That said, this year’s race for the Academy Award for best animated short has seen one noteworthy change. To recap: a short can become eligible for an Oscar in one of three ways. It has to be publicly exhibited in a theater under certain conditions, or take home an award at a designated “qualifying” festival, or win at the Student Academy Awards. As some festivals were cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic, the number of films able to qualify through that route seems to have fallen slightly.