| Year |
Recipients |
| 1972 (1st) |
Max Fleischer†, Dave Fleischer |
| 1973 (2nd) |
Walter Lantz |
| 1974 (3rd) |
Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Art Babbitt, Winsor McCay† |
| 1975 (4th) |
Grim Natwick, Walt Disney†, John Hubley, Faith Hubley, Norman McLaren |
| 1976 (5th) |
Robert Cannon†, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Mike Maltese, George Pal, Ward Kimball |
| 1977 (6th) |
Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, Mel Blanc, Oskar Fischinger†, Bill Scott, Milt Kahl |
| 1978 (7th) |
Jay Ward, Ub Iwerks†, Dick Huemer, Carl Stalling†, Hans Conried |
| 1979 (8th) |
Clyde Geronimi, Bill Melendez, Mae Questel, Otto Messmer |
| 1980 (9th) |
Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, Cal Howard, Paul Julian, Laverne Harding |
| 1981 (10th) |
T. Hee, Bill Peet, Bill Tytla†, John Whitney, Ken Harris |
| 1982 (11th) |
Ken Anderson, Bruno Bozzetto, June Foray, Don Graham†, Marc Davis |
| 1983 (12th) |
Eric Larson, Fred Moore†, Clarence Nash, Wolfgang Reitherman, Leo Salkin, Stephen Bosustow†, Wilfred Jackson |
| 1984 (13th) |
Daws Butler, David Hand, Jack Kinney, Michael Lah, Robert McKimson†, Richard Williams, Hamilton Luske† |
| 1985 (14th) |
Robert Abel, Preston Blair, Joe Grant, John Halas, Sterling Holloway, Jim McDonald, Phil Monroe, Ben Washam† |
| 1986 (15th) |
Frederic Back, Shamus Culhane, William T. Hurtz, Irven Spence, Emery Hawkins, John Lounsbery† |
| 1987 (16th) |
Paul Driessen, Jack Hannah, Bill Littlejohn, Maurice Noble, Ken O'Connor, Norman Ferguson†, Mel Shaw |
| 1988 (17th) |
Ralph Bakshi, Bob Clampett†, Tissa David, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Virgil Ross |
| 1989–90 (18th) |
Art Clokey, Hicks Lokey, Alex Lovy, Don Messick, Osamu Tezuka†, Lester Novros |
| 1991 (19th) |
Ray Harryhausen, Herbert Klynn, Bob Kurtz, Yuri Norstein, Joe Siracusa, Ruth Kissane† |
| 1992 (20th) |
Les Clark†, Stan Freberg, David Hilberman |
| 1993 (21st) |
George Dunning†, Roy E. Disney, Jack Zander |
| 1994 (22nd) |
Ed Benedict, Arthur Davis, Jean Vander Pyl |
| 1995 (23rd) |
Jules Engel, Vance Gerry, Dan McLaughlin |
| 1996 (24th) |
Mary Blair†, Burny Mattinson, Iwao Takamoto |
| 1997 (25th) |
Willis O'Brien†, Myron Waldman, Paul Winchell |
| 1998 (26th) |
Eyvind Earle, Hayao Miyazaki, Ernest Pintoff |
| 1999 (27th) |
Ray Patterson, Marcell Jankovics, Con Pederson |
| 2000 (28th) |
Norman McCabe, Hoyt Curtin, Lucille Bliss |
| 2001 (29th) |
Bill Justice, Pete Alvarado, Bob Givens |
| 2002 (30th) |
Gene Hazelton, Floyd Norman, Sherman Brothers |
| 2003 (31st) |
Gene Deitch, John Hench†, Thurl Ravenscroft |
| 2004 (32nd) |
Don Bluth, Virginia Davis, Arnold Stang |
| 2005 (33rd) |
Corny Cole, Fred Crippen, Tyrus Wong |
| 2006 (34th) |
Andreas Deja, Genndy Tartakovsky, Bill Plympton |
| 2007 (35th) |
John Canemaker, Glen Keane, John Kricfalusi |
| 2008 (36th) |
Mike Judge, John Lasseter, Nick Park |
| 2009 (37th) |
Tim Burton, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bruce Timm |
| 2010 (38th) |
Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening |
| 2011 (39th) |
Walt Peregoy, Børge Ring, Ronald Searle† |
| 2012 (40th) |
Terry Gilliam, Oscar Grillo, Mark Henn |
| 2013 (41st) |
Katsuhiro Otomo, Steven Spielberg, Phil Tippett |
| 2014 (42nd) |
Didier Brunner, Don Lusk, Lee Mendelson |
| 2015 (43rd) |
Joe Ranft†, Phil Roman, Isao Takahata |
| 2016 (44th) |
Dale Baer, Caroline Leaf, Mamoru Oshii |
| 2017 (45th) |
James Baxter, Stephen Hillenburg, Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis |
| 2018 (46th) |
Ralph Eggleston, Andrea Romano, Frank Braxton† |
| 2019 (47th) |
Satoshi Kon†, Henry Selick, John Musker, Ron Clements |
| 2020 (48th) |
Willie Ito, Sue C. Nichols† and Bruce W. Smith |
| 2021 (49th) |
Ruben A. Aquino, Lillian Schwartz, Toshio Suzuki |
| 2022 (50th) |
Pete Docter, Evelyn Lambart†, Craig McCracken |
| 2023 (51st) |
Lotte Reiniger†, Joe Hisaishi, Marcy Page |
| 2024 (52nd) |
Aaron Blaise, Eunice Macaulay†, Normand Roger |
