Garland received a special Academy Juvenile Award on February 29, 1940, for her performances in 1939, including The Wizard of Oz.
On February 29, 1940, at the 12th Academy Awards ceremony, seventeen-year-old Judy Garland was presented with a special miniature Academy Juvenile Award (an Oscar statuette scaled down in size) in recognition of her 'outstanding performance as a screen juvenile' during the previous year.
The honor specifically celebrated her unforgettable performance as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, as well as her work in Babes in Arms alongside Mickey Rooney. The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939, would go on to become one of the most beloved films in American cinema history, and Garland's rendition of 'Over the Rainbow' became an enduring anthem of hope.
The Juvenile Award category, given intermittently by the Academy between 1934 and 1960, recognized outstanding contributions by child actors who were not yet eligible to compete in the main acting categories dominated by adult performers. Garland's award cemented her status as Hollywood's brightest young star and marked the beginning of a legendary, if turbulent, career in film and music. It remains one of the most iconic recognitions of a child performer in Hollywood history.