Remember the 2 fantasy films that have already won the Oscar

Although the genre has presented many successful films to audiences, the award has always been very resistant to offering recognition to these features. In this scenario, only two fantasy films have won the Best Picture Oscar to date. Check out which films achieved this historic feat.

The Return of the King was the first fantasy film to win the Oscar

The trilogy directed by Peter Jackson truly made history in cinema as one of the greatest works ever seen in Hollywood. Adapting the spectacular work of J. R. R. Tolkien, which already had a legion of fans due to the excellent books that were successful worldwide, the film trilogy managed to capture all the grandeur of the saga, bringing to the screen all the elements that were beloved by a legion of devoted readers. Recreating Middle-earth flawlessly, Peter Jackson delivered a result that was quite faithful despite some modifications, which was enough to please longtime fans and also attract an even larger audience to the work. However, The Lord of the Rings trilogy "broke the bubble", being special not only for fantasy fans, but also for film fans in general. With The Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson already showed he wasn't joking around and made it clear all his skill as a director, introducing the famous group that would be marked in history. Already in The Two Towers, the director continued showing that he knew exactly how to deliver the quality expected by fans, with everything being finalized in The Return of the King in a spectacular way. In the third film of the trilogy, Peter Jackson delivered a directorial masterclass and provided an epic and worthy ending, which was recognized at the Oscar. While the previous films had already secured statuettes, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received an incredible 11 nominations at the 2004 Oscar. Making things even more impressive and proving to be an absurd success, the film was the winner in all categories in which it was nominated, sweeping the awards and being the first fantasy film to win the Best Picture Oscar. With the title, Peter Jackson also achieved the long-awaited Best Director Oscar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKeQrChkTY

The Shape of Water was Guillermo Del Toro's consecration

After The Return of the King made history and became the first film of the genre to win the Oscar, fantasy again endured a long period without receiving the highest shine of the award. Although Peter Jackson managed to break the barrier, the truth is that the Academy continued to show itself opposed to recognizing films with these characteristics. If it took a director of Peter Jackson's caliber to make history, the fantasy genre needed another giant name to reach Hollywood's highest glory again. Fourteen years after the success of The Return of the King, Guillermo del Toro appeared with his new feature to bring new joy to fantasy fans at the Oscar. The Shape of Water is not set in a fantastical world with Middle-earth and does not present major conflicts between different races like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it is still a film immersed in fantasy. Del Toro's feature mixes elements of romance, drama, horror, suspense, and fantasy, being a true work of art from the filmmaker who is strongly connected to horror. The film was nominated in 13 categories at the 2018 Oscar, being the big winner in the Best Picture category, and Guillermo del Toro also took home the Best Director award. The Shape of Water also earned statuettes in two more categories: Best Production Design and Best Original Score. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DTVuQTZr3E