document_title: Monsters, Inc.

question_text: who voices mike and sully in monsters inc

text: Monsters, Inc.

text: Plot[edit]

text: The city of Monstropolis in the monster world is powered by energy from the screams of human children. At the Monsters, Inc. factory, skilled monsters employed as "scarers" venture into the human world to scare children and harvest their screams, through doors that activate portals to children's bedroom closets. It is considered dangerous work, as human children are believed to be toxic. Energy production is falling because children are becoming less easily scared, and Monsters, Inc.'s chairman, Henry J. Waternoose, is determined to find a solution.

text: James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and his partner, Mike Wazowski, are the organization's top employees, but their chief rival, Randall Boggs, is close behind. One day, Sulley discovers that Randall has left a door activated on the scare floor and a small girl has entered the factory. After several failed attempts to put her back, Sulley conceals her and takes her out of the factory. He interrupts his best friend Mike Wazowski's date with his girlfriend, Celia, at a sushi restaurant, and chaos erupts when the child is discovered. Sulley and Mike manage to escape with the child before the Child Detection Agency (CDA) quarantines the restaurant. They soon discover that she is not toxic after all; Sulley grows attached to her and calls her "Boo," while Mike is just anxious to be rid of her.

text: The duo smuggle her back into the factory disguised as a baby monster in an attempt to send her home. Randall discovers Boo and tries to kidnap her, but mistakenly kidnaps Mike instead. He straps Mike to a large machine called "The Scream Extractor," which he intends to use to revolutionize the scaring industry and solve the monster world's energy problems by forcefully extracting screams from kidnapped human children. Before Randall can use the machine on Mike, Sulley intervenes and reports Randall to Waternoose. Waternoose, who is secretly in cahoots with Randall, exiles Mike and Sulley to the Himalayas. The two meet the Abominable Snowman, who tells them about a nearby village, which Sulley realizes he can use to return to the factory. Sulley prepares to return, but Mike refuses to go with him.

text: Meanwhile, Randall is preparing to use the Scream Extractor on Boo, but Sulley arrives and saves her. Randall and Sulley battle, and after Mike returns and helps Sulley overpower Randall, the two reconcile, take Boo, and flee.

text: Randall pursues them to the door vault, and a wild chase ensues among the millions of doors as they move in and out of the storage vault on rails to the factory floor. Boo's laughter causes all the doors to activate at once, allowing the monsters to freely pass in and out of the human world. Randall attempts to kill Sulley, but Boo overcomes her fear and attacks him, enabling Sulley to catch him. Sulley and Mike then trap Randall in the human world, where two residents at a trailer park mistake him for an alligator and beat him with a shovel.

text: Sulley and Mike take Boo and her door to the training room, and trick Waternoose into revealing his plot with Randall, while Mike secretly records the entire conversation for the CDA to review. The CDA arrests Waternoose, and it is revealed that Roz, the scare floor secretary, is the CDA's leader. Roz thanks Sulley and Mike for their help, orders them to return Boo home, and has Boo's door demolished to prevent any further contact with her.

text: With the factory temporarily shut down, Sulley is now named the new CEO of Monsters, Inc. Under his new leadership, the energy crisis is solved by harvesting children's laughter instead of screams, as laughter has been found to be much more potent. Mike takes Sulley aside, revealing he has rebuilt Boo's door. It needs one final piece, which Sulley took as a memento, in order to work. Sulley puts the door chip into place, enters and joyfully reunites with Boo.

text: Voice cast[edit]

text:
John Goodman as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan, a large, furry blue monster with horns and purple spots. Even though Sulley excels at scaring children, he is a gentle giant by nature. At the film's beginning, Sulley has been the "Best Scarer" at Monsters, Inc. for several months running.
Billy Crystal as Michael "Mike" Wazowski, a short, round green monster with a single big eyeball and skinny limbs. Mike is Sulley's station runner and coach on the scare floor, and the two are close friends and roommates. Mike is charming and generally the more organized of the two, but is prone to neurotics and his ego sometimes leads him astray. He is dating Celia Mae, who calls him "Googly-Bear".
Mary Gibbs as Mary "Boo", a three-year-old[3][4][5] human girl who is unafraid of any monster except Randall, the scarer assigned to her door. She believes Sulley is a large cat and refers to him as "Kitty". In the film, one of Boo's drawings is covered with the name "Mary". The book based on the film gives Boo's "real" name as Mary Gibbs, the name of her voice actress who also happens to be the daughter of Rob Gibbs who worked as a story artist on the film.[6]
Steve Buscemi as Randall Boggs, a purple eight-legged lizard monster with a chameleon-like ability to change skin color and blend in completely with his surroundings. He is a snide and preening character who makes himself a rival to Sulley and Mike in scream collection.
James Coburn as Henry J. Waternoose III, an arthropodic monster with a crab-like lower body. Waternoose is the CEO of Monsters, Inc., a job passed down through his family for three generations. He acts as a mentor to Sulley, holding great faith in him as a scarer.
Jennifer Tilly as Celia Mae, a gorgon-like monster with one eye and tentacle-like legs. Celia is the receptionist for Monsters, Inc. and Mike's girlfriend.
Bob Peterson as Roz, a slug-like monster with a raspy voice reminiscent of Selma Diamond's who administrates for Scarefloor F where Sulley, Mike, and Randall work. At the end of the movie, it is revealed that Roz is "Agent Number 1" of the CDA, and has worked undercover at Monsters, Inc. for two and a half years.
John Ratzenberger as Yeti[7] aka. The Abominable Snowman,[8] a furry white monster who was banished to the Himalayas. He was inspired by the Abominable Snowman from the 1964 Rankin/Bass animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.[9]
Frank Oz as Jeff Fungus, Randall's red-skinned, three-eyed assistant. He is generally incompetent and is often bullied by Randall.
Dan Gerson as Smitty and Needleman, two goofy adolescent monsters with cracking voices who work as janitors and operate the Door Shredder when required. The pair of them idolize Sulley and are generally seen as a nuisance by Mike.
Steve Susskind as Jerry Slugworth, a red seven-fingered monster who manages Scare Floor F and is a good friend of Waternoose.
Bonnie Hunt as Ms. Flint, a female monster who trains new monsters to scare children.
Jeff Pidgeon as Thaddeus "Phlegm" Bile, a trainee scarer for Monsters, Inc.
Samuel Lord Black as George Sanderson, a chubby, oranged-furred monster with a sole horn on top of his head. A running gag throughout the film involves George repeatedly making contact with human artifacts (such as socks and the like which cling to his fur via static), prompting his scare coach to trigger "23–19" incidents with the CDA resulting in him mobbed, shaved bald, and sterilized. He is good friends with Pete "Claws" Ward.
Phil Proctor as Charlie, George's assistant with sea-green skin and tendrils for limbs. He is friends with George, Mike, and Sulley but is quick to call the CDA on his scarer at the drop of a hat.
Joe Ranft as Pete "Claws" Ward, a blue monster with razor-sharp claws and horrifying breath. He is very good friends with George Sanderson.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The idea for Monsters, Inc. was conceived in a lunch in 1994 attended by John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft during the production of Toy Story.[10] One of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming session was a film about monsters. "When we were making Toy Story", Docter said, "everybody came up to me and said 'Hey, I totally believed that my toys came to life when I left the room.' So when Disney asked us to do some more films, I wanted to tap into a childlike notion that was similar to that. I knew monsters were coming out of my closet when I was a kid. So I said, 'Hey, let's do a film about monsters.'"[11]

text: Docter began work on the film that would become Monsters, Inc. in 1996 while others focused on A Bug's Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999). Its code name was Hidden City, named for Docter's favorite restaurant in Point Richmond.[12] By early-February 1997, Docter had drafted a treatment together with Harley Jessup, Jill Culton, and Jeff Pidgeon that bore some resemblance to the final film. Docter pitched the story to Disney with some initial artwork on February 4 that year. He and his story team left with some suggestions in hand and returned to pitch a refined version of the story on May 30. At this pitch meeting, longtime Disney animator Joe Grant – whose work stretched back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – suggested the title Monsters, Inc., a play on the title of a gangster film Murder, Inc.,[13] which stuck.[14] The film marks the first Pixar feature to not be directed by Lasseter instead being helmed by Docter, as well as Lee Unkrich and David Silverman who served as co-directors.[15]

text: Writing[edit]

text: The story line took on many forms during production.[16] His original idea featured a 30-year-old man dealing with monsters that he drew in a book as a child coming back to bother him as an adult. Each monster represented a fear he had, and conquering those fears caused the monsters eventually to disappear.[17]

text: After Docter scrapped the initial concept of a 30-year-old terrified of monsters, he decided on a buddy story between a monster and a child titled simply Monsters, in which the monster character of Sulley (known at this stage as Johnson) was an up-and-comer at his workplace, where the company's purpose was to scare children. Sulley's eventual sidekick, Mike Wazowski, had not yet been added.[16][18][18]

text: Between 1996 and 2000, the lead monster and child went through radical changes as the story evolved. As the story continued to develop, the child varied in age and gender. Ultimately, the story team decided that a girl would be the best counterpart for a furry, 8-foot-tall (96 in) co-star.[16] After a girl was settled upon, the character continued to undergo changes, at one point being from Ireland and at another time being an African-American character.[14] Originally the character of the little girl, known as Mary, became a fearless seven-year-old who has been toughened by years of teasing and pranks from four older brothers.[14] In stark contrast, Johnson is nervous about the possibility of losing his job after the boss at Monsters, Inc. announces a downsizing is on the way. He feels envious because another scarer, Ned (who later became Randall), is the company's top performer.[14] Through various drafts, Johnson's occupation went back-and-forth from being a scarer and from working in another area of the company such as a janitor or a refinery worker, until his final incarnation as the best scarer at Monsters, Inc.[14] Throughout development Pixar worried that having a main character whose main goal was to scare children would alienate audiences and make them not empathize with him. Docter would later describe that the team "bent over backwards trying to create a story that still had monsters " while still solving the problem,[15] A key moment came when the team decided "Okay, he's the BEST scarer there. He's the star quarterback" with Docter noting that before that moment "design after design, we really didn't know what he was about."[15] Disney noted to Pixar early on that they did not want the character to "look like a guy in a suit."[15] To this end Johnson was originally planned to have tentacles for feet; however, this caused many problems in early animation tests. The idea was later largely rejected, as it was thought that audiences would be distracted by the tentacles.[19] Mary's age also differed from draft to draft until the writers settled on the age of 3. "We found that the younger she was, the more dependent she was on Sulley", Docter said.[11]

text: Eventually Johnson was renamed Sullivan. The name was suggested by an animator who had attended Texas A&M University, inspired by one of Texas A&M's historic icons, Lawrence Sullivan Ross, nicknamed "Sulley" by students. Sullivan was also planned to wear glasses throughout the film. However, the creators found it a dangerous idea because the eyes were a perfectly readable and clear way of expressing a character's personality; thus, the idea was rejected.[19]

text: The idea of a monster buddy for the lead monster emerged at an April 6, 1998 "story summit" in Burbank with employees from Disney and Pixar. A term coined by Lasseter, a "story summit" was a crash exercise that would yield a finished story in only two days.[20] Such a character, the group agreed, would give the lead monster someone to talk to about his predicament. Development artist Ricky Nierva drew a concept sketch of a rounded, one-eyed monster as a concept for the character, and everyone was generally receptive to it.[11] Docter named the character Mike for the father of his friend Frank Oz, a director and Muppet performer.[14] Jeff Pidgeon and Jason Katz story-boarded a test in which Mike helps Sulley choose a tie for work, and Mike Wazowski soon became a vital character in the film.[11] Originally, Mike had no arms and had to use his legs as appendages; however, due to some technical difficulties, arms were soon added to him.[11]

text: Screenwriter Dan Gerson joined Pixar in 1999 and worked on the film with the filmmakers on a daily basis for almost two years. He considered it his first experience in writing a feature film. He explained, "I would sit with Pete [Docter] and David Silverman and we would talk about a scene and they would tell me what they were looking for. I would make some suggestions and then go off and write the sequence. We'd get together again and review it and then hand it off to a story artist. Here's where the collaborative process really kicked in. The board artist was not beholden to my work and could take liberties here and there. Sometimes, I would suggest an idea about making the joke work better visually. Once the scene moved on to animation, the animators would plus the material even further."[16]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Bill Murray was considered for the voice role of James P. "Sulley" Sullivan. He screen tested for the role and was interested, but when Pete Docter was unable to make contact with him, he took it as a "no".[21][22] The voice role of Sulley went to John Goodman, the longtime co-star of the comedy series Roseanne and a regular in the films of the Coen brothers. Goodman interpreted the character to himself as the monster equivalent of a National Football League player. "He's like a seasoned lineman in the tenth year of his career," he said at the time. "He is totally dedicated and a total pro."[23] Billy Crystal, having regretted turning down the part of Buzz Lightyear years prior, accepted that of Mike Wazowski, Sulley's one-eyed best friend and scare assistant.[24][25] The casting of Steve Buscemi as Randall, Sulley's rival, saw a reunion between himself and John Goodman; they had previously worked together on The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink.

text: Animation[edit]

text: In November 2000, early in the production of Monsters, Inc., Pixar packed up and moved for the second time since its Lucasfilm years.[23] The company's approximately 500 employees had become spread among three buildings, separated by a busy highway. The company moved from Point Richmond to a much bigger campus in Emeryville, co-designed by Lasseter and Steve Jobs.[23]

text: In production, Monsters Inc. differed from earlier Pixar features, as every main character in this movie had its own lead animator – John Kahrs on Sulley, Andrew Gordon on Mike, and Dave DeVan on Boo.[26] Kahrs found that the "bearlike quality" of Goodman's voice provided an exceptionally good fit with the character. He faced a difficult challenge, however, in dealing with Sulley's sheer mass; traditionally, animators conveyed a figure's heaviness by giving it a slower, more belabored movement, but Kahrs was concerned that such an approach to a central character would give the film a "sluggish" feel.[26] Like Goodman, Kahrs came to think of Sulley as a football player, one whose athleticism enabled him to move quickly in spite of his size. To help the animators with Sulley and other large monsters, Pixar arranged for Rodger Kram, a University of California, Berkeley expert on the locomotion of heavy mammals, to lecture on the subject.[26]

text: Adding to Sulley's lifelike appearance was an intense effort by the technical team to refine the rendering of fur. Other production houses had tackled realistic fur, most notably Rhythm & Hues in its 1993 polar bear commercials for Coca-Cola and in its talking animals' faces in the 1995 film Babe.[26] This film, however, required fur on a far larger scale. From the standpoint of Pixar's engineers, the quest for fur posed several significant challenges; one was to figure out how to animate a large numbers of hairs – 2,320,413 of them on Sulley – in a reasonably efficient way,[26] and another was to make sure that the hairs would cast shadows on other ones. Without self-shadowing, either fur or hair takes on an unrealistic flat-colored look (e.g., in Toy Story, the hair on Andy's toddler sister, as seen in that movie's opening sequence, is hair without self-shadowing).[26]

text: The first fur test allowed Sulley to run an obstacle course. Results were not satisfactory, as such objects would catch and stretch out the fur due to the extreme amount of motion. Another similar test was also unsuccessful, because, this time, the fur would go through the objects.[19]

text: Pixar then set up a Simulation department and created a new fur simulation program called Fizt (short for "physics tool").[27] After a shot with Sulley in it had been animated, this department took the data for that shot and added Sulley's fur. Fizt allowed the fur to react in a more natural way. Every time when Sulley would have to move, his fur would (automatically) react to his movements, thus taking the effects of wind and gravity into account as well. The Fizt program also controlled the movement of Boo's clothes, which provided another "breakthrough".[27] The deceptively simple-sounding task of animating cloth was also a challenge to animate thanks to those hundreds of creases and wrinkles that automatically occurred in the clothing when the wearer moved.[28] Also, this meant they would have to solve the complex problem of how to keep cloth untangled – in other words, to keep it from passing through itself when parts of it intersect.[29] Fizt applied the same system to Boo's clothes as to Sulley's fur. First of all, Boo would be animated shirtless; the Simulation department then used Fizt to apply the shirt over Boo's body, and every time she would move, her clothes also would react to her movements in a more natural manner.

text: To solve the problem of cloth-to-cloth collisions, Michael Kass, Pixar's senior scientist, was joined on Monsters, Inc. by David Baraff and Andrew Witkin and developed an algorithm they called "global intersection analysis" to handle the problem. The complexity of the shots in the film, including elaborate sets such as the door vault, required more computing power to render than any of Pixar's earlier efforts combined. The render farm in place for Monsters, Inc. was made up of 3500 Sun Microsystems processors, compared with 1400 for Toy Story 2 and only 200 for Toy Story.[29]

text: Release[edit]

text: The film premiered on October 28, 2001, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.[30] It was theatrically released on November 2, 2001 in the United States, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002.[31] The theatrical release was accompanied with the Pixar short animated film For the Birds.[32]

text: As with A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2, a montage of "outtakes" and a performance of a play based on a line from the film were made and included in the end credits of the film starting on December 7, 2001.[33]

text: After the success of the 3D re-release of The Lion King,[34] Disney and Pixar re-released Monsters, Inc. in 3D on December 19, 2012.[35]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Monsters, Inc. was released on VHS and DVD on September 17, 2002.[36] It was then released on Blu-ray on November 10, 2009,[37] and on Blu-ray 3D on February 19, 2013.[38]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Monsters, Inc. ranked number 1 at the box office on its opening weekend, grossing $62,577,067 in North America alone. The film had a small drop-off of 27.2% over its second weekend, earning another $45,551,028. In its third weekend, the film experienced a larger decline of 50.1%, placing itself in the second position just after Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In its fourth weekend, however, there was an increase of 5.9%, making $24,055,001 that weekend for a combined total of over $525 million. As of May 2013, it is the eighth-biggest fourth weekend ever for a film.[39][40]

text: The film made $289,916,256 in North America, and $287,509,478 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $577,425,734.[2] The film is Pixar's ninth highest-grossing film worldwide and sixth in North America.[41] For a time, the film surpassed Toy Story 2 as the second highest-grossing animated film of all time, only behind 1994's The Lion King.[29]

text: In the U.K., Ireland, and Malta, it earned £37,264,502 ($53,335,579) in total, marking the sixth highest-grossing animated film of all time in the country and the thirty-second highest-grossing film of all time.[42] In Japan, although earning $4,471,902 during its opening and ranking second behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the weekend, it moved to first place on subsequent weekends due to exceptionally small decreases or even increases and dominated for six weeks at the box office. It finally reached $74,437,612, standing as 2001's third highest-grossing film and the third largest U.S. animated feature of all time in the country behind Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo.[43]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Monsters, Inc. received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 96% based on 192 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. The critical consensus was, "Clever, funny, and delightful to look at, Monsters, Inc. delivers another resounding example of how Pixar elevated the bar for modern all-ages animation."[44] Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 78 based on 34 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[45]

text: Charles Taylor from Salon.com stated, "[i]t's agreeable and often funny, and adults who take their kids to see it might be surprised to find themselves having a pretty good time."[46] Elvis Mitchell from The New York Times gave it a positive review, praising the film's use of "creative energy", saying "There hasn't been a film in years to use creative energy as efficiently as Monsters, Inc."[47] Although Mike Clark from USA Today thought the comedy was sometimes "more frenetic than inspired and viewer emotions are rarely touched to any notable degree," he also viewed the film as "visually inventive as its Pixar predecessors."[48]

text: ReelViews film critic James Berardinelli gave the film 31⁄2 stars out of 4 and wrote that the film was "one of those rare family films that parents can enjoy (rather than endure) along with their kids."[49] Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, calling it "cheerful, high-energy fun, and like the other Pixar movies, has a running supply of gags and references aimed at grownups."[50] Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" grade and praised the film's animation, stating "Everything from Pixar Animation Studios – the snazzy, cutting-edge computer animation outfit – looks really, really terrific and unspools with a liberated, heppest-moms-and-dads-on-the-block iconoclasm."[51]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Monsters, Inc. won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (Randy Newman, after fifteen previous nominations, for "If I Didn't Have You").[52] It was one of the first animated films to be nominated for Best Animated Feature (lost to Shrek).[52] It was also nominated for Best Original Score (lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) and Best Sound Editing (lost to Pearl Harbor).[52] At the Kid's Choice Awards in 2002, it was nominated for "Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie" for Billy Crystal (who lost to Eddie Murphy in Shrek).[52]

text: Music[edit]

text:
Monsters, Inc.

Soundtrack album by Randy Newman

Released
October 23, 2001

Recorded
2000–2001

Genre
Score

Length
1:00:30

Label
Walt Disney

Randy Newman chronology

Meet the Parents
(2000)Meet the Parents2000
Monsters, Inc.
(2001)
Seabiscuit
(2003)Seabiscuit2003

Pixar soundtrack chronology

Toy Story 2
(1999) Toy Story 21999
Monsters, Inc.
(2001) Monsters, Inc.2001
Finding Nemo
(2003) Finding Nemo2003

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

AllMusic
[53]

Empire
[54]

Filmtracks.com
[55]

Movie Wave
[56]

Soundtrack.net
[57]

text: Monsters Inc. was Randy Newman's fourth feature film collaboration with Pixar. The end credits song "If I Didn't Have You" was sung by John Goodman and Billy Crystal.[16]

text: The album was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.[52] The score lost both these awards to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but after sixteen nominations, the song "If I Didn't Have You" finally won Newman his first Academy Award for Best Original Song.[52] It also won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.[52]

text: Track listing[edit]

text: All tracks written by Randy Newman.

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"If I Didn't Have You" (performed by Billy Crystal and John Goodman)
3:41

2.
"Monsters, Inc."
2:09

3.
"School"
1:38

4.
"Walk to Work"
3:29

5.
"Sulley and Mike"
1:57

6.
"Randall Appears"
0:49

7.
"Enter the Heroes"
1:03

8.
"The Scare Floor"
2:41

9.
"Oh, Celia!"
1:09

10.
"Boo's Adventures in Monstropolis"
6:23

11.
"Boo's Tired"
1:03

12.
"Putting Boo Back"
2:22

13.
"Boo Escapes"
0:52

14.
"Celia's Mad"
1:41

15.
"Boo Is a Cube"
2:19

16.
"Mike's in Trouble"
2:19

17.
"The Scream Extractor"
2:12

18.
"Sulley Scares Boo"
1:10

19.
"Exile"
2:17

20.
"Randall's Attack"
2:22

21.
"The Ride of the Doors"
5:08

22.
"Waternoose is Waiting"
3:14

23.
"Boo's Going Home"
3:34

24.
"Kitty"
1:20

25.
"If I Didn't Have You" (performed by Newman)
3:38

Total length:
1:00:30

text: Chart positions[edit]

text:
Chart (2001)
Peak
position

US Top Soundtracks (Billboard)[58]
25

text: Lawsuits[edit]

text: Shortly before the film's release, Pixar was sued by children's songwriter Lori Madrid of Wyoming, stating that the company had stolen her ideas from her 1997 poem "There's a Boy in My Closet."

text: Madrid mailed her poem to six publishers in October 1999, notably Chronicle Books, before turning it into a local stage musical in August 2001. After seeing the trailer for Monsters, Inc., Madrid concluded that Chronicle Books had passed her work to Pixar and that the film was based on her work.[60] In October 2001, she filed the suit against Chronicle Books, Pixar, and Disney in a federal court in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Her lawyer asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction, that would forbid Pixar and Disney from releasing the film while the suit was pending.

text: In a hearing on November 1, 2001 – the day before the film's scheduled release on 5,800 screens in 3,200 theaters across the country – the judge refused to issue the injunction. On June 26, 2002, he ruled that the film had nothing in common with the poem.[61]

text: In November 2002, Stanley Mouse filed a lawsuit, in which he alleged that the characters of Mike and Sulley were based on drawings of Excuse My Dust, a film that he had tried to sell to Hollywood in 1998.[62] The lawsuit also stated that a story artist from Pixar visited Mouse in 2000, and discussed Mouse's work with him.[62] A Disney spokeswoman responded, by saying that the characters in Monsters, Inc. were "developed independently by the Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures creative teams, and do not infringe on anyone's copyrights".[59] The case was ultimately settled under undisclosed terms.[63]

text: Prequel[edit]

text: A prequel, titled Monsters University, was released on June 21, 2013. John Goodman, Billy Crystal, and Steve Buscemi reprised their roles of Sulley, Mike, and Randall, while Dan Scanlon directed the film. The prequel's plot focuses on Sulley and Mike's studies at Monsters University, where they start off as rivals but soon become best friends.

text: Other media[edit]

text: An animated short, Mike's New Car, was made by Pixar in 2002 in which the two main characters have assorted misadventures with a car Mike has just bought. This film was not screened in theaters, but is included with all home video releases of Monsters, Inc., and on Pixar's Dedicated Shorts DVD.[64] In August 2002, a manga version of Monsters, Inc. was made by Hiromi Yamafuji and distributed in Kodansha's Comic Bon Bon magazine in Japan; the manga was published in English by Tokyopop until it went out of print.[65] A series of video games, including a multi-platform video game were created based on the film. The video games included Monsters, Inc., Monsters, Inc. Scream Team and Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena.[66] A game titled Monsters, Inc. Run was released on the App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad on December 13, 2012.[67]

text: Feld Entertainment toured a Monsters, Inc. edition of their Walt Disney's World on Ice skating tour from 2003 to 2007.[68] Monsters, Inc. has inspired three attractions at Disney theme parks around the world. In 2006 Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! opened at Disneyland Resort's Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California.[69] In 2007, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor opened at Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, replacing The Timekeeper. The show is improvisational in nature, and features the opportunity for Guests to interact with the monster comedians and submit jokes of their own via text message.[70] In 2009 Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek opened at Tokyo Disney Resort's Tokyo Disneyland in Chiba, Japan.[71]

text: In 2009, Boom! Studios produced a Monsters Inc. comic book mini-series that ran for four issues. The storyline takes place after the movie and focuses on Sulley and Mike's daily struggles to operate Monsters Inc. on its new laughter-focused company policy. At the same time, their work is impeded by the revenge schemes of Randall and Waternoose, as well as a human child (indirectly revealed to be Sid Phillips from the Toy Story franchise) who has hijacked the company's closet door technology to commit a string of toy thefts throughout the human world.[72]

text: A world based on the film will make its debut appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series in Kingdom Hearts III,[73][74] making it the second Disney-Pixar movie featured in the series after Toy Story.[75][76] Sulley, Mike and Boo are slated to appear, so far, with Sulley and Mike serving as temporary party members.

text: TV series[edit]

text: On November 9, 2017, while commenting the plans for a new Star Wars trilogy and live-action TV show, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about plans to develop TV spin-off shows of Monsters, Inc as well with Disney Channel's High School Musical and Marvel Entertainment's Marvel Cinematic Universe.[77] It was also confirmed that this announcement is just part of the plans that Disney has for the new streaming platform that they will launch in 2019 following their announcement to exit from Netflix.[78][79]


document_title: List of black Academy Award winners and nominees

question_text: who was the first african-american and the youngest person ever to be nominated for best director

root

text: Best Actor in a Leading Role[edit]

text:
Best Actor in a Leading Role

Year
Name
Film
Role
Status
Milestone

1958
Sidney Poitier
The Defiant Ones
Noah Cullen
Nominated
First African-American actor to be nominated for Best Actor.

1963
Lilies of the Field
Homer Smith
Won
First black male to win an Oscar.
First African-American actor to win Best Actor.
First African-American actor to receive two acting nominations (Best Actor).
Youngest African-American actor to win Best Actor (age 37).

1970
James Earl Jones
The Great White Hope
Jack Jefferson
Nominated

1972
Paul Winfield
Sounder
Nathan Lee Morgan
Nominated
First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.

1986
Dexter Gordon
Round Midnight
Dale Turner
Nominated
First jazz musician to be nominated for Best Actor.

1989
Morgan Freeman
Driving Miss Daisy
Hoke Colburn
Nominated

1992
Denzel Washington
Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Nominated

1993
Laurence Fishburne
What's Love Got to Do with It
Ike Turner
Nominated
Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.

1994
Morgan Freeman
The Shawshank Redemption
Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding
Nominated

1999
Denzel Washington
The Hurricane
Rubin Carter
Nominated

2001
Training Day
Alonzo Harris
Won
Second African-American actor to receive the award for Best Actor.
First time two African-American performers won in leading role Oscars in the same year (Halle Berry, Monster's Ball).

Will Smith
Ali
Muhammad Ali
Nominated
First time multiple African-American actors received Best Actor nominations.

2004
Jamie Foxx
Ray
Ray Charles
Won
First African-American actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year.

Don Cheadle
Hotel Rwanda
Paul Rusesabagina
Nominated

2005
Terrence Howard
Hustle & Flow
DJay
Nominated

2006
Forest Whitaker
The Last King of Scotland
Idi Amin
Won

Will Smith
The Pursuit of Happyness
Chris Gardner
Nominated

2009
Morgan Freeman
Invictus
Nelson Mandela
Nominated

2012
Denzel Washington
Flight
William "Whip" Whitaker
Nominated

2013
Chiwetel Ejiofor
12 Years a Slave
Solomon Northup
Nominated
First black British actor to be nominated for Best Actor.

2016
Denzel Washington
Fences
Troy Maxson
Nominated
Denzel Washington has the most nominations for an African-American Actor: Best Actor (5 nominations) and Best Supporting Actor (2 nominations).

tag: table

text: Best Actress in a Leading Role[edit]

text:
Best Actress in a Leading Role

Year
Name
Film
Role
Status
Milestone

1954
Dorothy Dandridge
Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
Nominated
First African-American actress to be nominated for Best Actress.

1972
Diana Ross
Lady Sings the Blues
Billie Holiday
Nominated
First African-American actress to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance.
First time multiple African-American actresses received Best Actress nominations.

Cicely Tyson
Sounder
Rebecca Morgan
Nominated
First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.
First time multiple African-American actresses received Best Actress nominations.

1974
Diahann Carroll
Claudine
Claudine
Nominated

1985
Whoopi Goldberg
The Color Purple
Celie Johnson
Nominated
First time multiple African-American actresses received nominations for the same film.

1993
Angela Bassett
What's Love Got to Do with It
Tina Turner
Nominated
Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.

2001
Halle Berry
Monster's Ball
Leticia Musgrove
Won
First African-American actress to win Best Actress.
First time two African-American performers won in leading role Oscars in the same year (Denzel Washington, Training Day).

2009
Gabourey Sidibe
Precious
Claireece "Precious" Jones
Nominated
Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
Second African-American actress to receive a lead Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance.

2011
Viola Davis
The Help
Aibileen Clark
Nominated
Third film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories.

2012
Quvenzhané Wallis
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Hushpuppy
Nominated
Youngest ever Best Actress nominee (aged 9).
Third African-American actress to receive a lead Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance.

2016
Ruth Negga
Loving
Mildred Loving
Nominated
First black Irish actress to be nominated.
First black African (Ethiopia) actress to be nominated in lead.

text: Best Actor in a Supporting Role[edit]

text:
Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Year
Name
Film
Role
Status
Milestone

1969
Rupert Crosse
The Reivers
Ned
Nominated
First African-American actor to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

1981
Howard Rollins
Ragtime
Coalhouse Walker Jr.
Nominated

1982
Louis Gossett Jr.
An Officer and a Gentleman
Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley
Won
First African-American actor to win Best Supporting Actor.

1984
Adolph Caesar
A Soldier's Story
Sgt. Waters
Nominated

1987
Morgan Freeman
Street Smart
Fast Black
Nominated
First time multiple African-American actors received Best Supporting Actor nominations.

Denzel Washington
Cry Freedom
Steve Biko
Nominated

1989
Glory
Pvt. Trip
Won
First African-American actor to receive two Best Supporting Actor nominations.

1992
Jaye Davidson
The Crying Game
Dil
Nominated
First black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance.
Youngest black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination (age 24)
First black British actor to receive an Academy Award nomination.

1994
Samuel L. Jackson
Pulp Fiction
Jules Winnfield
Nominated

1996
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Jerry Maguire
Rod Tidwell
Won
Youngest African-American male actor to win an Academy Award (age 29).

1999
Michael Clarke Duncan
The Green Mile
John Coffey
Nominated

2003
Djimon Hounsou
In America
Mateo
Nominated
First black actor born in Africa (specifically in Benin) to receive an Academy Award nomination.

2004
Morgan Freeman
Million Dollar Baby
Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris
Won
Oldest African-American actor to win an Academy Award (age 67).

Jamie Foxx
Collateral
Max
Nominated
First African-American actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year.

2006
Djimon Hounsou
Blood Diamond
Solomon Vandy
Nominated

Eddie Murphy
Dreamgirls
James 'Thunder' Early
Nominated
First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

2013
Barkhad Abdi
Captain Phillips
Abduwali Muse
Nominated
Second black actor born in Africa (specifically in Somalia) to receive an Academy Award nomination.
Second black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut performance.

2016
Mahershala Ali
Moonlight
Juan
Won
Second film to feature black nominees for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
First Muslim actor to win an Oscar.
First time two African-American performers won in supporting role Oscars in the same year (Viola Davis, Fences).

text: Best Actress in a Supporting Role[edit]

text:
Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Year
Name
Film
Role
Status
Milestone

1939
Hattie McDaniel
Gone with the Wind
Mammy
Won
First African-American to win an Academy Award.
First African-American to be nominated for acting.

1949
Ethel Waters
Pinky
Mrs. Dicey Johnson (Pinky's Granny)
Nominated
Second African-American person to be nominated for an Academy Award.

1959
Juanita Moore
Imitation of Life
Annie Johnson
Nominated

1967
Beah Richards
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Mrs. Prentice
Nominated
If Carol Channing's claim of African-American heritage is accurate (it was not known at the time and has not been independently confirmed), this would be the first time multiple African-American actresses received Best Supporting Actress nominations

1983
Alfre Woodard
Cross Creek
Geechee
Nominated

1985
Margaret Avery
The Color Purple
Shug Avery
Nominated
First (or second, see Beah Richards above) time multiple African-American actresses received Best Supporting Actress nominations.
First time multiple African-American actresses received nominations for the same film.

Oprah Winfrey
Sofia
Nominated

1990
Whoopi Goldberg
Ghost
Oda Mae Brown
Won
First African-American actress to receive two acting nominations overall.
Second African-American actress to win Best Supporting Actress.

1996
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Secrets & Lies
Hortense Cumberbatch
Nominated
First black British actress to receive an Academy Award nomination.

2002
Queen Latifah
Chicago
Matron Mama Morton
Nominated
First female hip hop artist to be nominated for an Academy Award.

2004
Sophie Okonedo
Hotel Rwanda
Tatiana Rusesabagina
Nominated
Second black British actress to receive an Academy Award nomination.

2006
Jennifer Hudson
Dreamgirls
Effie White
Won
Youngest African-American actor (male or female) to win an Academy Award (age 25).
First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

2007
Ruby Dee
American Gangster
Mama Lucas
Nominated
Oldest African-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award (age 83).

2008
Viola Davis
Doubt
Mrs. Miller
Nominated
Second (or third, see Beah Richards above) time multiple African-American actresses received Best Supporting Actress nominations.

Taraji P. Henson
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Queenie
Nominated

2009
Mo'Nique
Precious
Mary Lee Johnston
Won
Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

2011
Octavia Spencer
The Help
Minny Jackson
Won
Third film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Supporting Actress.

2013
Lupita Nyong'o
12 Years a Slave
Patsey
Won
First black African (Kenyan) actress to be nominated.
First black African to win in any category.

2016
Viola Davis
Fences
Rose Maxson
Won
Most nominated black actress ever with three nominations.
First time two African-American performers won in supporting role Oscars in the same year (Mahershala Ali, Moonlight).

Naomie Harris
Moonlight
Paula
Nominated
Third black British actress to receive an Academy Award nomination
Second film to feature black nominees for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Octavia Spencer
Hidden Figures
Dorothy Vaughan
Nominated
Third black actress following Whoopi Goldberg and Viola Davis to earn multiple Oscar nominations. First black actress to be nominated after previously winning.

text: Best cinematography[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Best Cinematography

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1998
Remi Adefarasin
Elizabeth
Nominated
First black person to be nominated for Best Cinematography.

2016
Bradford Young
Arrival
Nominated
First African-American to be nominated in the category.

text: Best Costume Design[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Best Costume Design

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1992
Ruth E. Carter
Malcolm X
Nominated
First African-American to be nominated for Best Costume Design.

1997
Amistad
Nominated

2004
Sharen Davis
Ray
Nominated

2006
Dreamgirls
Nominated

text: Best Director[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Best Director

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1991
John Singleton
Boyz n the Hood
Nominated
First African-American to be nominated for Best Director.
Youngest person ever nominated in this category (age 24).

2009
Lee Daniels
Precious
Nominated
Second African-American to earn a Best Director nomination.
First African-American director to earn a Best Picture nomination.

2013
Steve McQueen
12 Years a Slave
Nominated
First black British to earn a Best Director nomination.
First black director to direct a Best Picture winning film.
First black director to earn an Oscar for Best Picture.

2016
Barry Jenkins
Moonlight
Nominated
Second black American to direct a Best Picture winning film.

text: Best Documentary Feature[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Documentary Feature

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1990
Yvonne Smith (producer)
Adam Clayton Powell
Nominated
Shared with Richard Kilberg.
First African-American producer to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

1997
Spike Lee (director/producer)
Samuel D. Pollard (producer)
4 Little Girls
Nominated
First African-American director to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

2004
Karolyn Ali (producer)
Tupac: Resurrection
Nominated

2012
T. J. Martin (director)
Undefeated
Won
First African-American person to win in this category.
First African-American director to win in this category.

2016
Ava DuVernay (director/producer)
13th
Nominated
First black woman director to be nominated in this category.

Roger Ross Williams (director/producer)
Life, Animated
Nominated
shared with Julie Golden

Raoul Peck (director)
Hébert Peck (producer)
I Am Not Your Negro
Nominated
First Haitian person to be nominated in this category

Ezra Edelman (director/producer)
O.J.: Made in America
Won

text: Best Documentary Short Subject[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

2000
Leelai Demoz
On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom
Nominated
Shared nomination with Eric Simonson.
First African-American person to be nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject.

2009
Roger Ross Williams
Music by Prudence
Won
Shared nomination with Elinor Burkett.
First African-American person to win Best Documentary Short Subject.

text: Best Film Editing[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Film Editing

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1969
Hugh A. Robertson
Midnight Cowboy
Nominated
First African-American person to be nominated for Best Editing.

2016
Joi McMillon
Moonlight
Nominated
First African-American woman to be nominated for Best Editing.

text: Best Music, Original Score[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Original Music Score

Year
Name
Country
Film
Status
Milestone

1961
Duke Ellington

Paris Blues
Nominated
First African-American person to be nominated for Best Original Score. Nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

1967
Quincy Jones

In Cold Blood
Nominated

1971
Isaac Hayes

Shaft
Nominated
Nominated for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.

1972
Gil Askey

Lady Sings the Blues
Nominated
First African-American person to be nominated in the Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation (which is different from Best Original Score category).

1978
Quincy Jones

The Wiz
Nominated
First African-American person to be nominated in the Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score (which is different from Best Original Score category).

1984
Prince

Purple Rain
Won
First African-American winner of Best Original Song Score (which is different from Best Original Score category); this category was retired afterwards.

1985
Quincy Jones
Andrae Crouch
Caiphus Semenya

The Color Purple
Nominated
Shared nomination with 9 other composers. Caiphus Semenya becomes the first black South African to be nominated for an Academy Award.

1986
Herbie Hancock

Round Midnight
Won
First African-American winner of Best Original Score.

1987
Jonas Gwangwa

Cry Freedom
Nominated
Shared nomination with George Fenton

text: Best Music, Original Song[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Best Original Song

Year
Name
Country
Film
Song
Status
Milestone

1967
Quincy Jones
Bob Russell

Banning
"The Eyes of Love"
Nominated
First African-American people to be nominated for Best Original Song.

1968
For Love of Ivy
"For Love of Ivy"
Nominated
First African-American people to be nominated twice for Best Original Song.

1971
Isaac Hayes

Shaft
"Theme from Shaft"
Won
First African-American winner for Best Original Song.
First African-American winner for any award other than in the acting categories.

1981
Lionel Richie

Endless Love
"Endless Love"
Nominated

1983
Irene Cara

Flashdance
"Flashdance... What a Feeling"
Won
First African-American woman to win a non-acting Academy Award.
Only African-American woman to win a competitive, non-acting Academy Award.
Shared nomination and win with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.

1984
Stevie Wonder

The Woman in Red
"I Just Called to Say I Love You"
Won

1984
Ray Parker Jr.

Ghostbusters
"Ghostbusters"
Nominated

1985
Lionel Richie

White Nights
"Say You, Say Me"
Won

Quincy Jones
Lionel Richie

The Color Purple
"Miss Celie's Blues"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Rod Temperton

1987
Jonas Gwangwa

Cry Freedom
"Cry Freedom"
Nominated
First black South African to be nominated in this category. Shared nomination with George Fenton.

1988
Lamont Dozier

Buster
"Two Hearts"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Phil Collins.

1993
Janet Jackson
Jimmy Jam
Terry Lewis

Poetic Justice
"Again"
Nominated

1994
James Ingram

Beethoven's 2nd
"The Day I Fall In Love"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Carole Bayer Sager and Cliff Magness.

1995
Junior
"Look What Love Has Done"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Carole Bayer Sager, James Newton Howard and Patty Smyth.

2005
Frayser Boy
Juicy J
DJ Paul

Hustle & Flow
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"
Won
First African-American rappers to win an Academy Award.

2006
Siedah Garrett

Dreamgirls
"Love You I Do"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Henry Krieger.

2007
Jamal Joseph
Charles Mack
Tevin Thomas

August Rush
"Raise It Up"
Nominated

2011
Carlinhos Brown
Siedah Garrett

Rio
"Real in Rio"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Sergio Mendes.
Garrett is the most nominated African-American female songwriter (2 nominations).
Brown is the first black Latin American nominated for Best Original Song.

2013
Pharrell Williams

Despicable Me 2
"Happy"
Nominated

2014
Common
John Legend

Selma
"Glory"
Won

2015
DaHeala
The Weeknd

Fifty Shades of Grey
"Earned It"
Nominated
Shared nomination with Belly and Stephan Moccio.
The Weeknd and DaHeala are the first black Canadians nominated for Best Original Song.

text: Best Picture[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Best Picture

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1985
Quincy Jones
The Color Purple
Nominated
First African-American producer whose film was nominated for Best Picture.

2009
Lee Daniels
Precious
Nominated
First African-American director whose film was nominated for Best Picture.
First time two films with African-American producers were nominated for Best Picture.

Broderick Johnson
The Blind Side
Nominated
First time two films with African-American producers were nominated for Best Picture.

2012
Reginald Hudlin
Django Unchained
Nominated

2013
Steve McQueen
12 Years a Slave
Won
First black producer to win Best Picture.

2014
Oprah Winfrey
Selma
Nominated
First black female producer nominated for Best Picture.

2016
Denzel Washington
Fences
Nominated
First time that three films with black producers were nominated for Best Picture.

Pharrell Williams
Hidden Figures
Nominated

Kimberly Steward
Manchester by the Sea
Nominated

text: Best Short Film (Live Action)[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Live Action Short Film

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1991
David Massey
Last Breeze of Summer
Nominated
First African-American person (male or female) to be nominated for Short Film (Live Action).

1995
Dianne Houston
Tuesday Morning Ride
Nominated
First African-American female to be nominated for Short Film (Live Action).

text: Best Sound Mixing[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Sound

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1978
Willie D. Burton
The Buddy Holly Story
Nominated
First African-American person to be nominated for Best Sound.

1980
Altered States
Nominated
First African-American person to be nominated multiple times for Best Sound.

1983
WarGames
Nominated

1988
Bird
Won
First African-American person to win Best Sound.

1989
Russell Williams
Glory
Won
Second African-American person to win Best Sound.

1990
Dances with Wolves
Won
First African-American person to win multiple Academy Awards in any category.
First and only African-American to win consecutive awards in any category.

1994
Willie D. Burton
The Shawshank Redemption
Nominated

1999
The Green Mile
Nominated

2006
Dreamgirls
Won
First African-American person to be nominated, and to win, after category was renamed "Sound Mixing".

text: Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay

Year
Name
Film
Adapted From
Status
Milestone

1972
Lonne Elder
Sounder
Sounder
by William H. Armstrong
Nominated
First African-American nominee for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).

1984
Charles Fuller
A Soldier's Story
A Soldier's Play
by Charles Fuller
Nominated

2009
Geoffrey Fletcher
Precious
Push
by Sapphire
Won
First African-American to win a screenplay Academy Award (Adapted Screenplay).

2013
John Ridley
12 Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave
by Solomon Northup
Won
Second African-American to win a screenplay Academy Award (Adapted Screenplay).
First African-American writer to have written a film that won Best Picture.

2016
Barry Jenkins
Tarell Alvin McCraney
Moonlight
In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue
by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Won

August Wilson
Fences
Fences
by August Wilson
Nominated
First African-American writer to receive a posthumous nomination in this category

text: Best Writing (Original Screenplay)[edit]

text:
Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay

Year
Name
Film
Status
Milestone

1972
Suzanne de Passe
Lady Sings the Blues
Nominated
Shared nomination with co-writers Chris Clark and Terence McCloy.
First African-American nominee for Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
First African-American female nominated for screen-writing.

1989
Spike Lee
Do the Right Thing
Nominated
First African-American male to be nominated for Best Writing (Original Screenplay).

1991
John Singleton
Boyz n the Hood
Nominated

text: Special awards[edit]

text:
Special Awards

Year
Name
Award

1948
James Baskett
Academy Special Award, for his characterization of Uncle Remus in Song of the South.

1995
Quincy Jones
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

2001
Sidney Poitier
Academy Honorary Award, "for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence".

2011
James Earl Jones
Academy Honorary Award, "for his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility"

Oprah Winfrey
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

2014
Harry Belafonte
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

2015
Spike Lee
Academy Honorary Award, "filmmaker, educator, motivator, iconoclast, artist....[and] a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers"