Disney's Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The 1991 film received its Best Picture nomination at the 64th Academy Awards, honoring films released in 1991. Its nomination was a major milestone for animation, because the category had traditionally been associated with live-action filmmaking.
Beauty and the Beast ultimately lost Best Picture to The Silence of the Lambs. It did win two Oscars: Best Original Song for the title song and Best Original Score for Alan Menken. The film also received nominations for sound and two additional songs.
The achievement is sometimes confused with the Best Animated Feature category. That category did not exist until the 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002. Beauty and the Beast therefore made history before animated films had a dedicated Oscar category. Its success also helped demonstrate that an animated musical could compete for the industry's top award.