<Tr> <Th> Currently held by </Th> <Td> Coco (2017) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> oscars.org </Td> </Tr> <P> The Academy Awards are given each year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS or the Academy) for the best films and achievements of the previous year . 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 . </P> <P> 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 . Additionally, eight eligible animated features must have been theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for this category to be activated . </P>

When was the best animated feature film oscar introduced