[9] 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.

[13] 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.

[19] 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.

"[19] This rule was possibly made to prevent nominations of live-action films that rely heavily on motion capture, such as Avatar (2009).

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.