Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is one of the annual Awards given by the Los Angeles-based professional organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The Academy Awards, or Oscars, which are the oldest awards given to achievements in film, included the "Best Animated Feature" category for the first time for the 2001 film year. "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) remains the only animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.

The award is only given if there are at least eight animated feature films (with a theatrical release in Los Angeles). For the purposes of the award, only films over 70 minutes long are considered to be "feature films". If there are 16 or more films submitted for the category, the winner will be voted from a shortlist of five films, otherwise there will only be three films on the shortlist. [ [http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/rules/rule07.html Academy Awards Rules] Retrieved: 25 February 2007]

People in the animation industry and 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. Some members and fans however criticize the award, saying it is only intended to prevent animated films from having a chance of winning Best Picture. Official Academy Award regulations state that any movie nominated for this category can still be nominated for Best Picture. ["Films submitted in the Best Animated Feature Film category may qualify for Academy Awards in other areas, including Best Picture, provided they meet the rules criteria governing those categories." [http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/rules/rule07.html Academy Awards Rules] Retrieved: April 7, 2007] Nevertheless, psychological effects may prevent nominations or serve to suppress protests of an animated film's lack of a Best Picture nomination, much like the Oscars for Best Foreign Language film and Best Documentary Feature.

Since the Academy gives out this award, the Golden Globes and the BAFTA Awards followed the example.

=List of winners and nominees [ [http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1203966470439 List of Nominees and Winners in Animated Feature Film Category] Retrieved: February 25, 2008] =

*2001 (74th) "Shrek" - DreamWorks SKG - Aron Warner
**"" - Paramount Pictures - Steve Oedekerk, John A. Davis . Arsalan Ahmed
**"Monsters, Inc." - Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation Studios - Pete Docter, John Lasseter

*2002 (75th) "Spirited Away" - Toho (Japan) / Walt Disney Pictures (USA) - Hayao Miyazaki
**"Ice Age" - 20th Century Fox - Chris Wedge
**"Lilo & Stitch" - Walt Disney Pictures - Chris Sanders
**"" - DreamWorks SKG - Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mireille Soria
**"Treasure Planet" - Walt Disney Pictures - Ron Clements

*2003 (76th) "Finding Nemo" Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation Studios - Andrew Stanton
**"Brother Bear" - Walt Disney Picture - Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
**"The Triplets of Belleville" - Diaphana Films (France) / Sony Pictures Classics (USA) - Sylvain Chomet

*2004 (77th) "The Incredibles" - Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation Studios - Brad Bird
**"Shark Tale" - DreamWorks SKG - Bill Damaschke
**"Shrek 2" - DreamWorks SKG - Andrew Adamson

*2005 (78th) ' - DreamWorks SKG & Aardman Animations - Nick Park, Steve Box"'
**"Howl's Moving Castle" - Toho (Japan) / Walt Disney Pictures (USA) - Hayao Miyazaki
**"Corpse Bride" - Warner Bros. - Mike Johnson, Tim Burton

*2006 (79th) "Happy Feet" - Warner Bros. (USA) / Village Roadshow Pictures (Australia) - George Miller
**"Cars" - Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation Studios - John Lasseter
**"Monster House" - Columbia Pictures - Gil Kenan

*"'2007 (80th) "Ratatouille" - Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation Studios - Brad Bird
**"Surf's Up" - Columbia Pictures - Lydia Bottegoni, Chris Buck
** "Persepolis" - Sony Pictures Classics - Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud

Notes

See also

*List of animated feature-length films
*Annie Award for Best Animated Feature
*BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film
*Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film
*Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year

External links

* [http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1203966470439Results Academy Awards Database - AMPAS]