Updated 13 December 2001, 17.15

Animated films are often some of the biggest hits of the year - Shrek and Monsters, Inc both took more than £130m at the box office.

But they are hardly ever put up for the best film Oscar, because nominations normally go to more serious films like Gladiator and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

			Fact File
	Cartoons nominated
		Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
		Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
		Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu
		Monsters, Inc
		Osmosis Jones
		The Prince of Light
		Shrek
		The Trumpet of the Swan
		Waking Life

To be in with a chance to be nominated, cartoon films must be more than 70 minutes long.

Three of the biggest films of all time in America are cartoons - The Lion King, Shrek and Toy Story 2.

Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was the first cartoon movie to get an Oscar - and its filmmakers were given one big award and seven little matching ones..