Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. 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 made in 2001.

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, which has happened nine times, otherwise there will only be three films on the shortlist.

History

For much of the Academy Awards' history, AMPAS was resistant to the idea of a regular award for animated features, considering there were simply too few produced to justify such consideration. Instead, the Academy occasionally bestowed special Oscars for exceptional productions, usually for Walt Disney Pictures, such as for ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' in 1938, and the Special Achievement Academy Award for the live action/animated hybrid ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' in 1988 and ''Toy Story'' in 1995. In fact, prior to the award's creation, only one animated film was nominated for Best Picture: 1991's ''Beauty and the Beast'', also by Disney.

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. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first given out at the 74th Academy Awards, held on March 24, 2002. 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. It dropped the rule on April 23, 2019, to make voting for animated films more acceptable. 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.

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''.

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 films had to submit documentation in order to prove the film had enough animation to meet the award's minimum requirements Nonetheless, the AMPAS officially deemed the film eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature category.

Criticism and controversies

Best Picture criticism

Some members and fans have criticized the award, however, saying it is only intended to prevent animated films from having a chance of winning Best Picture. DreamWorks had advertised heavily during the holiday 2001 season for ''Shrek'', but was disappointed when the rumored Best Picture nomination did not materialize, though it was nominated for and ultimately won the inaugural Best Animated Feature award.

The criticism surrounding the Best Animated Feature 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 widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike and being generally considered to be one of the best films of 2008. 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.

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.

Eligibility of motion capture films

In 2010, the Academy enacted a new rule regarding the motion capture technique employed in films such as '' A Christmas Carol'' (2009) and ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (2011), each directed by Academy Award for Best Director winners Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, and how they might not be eligible in this category in the future. This rule was possibly made to prevent nominations of live-action films that rely heavily on motion capture, such as ''Avatar'' (2009).

Remarks about animated films as children's genre

On the 94th Academy Awards, the award for Best Animated Feature was presented by three actresses who portrayed as Disney princess characters in live-action remakes of their respective animated films: Lily James (''Cinderella''), Naomi Scott ('' Aladdin''), and Halle Bailey (''The Little Mermaid''). While introducing the category, Bailey stated that animated films are "formative experiences as kids who watch them", as James put it, "So many kids watch these movies over and over, over and over again". Scott added: "I see some parents who know exactly what we're talking about" (ironically one of the nominees, ''Flee'', was a documentary about a refugee fleeing the Soviet-Afghan War). The remarks were heavily criticized by those working in the animation industry as perpetuating the stigma that animated works are strictly for children, especially since the industry was credited with sustaining the flow of Hollywood content and revenue during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Phil Lord, co-producer of one of the nominated films, '' The Mitchells vs. the Machines'', tweeted that it was "Super cool to position animation as something that kids watch and adults have to endure". The film's official social media accounts responded to the joke with an image reading: "Animation IS cinema". A week later, Lord and his producing partner Chris Miller wrote a guest column in ''Variety'' criticizing the Academy for the joke and how Hollywood has been treating animation writing that "no one set out to diminish animated films, but it's high time we set out to elevate them". They also suggested to the Academy that the category should be presented by a filmmaker who respects the art of animation as cinema.

Adding to the controversy was the fact that the award for Best Animated Short Film (the nominees for which were mostly made up of shorts not aimed at children) was one of the eight categories that were not presented during the live broadcast. The winner for the Best Animated Short award was '' The Windshield Wiper'', a multilingual Spanish-American film which is adult animated, while another nominee in three categories; Best Animated, Documentary, and International Feature, was '' Flee,'' a PG-13 rated animated documentary about an Afghan refugee. Alberto Mielgo, director of ''The Windshield Wiper'', later gave an acceptance speech for the Oscar: “Animation is an art that includes every single art that you can imagine. Animation for adults is a fact. It’s happening. Let’s call it cinema. I’m very honored because this is just the beginning of what we can do with animation.” Some speculations suggested that the speech played a role in the decision to not broadcast the award.

Another factor is that numerous animated films have been made for mature audiences, with a few of them, ''Persepolis'', ''Anomalisa'', ''I Lost My Body,'' and '' Flee'', having been nominated in this category, though none have won.

These comments came as ''#NewDeal4Animation'', a movement of animation workers demanding equal pay, treatment and recognition alongside their contemporaries working in live-action, was picking up momentum during negotiations for a new contract between The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839/SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and the presentation is being used to rally the movement.

Winners and nominees

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple wins

;3 wins
* Pete Docter

;2 wins
* Brad Bird
* Byron Howard
* Jonas Rivera
* Clark Spencer
* Andrew Stanton
* Lee Unkrich

Multiple nominations

;4 nominations
* Pete Docter

;3 nominations
* Brad Bird
* Ron Clements
* Dean DeBlois
* Byron Howard
* Travis Knight
* Hayao Miyazaki
* Rich Moore
* Tomm Moore
* Chris Sanders
* Clark Spencer

;2 nominations
* Wes Anderson
* Bonnie Arnold
* Chris Buck
* Tim Burton
* Chris Butler
* Sylvain Chomet
* Don Hall
* John Lasseter
* Phil Lord
* Christopher Miller
* John Musker
* Yoshiaki Nishimura
* Jonas Rivera
* Osnat Shurer
* Andrew Stanton
* Arianne Sutner
* Toshio Suzuki
* Lee Unkrich
* Peter Del Vecho
* Chris Williams
* Paul Young

Studios by number of nominations

Notes

Records

Studios and films

* Pixar has the most wins with eleven and the most nominations with sixteen films of any studio.
* Laika has the most nominations without a win of any studio with six films.
* Almost all the winners have been computer-animated; ''Spirited Away'' is the only Japanese, hand-drawn and non-English-language animated film to win the category, and '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' is the only stop motion animated film to win.
*''Toy Story'' is the only franchise with multiple wins due to its third and fourth films.
*''Shrek'' (with one win), ''Wallace and Gromit'' (with one win), ''How to Train Your Dragon'', and Cartoon Saloon's "Irish Folklore Trilogy" (consisting of ''The Secret of Kells'', ''Song of the Sea'', and ''Wolfwalkers'') are the most-nominated franchises, with three films each.
* Of the eleven adult animated films nominated, eight of them—''The Triplets of Belleville'', ''Persepolis'', ''The Wind Rises'', ''My Life as a Zucchini'', '' The Breadwinner'', ''Loving Vincent'', ''Isle of Dogs'', and '' Flee''—were each rated PG-13. The only R-rated animated film to be nominated in this category is ''Anomalisa''. The remaining two films, ''Chico and Rita'' and ''I Lost My Body'', were not rated by the MPAA. But none of them won the category.
* There have been years when multiple animated films from the same studio were nominated. They are:
** 2002 – Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' and ''Treasure Planet''
** 2004 – DreamWorks Animation's ''Shrek 2'' and ''Shark Tale''
** 2011 – DreamWorks Animation's ''Kung Fu Panda 2'' and ''Puss in Boots''
** 2016 – Disney's ''Zootopia'' and '' Moana''
** 2020 – Pixar's '' Onward'' and ''Soul''
** 2021 – Disney's ''Raya and the Last Dragon'' and ''Encanto''
* ''Up'' and ''Toy Story 3'' are the first two films winning this category with Best Picture nominations after the Academy expanded the number of nominees from five to ten.
* ''Shrek'' is the only non-Disney/Pixar animated film to be nominated for a screenwriting category, Best Adapted Screenplay, while winning the inaugural Best Animated Feature film category.
* As of 2022, ''Shrek'' and ''WALL-E'' are the only winners that are inducted to the National Film Registry.
* Studio Ghibli ( Japan) and Aardman ( UK) have the most wins for a non-US studio with one win each.
* Studio Ghibli has the most nominations for a non-US studio with six films (winning one with ''Spirited Away'').
* ''Flee'' has the most nominations (3) for both an adult animated and documentary film, and the first film to be nominated in the categories of Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature, simultaneously.
* Only two motion capture-related computer animated films were nominated before new rules for disqualification of such films in 2010: ''Happy Feet'' and '' Monster House'' (the former won the award).
* Each five most prestigious film festivals (In Europe known as the "Big Three", are: Venice, Cannes and Berlin; In North America are Sundance and Toronto) who have won or nominate the major award from film festivals and Best Animated Feature category.
** ''Howl's Moving Castle'', ''The Wind Rises'', and ''Anomalisa'', are the only three films to compete Golden Lion at Venice and Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but none of them won.
** ''Anomalisa'' won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.
** ''Shrek'' won Academy Award for Best Animated Feature while it was nominated Palme d'Or at Cannes.
** ''Shrek 2'' and ''Persepolis'', were each nominated for both the Palme d'Or at Cannes and Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
*** ''Shrek'' and its sequel, ''Shrek 2'', is the only franchise to be nominated Palme d'Or twice.
** ''Spirited Away'' is the only film to win both major awards, Golden Bear at Berlin and Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
** Although ''Spirited Away'' was the only film to compete both as of 2017, ''Isle of Dogs'' became the second film to be nominated for both Golden Bear at Berlin and Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but it won Silver Bear.
** '' Flee'' won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary section at Sundance and People's Choice Award for Documentaries' second runner-up at Toronto while it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
*In Annecy International Animation Film Festival, only ''Flee'', ''I Lost My Body'', ''My Life as a Zucchini'', '' Boy and the World'', ''Fantastic Mr. Fox'' and ''Coraline'' each won the Annecy for Best Feature, but didn't won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
*Each ceremony as the most nominated animated films from different studios below;
**Four of each computer animated films (except ''Flee'') were nominated in the same year (2021), tying the record as the most nominated computer-animated films from three different studios, with ''Encanto'' as the only film to win.
**Four of them in the same year (2002); each films (except Blue Sky's ''Ice Age'') were using traditional animation; tying the record as the most nominated traditional animated films from all different studios, with ''Spirited Away'' as the only film to win.
**Three of them in the same year (2012); '' Frankenweenie'', ''ParaNorman'', and ''The Pirates! Band of Misfits''; tying the record as the most nominated stop-motion animated films from three different studios.

People

* In 2013, Brenda Chapman is the first woman to win in this category.
* In 2019, Peter Ramsey is the first African-American to win in this category.
* Pete Docter has the most wins and nominations of any individual, winning three awards for ''Up'', '' Inside Out'' and ''Soul''. His first and only nomination did not win was for '' Monsters, Inc.''
* Byron Howard has the most wins for a LGBT individual with two films.
* Dean DeBlois and Byron Howard has the most nominations for LGBT individuals with three films.
* Dean DeBlois (Canada) has the most nominations for a non-US individual with three films.
* Hayao Miyazaki (Japan), Nick Park & Steve Box (both UK), George Miller ( Australia), and Yvett Merino (Mexico) have the most wins for non-US individuals with one film winning each.
* Ron Clements, Dean DeBlois, Travis Knight, Tomm Moore, and Chris Sanders are tied for receiving the most nominations without winning, with three nominations each.

See also

* List of animation awards
* Lists of animated feature films
* List of animated feature films nominated for Academy Awards
* List of submissions for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
* List of animated feature films awards
* Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film
* Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film
* Annie Award for Best Animated Feature
* Annie Award for Best Animated Feature — Independent
* Producers Guild of America Award for Best Animated Motion Picture
* Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Animated Feature
* BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film
* Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature
* Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film
* Saturn Award for Best Animated Film
* Japan Media Arts Festival
* Animation Kobe
* Tokyo Anime Award

References

External links

Academy Awards Database – AMPAS

Academy Award WInning Feature Films
at Big Cartoon Database

{{Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

Animated Feature
Awards for best animated feature film
American animation awards
Awards established in 2001
History of animation