve (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Roman Holiday (1953), Sabrina (1954), The Facts of Life (1960), and The Sting (1973). Besides all these special accomplishments, Head designed the costumes for the holiday movie-musical classic, White Christmas (1954). She was also Brad Bird’s inspiration for creating the character of Edna “E” Mode, the designer of hero/heroine costumes in Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004). (Brad Bird wrote and directed the film and also was the voice of Edna Mode.)

John Ford is a director who won four Best Director Oscars. Before Orson Welles produced Citizen Kane (1941), he was randomly asked who his top three favorite directors were and replied “John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.” Welles watched Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) 40 times as a way of preparing to produce “Citizen Kane.” Wins: The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952). Interestingly, in each of his first three films John Ford directed an actor in an Oscar-winning performance: Victor McLaglen as Best Actor in “The Informer,” Jane Darwell as Best Supporting Actress in “Grapes of Wrath,” and Donald Crisp as Best Supporting Actor in “How Green Was My Valley.” Victor McLaglen was also nominated in the category of Best Supporting Actor in Ford’s “The Quiet Man,” but he did not win. (He was beaten by Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)).

Dennis Muren is a Visual Effects Supervisor who has won nine Academy Awards for designing “imaginary” characters and worlds, making them seem real on screen—many of which have been beloved by the entire world. Wins: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Innerspace (1987), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and Jurassic Park (1993). Muren also won two Technical Achievement Awards for the effects he designed for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (1983) as well as a Special Achievement Award for the development of a Motion Picture Figure Mover for animation photography in 1982.

We still have yet to talk about the individual who won the most Oscars ever. That unfortunately will have to come next week. Hope you have enjoyed this series so far. Please stay tuned. If you know of any interesting or surprising statistics that I haven’t acknowledged, please feel free to comment.