Which Disney short won the first Oscar for Best Animated Short Film?

The Disney short that won the first Oscar for Best Animated Short Film was Flowers and Trees.

Produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett, Flowers and Trees was released in 1932 as part of Disney’s Silly Symphonies series. At the fifth Academy Awards, it won the inaugural award then called Short Subjects, Cartoons—the category that became Best Animated Short Film.

The cartoon is also important in animation history because it was the first commercially released film made using three-strip Technicolor. Its bright, full-color presentation helped persuade Disney to produce future Silly Symphonies cartoons in the process. The story depicts animated plants and trees threatened by fire, with nature eventually restored through cooperation.

The listed alternatives belong to later milestones. The Old Mill won in 1937, The Band Concert was a 1935 Mickey Mouse short that was not the first Oscar winner, and Three Little Pigs won the award in 1933. Flowers and Trees was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2021.