The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animated feature 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.
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 Academy Honorary Award 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 1989, and Toy Story in 1996. 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.
Winners and nominees
When the category was first instated, the nomination went to the person(s) most involved in creating the film. This could be the producer, the director, or both. For the 76th Academy Awards in 2003, only the director(s) of the film received the nomination. For the 86th Academy Awards ten years later, this was amended to include one producer and up to two directors. For the 91st Academy Awards, this was amended once again to include up to four individuals, one of whom must be a director and one of whom must be a producer; an exception to this is that "[i]n the case of a TWO-PERSON TEAM with shared and equal director or producer credit, an additional statuette may be awarded."
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. In regards of the Academy, it allows for all members to make voting for animated films more acceptable.
At the same year, 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), directed by Academy Award for Best Director winners Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg respectively, and how they might not be eligible in this category in the future. The new rule now reads "An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of greater than 40 minutes, in which movement and characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture's running time." This rule was possibly made to prevent nominations of live-action films that rely heavily on motion capture, such as Avatar (2009).
Only three films (most are live-action/animation hybrid) have been disqualified for not meeting the 75 percent of animation threshold under submission. With exceptions, 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 stop-motion animated film with the use of live-action elements. 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. The AMPAS officially deemed the film eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature category and was eventually nominated for said category. + Table key
2000s Year Film Nominees 2001 Shrek Aron Warner Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius John A. Davis and Steve Oedekerk Monsters, Inc. Pete Docter and John Lasseter 2002 Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki Ice Age Chris Wedge Lilo & Stitch Chris Sanders Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Jeffrey Katzenberg Treasure Planet Ron Clements 2003 Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton Brother Bear Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker The Triplets of Belleville Sylvain Chomet 2004 The Incredibles Brad Bird Shark Tale Bill Damaschke Shrek 2 Andrew Adamson 2005 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Nick Park and Steve Box Corpse Bride Tim Burton and Mike Johnson Howl's Moving Castle Hayao Miyazaki 2006 Happy Feet George Miller Cars John Lasseter Monster House Gil Kenan 2007 Ratatouille Brad Bird Persepolis Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi Surf's Up Chris Buck and Ash Brannon 2008 WALL-E Andrew Stanton Bolt Byron Howard and Chris Williams Kung Fu Panda Mark Osborne and John Stevenson 2009 Up Pete Docter Coraline Henry Selick Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson The Princess and the Frog John Musker and Ron Clements The Secret of Kells Tomm Moore
2010s Year Film Nominees 2010 Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois The Illusionist Sylvain Chomet 2011 Rango Gore Verbinski A Cat in Paris Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli Chico and Rita Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh Nelson Puss in Boots Chris Miller 2012 Brave Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews Frankenweenie Tim Burton ParaNorman Chris Butler and Sam Fell The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! Peter Lord Wreck-It Ralph Rich Moore 2013 Frozen Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Peter Del Vecho The Croods Chris Sanders, Kristine Belson, and Kirk DeMicco Despicable Me 2Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, and Chris Meledandri Ernest & Celestine Didier Brunner and Benjamin Renner The Wind Rises Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki 2014 Big Hero 6 Don Hall, Chris Williams, and Roy Conli The Boxtrolls Travis Knight, Graham Annable, and Anthony Stacchi How to Train Your Dragon 2 Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold Song of the Sea Tomm Moore and Paul Young The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura 2015 Inside Out Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera Anomalisa Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman, and Rosa Tran Boy and the World Alê Abreu Shaun the Sheep Movie Mark Burton and Richard Starzak When Marnie Was There Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura 2016 Zootopia Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Clark Spencer Kubo and the Two Strings Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner Moana John Musker, Ron Clements, and Osnat Shurer My Life as a Courgette Claude Barras and Max Karli The Red Turtle Michaël Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki 2017 Coco Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson The Boss Baby Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito The Breadwinner Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo Ferdinand Carlos Saldanha and Lori Forte Loving Vincent Dorota Kobiela, Ivan Mactaggart, and Hugh Welchman 2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Incredibles 2 Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle Isle of Dogs Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, and Scott Rudin Mirai Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito Ralph Breaks the Internet Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, and Clark Spencer 2019 Toy Story 4 Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen, and Jonas Rivera How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Dean DeBlois, Bonnie Arnold, and Brad Lewis I Lost My Body Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice Klaus Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh, and Marisa Román Missing Link Chris Butler, Travis Knight, and Arianne Sutner
2020s Year Film Nominees 2020 Soul Pete Docter and Dana Murray Onward Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae Over the Moon Glen Keane, Peilin Chou, and Gennie Rim A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Will Becher, Paul Kewley, and Richard Phelan Wolfwalkers Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, Ross Stewart, and Paul Young 2021 Encanto Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino, and Clark Spencer Flee Charlotte de la Gournerie, Monica Hellström, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, and Signe Byrge Sørensen Luca Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren The Mitchells vs. the Machines Mike Rianda, Kurt Albrecht, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller Raya and the Last Dragon Peter Del Vecho, Carlos López Estrada, Don Hall, and Osnat Shurer 2022 Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Alex Bulkley, and Gary Ungar Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Dean Fleischer Camp, Andrew Goldman, Elisabeth Holm, Caroline Kaplan, and Paul Mezey Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Joel Crawford and Mark Swift The Sea Beast Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger Turning Red Lindsey Collins and Domee Shi 2023 The Boy and the Heron Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki Elemental Peter Sohn and Denise Ream Nimona Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan, and Julie Zackary Robot Dreams Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé, and Sandra Tapia Díaz Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal 2024 Flow Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens, and Gregory Zalcman Inside Out 2 Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen Memoir of a Snail Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham, and Richard Beek The Wild Robot Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann 2025 KPop Demon HuntersMaggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong Arco Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman Elio Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm Little Amélie or the Character of Rain Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon Zootopia 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino
Multiple wins and nominations
Nominees Winners are highlighted in bold below.