Snow White received an honorary Academy Award in 1939, more precisely an award presented to Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
At the 11th Academy Awards, the Academy honored the film as a major screen innovation that had pioneered a new field of animated entertainment. The award recognized the achievement of the production rather than treating Snow White as a competitive acting or directing winner.
The presentation was unusually designed to reflect the film’s title. Walt Disney received one full-size Oscar statuette accompanied by seven miniature statuettes on a stepped base. Shirley Temple presented the award to Disney, creating one of the Academy’s most memorable award images.
The timing can cause confusion because the film premiered in 1937 and entered general U.S. release in 1938, while the honorary Oscar was presented in 1939. The film was also nominated for Best Musical Score at the ceremony, but its distinctive honorary award is the reason 1939 is the canonical answer.