UKPSC Prelims 2024 Q101: Which film won the Best Animated Feature Film award at the

Q: What is the answer to UKPSC Prelims 2024 Q101?

A. Correct — A, The Boy and The Heron. **The Boy and The Heron** took Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, held on 10 March 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the films of 2023. Hayao Miyazaki directed it and Toshio Suzuki produced it for Studio Ghibli, and the two were credited as the winners. Its Japanese title, Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka ('How Do You Live?'), borrows the name of Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel, though the film is not an adaptation of it. It opened in Japan on 14 July 2023 and then won the Golden Globe in January, the BAFTA in February and the Oscar in March. The idea to carry away: **the 96th Oscars' animated-feature winner was a Japanese Studio Ghibli film, not a Pixar release**. Miyazaki had won the same category once before, for Spirited Away at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003, so the name and the studio are the anchors to remember.

UKPSC Prelims 2024 General Studies Paper-I · Question 101 of 147

Verified against the official question booklet. Answer as per UKPSC's provisional answer key.

Answers from UKPSC's provisional answer key. The Commission publishes a provisional key for UKPSC Prelims 2024 and invites objections before issuing a final key. Every answer shown here is the Commission's own provisional answer (key PDF), not our derivation. If the final key changes an answer, this page is updated to match.

Which film won the Best Animated Feature Film award at the 96th Academy Awards?

(a)The Boy and The Heron
(b)Elemental
(c)Robot Dreams
(d)War is Over

Answer

Why

Correct — A, The Boy and The Heron.

The Boy and The Heron took Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, held on 10 March 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the films of 2023. Hayao Miyazaki directed it and Toshio Suzuki produced it for Studio Ghibli, and the two were credited as the winners.

Its Japanese title, Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka ('How Do You Live?'), borrows the name of Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel, though the film is not an adaptation of it. It opened in Japan on 14 July 2023 and then won the Golden Globe in January, the BAFTA in February and the Oscar in March.

The idea to carry away: the 96th Oscars' animated-feature winner was a Japanese Studio Ghibli film, not a Pixar release. Miyazaki had won the same category once before, for Spirited Away at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003, so the name and the studio are the anchors to remember.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Elemental — Elemental was a nominee in the same category, not the winner. It is the Pixar film directed by Peter Sohn and produced with Denise Ream, one of the four films The Boy and The Heron beat, alongside Nimona, Robot Dreams and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
It is the right answer if a question asks for the Pixar entry among the Best Animated Feature nominees at the 96th Academy Awards.
(c)
Robot Dreams — Robot Dreams was also a Best Animated Feature nominee at the 96th Academy Awards and did not win. It is a Spanish-French animated film directed by Pablo Berger, adapted from Sara Varon's graphic novel and told without dialogue.
It is the right answer to which Pablo Berger film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
(d)
War is Over — War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko did win an Oscar that night, but in a different category: Best Animated Short Film, credited to Dave Mullins and Brad Booker. The stem asks for the feature-film award, so a short film cannot be the answer however familiar the title looks.
It is the right answer to which film won Best Animated Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Concept

The Academy Awards, or Oscars, are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the United States. Each ceremony is numbered and honours the previous calendar year's films, so the 96th ceremony, held in March 2024, rewarded 2023 releases.

Animation has two separate competitive categories: Best Animated Feature Film, added at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 with Shrek as its first winner, and Best Animated Short Film. A title competes in one or the other depending on its running time, so a short-film winner is not a feature-film winner.

Award questions in a General Studies paper test whether a candidate keeps the ceremony number, the year, the category and the winner apart.

Here the difficulty sits in the category: the four options are real Oscar titles from the same night, but three competed for the feature award and the fourth won the short-film award.

The 96th ceremony also matters for its headline results. Oppenheimer won seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan, and The Zone of Interest, entered by the United Kingdom, won Best International Feature Film.

Key facts

The 96th Academy Awards were held on 10 March 2024 at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, honouring films of 2023.
The Boy and the Heron won Best Animated Feature; director Hayao Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki of Studio Ghibli were credited.
The other Best Animated Feature nominees at the 96th ceremony were Elemental, Nimona, Robot Dreams and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko won Best Animated Short Film, credited to Dave Mullins and Brad Booker.
The Boy and the Heron's Japanese title, Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, means 'How Do You Live?'; it opened in Japan on 14 July 2023.
Before the Oscar, the film won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature (7 January 2024) and the BAFTA for Best Animated Film (18 February 2024).
Miyazaki's earlier win in this category was Spirited Away at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003; The Boy and the Heron is the second non-English-language winner.
Oppenheimer won seven awards at the 96th ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director (Christopher Nolan); The Zone of Interest won Best International Feature Film.
The Best Animated Feature category began at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002; Shrek was its first winner.
At the 95th Academy Awards (March 2023) the category went to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio; at the 97th (March 2025) it went to Flow, directed by Gints Zilbalodis.

96th Academy Awards: where each option belongs

The Boy and The Heron→Best Animated Feature — winner (Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli)

Elemental→Best Animated Feature — nominee (Pixar, Peter Sohn)

Robot Dreams→Best Animated Feature — nominee (Spain/France, Pablo Berger)

War is Over→Best Animated Short Film — winner (Mullins, Booker)

Nimona; Across the Spider-Verse→Best Animated Feature — remaining nominees

Same ceremony, 10 March 2024: three options competed for the feature award and one won the short-film award instead.

Study next

Best Animated Feature winners by ceremony: 95th Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, 96th The Boy and the Heron, 97th FlowHeadline winners of the 96th Academy Awards: Oppenheimer (Best Picture, Best Director) and The Zone of Interest (Best International Feature Film)India at the Oscars: Naatu Naatu (Best Original Song) and The Elephant Whisperers (Best Documentary Short Film) at the 95th Academy AwardsHayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli: Spirited Away (75th Academy Awards) and The Boy and the Heron (96th)Golden Globes and BAFTA as the awards-season precursors to the Oscars

Common traps

Reading 'War is Over' as the winner because it did win an Oscar that night; it won Best Animated Short Film, not the feature award the stem names.
Assuming the Pixar title wins by default; at the 96th ceremony Elemental was a nominee and the Japanese Studio Ghibli film won.
Mixing up the ceremony number with the film year: the 96th ceremony was held in 2024 but honoured 2023 releases such as The Boy and the Heron.
Sliding to a neighbouring year: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (95th, 2023) and Flow (97th, 2025) bracket this winner and become wrong picks if the ceremony number is misread.

The question can name the ceremony by its number (96th), by the year it was held (2024) or by the year of the films (2023), and ask for the winner of a stated category.

Options are drawn from that ceremony's nominees or from winners of neighbouring categories, so the work is matching title to category.

A reverse form gives the film and asks for its category, director or studio, or pairs winners with ceremonies in a match-the-columns list.

Related PYQs

CDS_GK_2024_II_Q1172024

Same ceremony, the 96th Academy Awards of March 2024, but a different category: that question asks for the Best Picture winner (Oppenheimer), this one for Best Animated Feature (The Boy and the Heron). Knowing the ceremony's headline winners answers both.

CDS_GK_2020_I_Q822020

Same institution, the Academy Awards, but an earlier ceremony (the 92nd) and an Indian angle: it asks which film India submitted for Best International Feature Film (Gully Boy), a submission rather than a win, whereas this question asks for a category winner at the 96th.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The film that won Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards was directed by:
- (a)Hayao Miyazaki
- (b)Peter Sohn
- (c)Pablo Berger
- (d)Guillermo del Toro
Answera — Hayao Miyazaki directed The Boy and the Heron, the 96th ceremony's winner. Peter Sohn directed Elemental and Pablo Berger directed Robot Dreams, both nominees that lost to it. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio won the category a year earlier, at the 95th Academy Awards in March 2023.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which film won the Best Animated Short Film award at the 96th Academy Awards?
- (a)Robot Dreams
- (b)War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko
- (c)Letter to a Pig
- (d)Ninety-Five Senses
Answerb — War Is Over!, credited to Dave Mullins and Brad Booker, won Best Animated Short Film on 10 March 2024. Letter to a Pig and Ninety-Five Senses were nominees in that category and lost to it.
Robot Dreams is a feature-length film; it was nominated for Best Animated Feature, not the short-film award.
practice — not a real PYQ
Consider the following statements about The Boy and the Heron: 1. It is a Studio Ghibli film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. 2. It won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA in their animated-film categories before winning the Academy Award. 3. Its Japanese title translates as 'How Do You Live?'. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)1 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Answerd — All three statements are correct. Miyazaki directed the film for Studio Ghibli (statement 1), and Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka means 'How Do You Live?' (statement 3).
Statement 2 is also correct: it took the Golden Globe on 7 January 2024 and the BAFTA on 18 February 2024 before the Oscar on 10 March 2024. Options a, b and c each drop a statement that is true.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which film won Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, held in March 2025?
- (a)Flow
- (b)The Wild Robot
- (c)Inside Out 2
- (d)Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Answera — Flow, a dialogue-free animated film from Latvia directed by Gints Zilbalodis, won the category at the 97th ceremony on 2 March 2025. The Wild Robot, Inside Out 2 and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl were nominees in the same category that year and lost to it.