^{Credit: Elio (Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Motion Pictures)}

Between its financial failure and some more than misguided comments from Pixar CCO Pete Docter about the film's removal of LGBTQIA+ themes, Elio managed to make an Oscar comeback with a Best Animated Feature nomination. While Elio has been a constant presence throughout award season, it struggled to pick up many wins. Granted, KPop Demon Hunters has swept throughout most of the season, but several other animated films have managed to pick up awards along the way. Arco won the National Board of Review. Little Amélie or the Character of Rain won at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. Zootopia 2 picked up wins at the Saturn Awards and BAFTA, the latter of which KPop Demon Hunters wasn't eligible for. 

Elio seemed to be the one Best Animated Feature nominee that couldn't catch a break anywhere, including regional critics' awards. Even at the Annies, where Elio tied KPop Demon Hunters for the year's most nominations, it walked away empty. Elio not only ran the risk of goose-egging throughout the whole season, but also of becoming the first Pixar feature not to win a single award. Not every Pixar film wins or gets nominated for an Oscar. Since Toy Story, though, all of their features have managed to win at least one prize from a voting body.

Even their weakest efforts have managed to squeeze out a win somewhere/anywhere. The Good Dinosaur won an Annie for Jon Reisch and Stephen Marshall's animation effects. Keke Palmer won a NAACP Image Award for her voiceover performance as Izzy Hawthorne in Lightyear. Cars 2, which is at the bottom of every Pixar ranking, got a shout-out at the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for Michael Giacchino's score. That last one is kind of grasping at straws, but it still counted as a win on IMDb. Elio, meanwhile, racked up over forty nominations (again via IMDb) without a single win... until now. 

Elio has won Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature at the Satellite Awards, which the International Press Academy hands out. This marks Elio's first victory of this entire awards season. It won over Arco, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2, all of which are nominated for the Oscar. Does that mean we should be considering Elio for an Oscar upset? No, but a win's a win! Pixar already has a contender for next award season with Hoppers, but we'll save that conversation for another day. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!