The best animated film with a running time of more than 40 minutes, a significant number of the major characters animated, and at least 75 percent of the picture's running time including animation.
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for the best animated film. An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 for films released in 2001.[1][2][3]
The entire AMPAS membership has been eligible to choose the winner since the award's inception. If there are sixteen or more films submitted for the category, the winner is voted from a shortlist of five films, otherwise there will only be three films on the shortlist.[4]
By 2001, the rise of sustained competitors to Disney in the feature animated film market, such as DreamWorks Animation (founded by former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg), created an increase of film releases of significant annual number enough for AMPAS to reconsider.[5] The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first given out at the 74th Academy Awards,[11] held on March 24, 2002.[12] The academy included a rule that stated that the award would not be presented in a year in which fewer than eight eligible films opened in theaters.[13] It dropped the rule on April 23, 2019, to make voting for animated films more acceptable.[14] People in the animation industry, as well as fans, expressed hope that the prestige from this award and the resulting boost to the box office would encourage the increased production of animated features.[citation needed]
In 2009, when the nominee slots for Best Picture were doubled to ten, Up was nominated for both Animated Feature and Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards, the first to do so since the inception of the Animated Feature category. This feat was repeated the following year by Toy Story 3.[citation needed]
In 2022, it was unclear whether Marcel the Shell with Shoes On would be eligible for the award at the 95th Academy Awards due to being a live-action/stop-motion animated hybrid. Director Dean Fleischer Camp said that he and A24 had to submit documentation in order to prove the film had enough animation to meet the award's minimum requirements.[15][16] The AMPAS officially deemed the film eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature category and was eventually nominated for said category.[17]
Best Picture criticism
As of 2008, some members and fans have criticized the category; however, saying it is only intended to prevent animated films from having a chance of winning and nominating Best Picture. The most notable example is Shrek, became an immediate favorite for the nomination, similar the way of nominating animated films like the animation rivalry's 1991 film Beauty and the Beast; DreamWorks had advertised heavily during the holiday 2001 season for the film like the studio's previous years, but it didn’t materialize the category due to its inauguration of the Best Animated Film category, which sparked criticism from the industry,[18] though it ultimately won the inaugural Best Animated Feature award.[1] Nonetheless, it was successfully nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and was also the first animated film to be nominated for PGA Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture, BAFTA Award for Best Film, and Critics' Choice Awards for Best Picture, respectively.[19][20]
Another criticism surrounding the category was particularly prominent at the 81st Academy Awards, in which WALL-E won the award but was not nominated for Best Picture, despite receiving multiple accolades.[21][22][23][24] This sparked controversy over whether the film was deliberately snubbed of such nomination by the Academy. Film critic Peter Travers commented that "if there was ever a time where an animated feature deserved to be nominated for Best Picture, it's WALL-E." However, official Academy Award regulations state that any film nominated for this category can still be nominated for Best Picture.[4] This, as well as more backlash that The Dark Knight was also not another Best Picture nominee meant that next year, the Academy expanded the Best Picture category.[25] After the expansion, two animated films—Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010)—were nominated for Best Picture.[26]
From 2010 onward, with the increasing competitiveness of the Animated Feature category, Pixar (a perennial nominee) did not receive nominations for several recent films due to the more mixed critical response and comparatively low box-office receipts, while Pixar's sister studio Disney Animation won their first three awards but in similar response.[27] Other studios have also come close to a Best Picture nomination with critical and commercial success, including Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (Netflix Animation),[28]The Boy and the Heron (Studio Ghibli),[29] and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Animation); the latter grew strong positive reactions and received several Best Picture nominations from critics' groups.[30]
Toy Story is the only franchise with multiple wins, for its third and fourth films. Additionally, the third film was the first sequel to win this category.
Of the several adult animated films (judging from their MPAA ratings), The Triplets of Belleville was the first PG-13 rated nominee and Anomalisa was the first, and so far only, R-rated animated film to be nominated; The Boy and The Heron became the first PG-13-rated winner.[53]
Studio Ghibli (Japan) has the most wins (two) and nominations (seven) for a non-US studio; Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron are the only non-English language films to win.[54][55][56]
2005 and 2011 are the only two-time years that Disney and Pixar films were completely shut out of the Best Animated Feature category.
People
Pete Docter has the most wins of any individual (3), and is tied with Hayao Miyazaki for the most nominations (4). Additionally, Miyazaki has the most wins and nominations for a non-US individual.
Hayao Miyazaki became the oldest winner in 2024 at the age of 83; he previously held the record between 2003 and 2023. Andrew Stanton is the youngest winner, having done so at the age of 38.
Byron Howard was the first queer person to win the award, doing so in 2017 for Zootopia and again in 2022 for Encanto. This also makes him the only two-time queer winner.
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