Academy Award for Best Original Score

Lore & Background

The category was first awarded in 1935 as Best Scoring, initially mixing original scores with adaptations. After the controversial 1938 win of Charles Previn for One Hundred Men and a Girl—a film without a credited composer that used pre-existing classical music—the Academy created a separate Best Original Score category in 1939. In 1942, the scoring categories were split into Best Music Score of a Dramatic Picture and Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, marking the first genre-based division. This split lasted until 1985, with exceptions in 1958, 1981, and 1982, and both categories underwent many name changes over the decades.

Following four wins by Walt Disney Feature Animation films between 1990 and 1995—The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King—the Academy again split the category in 1996 into Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. This change proved unpopular, as noted by rules committee chairman Charles Bernstein, who observed that no other Oscar category depended on a film's genre. The split was reverted in 2000. In 2020, rules required a minimum of 60% original music, lowered to 35% in 2021, with sequels and franchise films requiring 80% new music.

Reader's Guide

The Academy Award for Best Original Score has a complex history of category divisions and rule changes that reflect the evolving understanding of film music's role. The category's frequent renaming and splitting—particularly the 1942 separation of dramatic and musical scores and the 1996 reintroduction of genre-based categories—illustrate ongoing tensions between recognizing original composition versus adaptation, and between dramatic underscoring and musical numbers. The 1938 controversy over Charles Previn's win for a film using pre-existing classical music directly prompted the creation of a dedicated original score category. The Disney Renaissance wins of the 1990s led to another split, which was reversed after criticism that genre-based categories were inconsistent with other Oscar categories. The minimum original music requirement has shifted from 60% (2020) to 35% (2021), with higher thresholds for sequels. A separate Best Original Musical category exists but has never been awarded due to insufficient eligible submissions. Notable multiple winners include Alfred Newman (9 wins), John Williams (5 wins), and Alan Menken (4 wins).

Did You Know?

• Alfred Newman holds the record for most wins in this category with 9 awards from 43 nominations.
• John Williams has been nominated a record 49 times, winning five times for films including Jaws, Star Wars, and Schindler's List.