Academy Award for Best Animated Feature facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
Gints Zilbalodis, 2025 co-recipient
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Country	United States
First awarded	Shrek (2001)
Currently held by	Flow (2024)

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is a special prize given out every year. It's part of the famous Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) gives this award. It celebrates the best animated movies that are longer than 40 minutes. For a film to qualify, most of its main characters must be animated. Also, at least 75 percent of the movie's total time must be animation. This award was first given out in 2002 for movies released in 2001.

History of the Award

For a long time, the Academy didn't have a regular award for animated movies. They thought there weren't enough animated films made each year. Instead, they sometimes gave special Oscars for amazing animated movies. For example, Walt Disney Pictures received special awards for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1938. They also got special awards for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1989 and Toy Story in 1996. Before this award existed, only one animated film was nominated for the top prize, Best Picture. That was Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 1991.

By 2001, more studios started making animated feature films. Companies like DreamWorks Animation began to compete with Disney. This meant there were enough animated movies released each year to create a new award. So, the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first given at the 74th Academy Awards on March 24, 2002.

At first, there was a rule that the award wouldn't be given if fewer than eight eligible films were released. But this rule was removed in 2019. People in the animation world hoped this award would make animated movies more popular. They also hoped it would encourage more animated films to be made.

In 2009, the number of Best Picture nominees doubled to ten. That year, Up was nominated for both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture. This was a big deal! Toy Story 3 did the same thing the next year. Over time, the animated feature category became very competitive.

The Academy also made a new rule about "motion capture" films. Motion capture is a technique where actors' movements are recorded and then used to create animated characters. Movies like A Christmas Carol and The Adventures of Tintin used this. The rule now says that motion capture by itself isn't enough to be called an animated film. The movie must still use frame-by-frame animation for most of its characters and running time. This rule helps make sure that live-action movies that use a lot of special effects don't get nominated in this category.

In 2022, there was a question about Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. This movie mixes live-action with stop-motion animation. The filmmakers had to show the Academy that it had enough animation to qualify. The Academy agreed, and the film was nominated.

Recently, Flow made history. It was the first independent (indie) film to win this award. It also marked the third year in a row that a non-Disney film won the award.

Winners and Nominees

Hayao Miyazaki won in 2003 for Spirited Away and again in 2024 for The Boy and the Heron.

Andrew Stanton won in 2004 for Finding Nemo and again in 2009 for WALL-E.

Brad Bird won in 2005 for The Incredibles and again in 2008 for Ratatouille.

Nick Park won in 2006 for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

George Miller won in 2007 for Happy Feet.

Pete Docter holds the record for most wins in this category, winning three times for Up in 2010, Inside Out in 2016, and Soul in 2021.

Lee Unkrich won in 2011 for Toy Story 3 and again in 2018 for Coco.

Gore Verbinski won in 2012 for Rango.

Chris Buck won in 2014 for Frozen.

Jonas Rivera won in 2016 for Inside Out and again in 2020 for Toy Story 4.

Byron Howard won in 2017 for Zootopia and again in 2022 for Encanto.

Guillermo del Toro won in 2023 for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.

This section lists some of the individuals and studios that have won or been nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Multiple Wins and Nominations

This table shows individuals who have won or been nominated multiple times.

Studios with Wins and Nominations

This table shows which animation studios have won or been nominated for the award.

Franchises with Wins and Nominations

This table shows animated movie series that have won or been nominated for the award.

Award Records

Here are some interesting facts and records about the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Age Records

This table shows the ages of the oldest and youngest directors to win or be nominated.

Film Length Records

This table shows the shortest and longest films to win or be nominated.

More Milestones and Records

• Pixar has won the most awards for a studio (11 times). They also have the most nominations (19 times). Plus, they won four years in a row from 2007 to 2010.
  • Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios are both owned by the Walt Disney Company. Together, they have won 15 awards in this category.
• Laika has been nominated 6 times but hasn't won yet.
• Most winners have been computer-animated films. The exceptions are:
  • Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron (hand-drawn animation).
  • Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (stop-motion animation).
• The Toy Story series is the only one to win this award twice, for its third and fourth movies. These are also the only two sequels to win the award so far.
• Shrek and Wallace & Gromit are the most nominated series, with 4 nominations each. They both won once.
• Some animated films are made for older audiences. The Triplets of Belleville was the first nominee with a PG-13 rating. Anomalisa and Memoir of a Snail are the only R-rated animated films to be nominated. The Boy and the Heron was the first PG-13-rated winner.
• Studio Ghibli from 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.
• Flee was the first animated documentary film to be nominated.
• Shaun the Sheep Movie (and its sequel), The Red Turtle, Robot Dreams, and Flow are the only nominated films without dialogue. Flow won the award.
• Since 2019, at least one nominated film each year was mainly released on streaming services. Two of these films won: Soul (on Disney+) in 2020 and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (on Netflix) in 2022.
• In 2005 and 2011, no Disney or Pixar films were nominated for Best Animated Feature.
• Flow is the first independent film to win this award.

People Records

• Pete Docter has won the most awards as an individual (3 wins). He is also tied for the most nominations (4 nominations) with Hayao Miyazaki and Chris Sanders.
• Hayao Miyazaki is the oldest winner, at 83 years old in 2024. He held the record for oldest winner before this as well.
• Gints Zilbalodis is the youngest winner, at 30 years old in 2025. He broke the record that Andrew Stanton held for 21 years.
• Chris Sanders has the most nominations without winning, with four nominations.
• The award has seen more diversity over time:
  • Brenda Chapman was the first woman to win for Brave.
  • Peter Ramsey was the first Black director to win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
  • Yvett Merino was the first woman of color to win for Encanto.
• Byron Howard was the first openly queer person to win the award. He won in 2017 for Zootopia and again in 2022 for Encanto. This makes him the only person to win twice as an openly queer individual.

See Also

In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar a la mejor película de animación para niños

• Lists of animated films
• List of animation awards
• List of animated feature films nominated for Academy Awards
• List of submissions for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature