^{Credit: Snow White (Walt Disney Motion Pictures), Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm), Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros.), Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (Clarius Entertainment)}

Unsurprisingly, Amazon’s War of the Worlds was the big winner at the 46th Golden Raspberry Awards, picking up Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Ice Cube), Worst Director (Rich Lee), Worst Screenplay (Kenny Golde, Marc Hyman), and Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel. Yet, Disney’s live-action Snow White remake, which tied War of the Worlds for the most nominations (6), still managed to pick up a pair of Razzies. “All Seven Artificial Dwarfs” won the awards for Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screen Combo. In the latter category, they beat out James Corden and Rihanna for Smurfs. Although they’re never actually referred to as “Dwarfs” in the film, that’s just one reason why a Snow White remake wasn’t the best idea.

Whether you call them “Dwarfs” or “Magical Beings,” as the film’s promotion put it, they’re now among a handful of animated performances that won Razzie Awards. Kim Basinger’s performance as Holli Would in Ralph Bakshi’s Cool World marked the first time the Razzies nominated a voiceover performance, although the future Oscar winner also appears in live-action. The Razzies went on to nominate Macaulay Culkin for 1994’s The Pagemaster and Beavis and Butt-Head for their 1996 cinematic debut. The shade at Beavis and Butt-Head still feels unwarranted, as does that year’s nomination for Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame in Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million. The Razzies really ought to rescind those nominations as they did for Shelley Duvall's performance in The Shining.

Ahmed Best became the first actor to win a competitive Razzie for a voiceover/motion capture performance, playing Jar-Jar Binks in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Although treated as a punchline for years, Best’s portrayal of Jar-Jar has seen a reappraisal. This arguably started at the 36th Annie Awards when Best won for his voiceover work as Jar-Jar in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II. At the 35th Golden Raspberry Awards, Kelsey Grammer became the first actor to win a Razzie for an entirely animated project. He took home Worst Supporting Actor for voicing the Tin Man in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. The win was also for Grammer’s live-action work in Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Expendables 3 that year.

Similarly, Kaley Cuoco won Worst Supporting Actress in 2016 for voicing Eleanor in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip. However, the win extended to her performance in The Wedding Ringer. In 2022, LeBron James won multiple Razzies, including Worst Actor, for playing himself in Space Jam: A New Legacy. For a portion of that film, James gets animated, which is arguably when his acting is at its most acceptable. Rebel Wilson also won her first Razzie for playing Jennyanydots in 2019’s Cats, which employed digital fur. Wilson and James Corden tried to pin the blame on the effects artists during an infamous Oscar bit, but as the Visual Effects Society responded, “The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly.”

Wilson won her second Razzie this year for Worst Actress in Bride Hard. Meanwhile, Worst Supporting Actress went to Scarlet Rose Stallone for Gunslinger. It’s still hard to fathom that Gal Gadot wasn’t even nominated in the latter category for her turn as the Queen in Snow White. After she was excluded from the shortlist, there were reportedly multiple Razzies voters who still wrote in Gadot’s name. This wasn’t enough to get her a nomination, however. There have been various conspiracy theories as to what went on behind the scenes.

Did enough voters genuinely think there were five performances worse than Gadot’s, or did her PR team work their magic? Some have theorized that Gadot was purposely omitted to ensure the Razzie went to Scarlet Rose Stallone, Sylvester Stallone’s daughter. Sylvester Stallone is the most decorated actor in Razzie history, although one of his wins was for the Razzie Redeemer Award following Creed’s success. Nevertheless, the Razzies still seem to have it out for Stallone and his family. Mr. Stallone also received a Worst Supporting Actor nomination this year for Alarum, but that award, of course, went to “All Seven Artificial Dwarfs.”

Notably, the two Razzies for the “Dwarfs” aren’t attributed to any of their voice or motion-capture actors. The winners are simply the Dwarfs themselves, in all of their artificial nightmare fuel. While the Razzies are fun, the wins for the Dwarfs demonstrate why they’re essentially a joke award. They aren’t meant to be taken that seriously. Even so, it is funny to think that in early 2025, Gadot and Rachel Zegler were presenting the Best Visual Effects Oscar. Now, just over a year later, their film has won two Razzies for some of the most misguided digital creations ever to roam the uncanny valley.

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