Next month, the Academy will dutifully hand out Oscars to an array of very deserving, very human winners.

But has a little gold man ever gone to someone who may not be a person at all? From “Babe” to “War Horse” to “Life of Pi,” many animal stories have fetched best picture nominations, while camera-mugging canines Uggie (“The Artist”) and Messi (“Anatomy of a Fall”) have been boons to their films’ respective awards campaigns. But none of those movies’ four-legged stars went on to receive Oscar statues of their own.

The only animal “winner” ever appears to be a 2D-animated mouse wearing buttoned shorts and shoes – and even that comes with a few asterisks. Here’s what we know:

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Has Mickey Mouse ever won an Oscar?

In 1932, Walt Disney received an honorary Oscar for the creation of Mickey Mouse, who was introduced in 1928 and appeared in more than three dozen cartoon shorts over the next few years.

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It’s become a popular bit of internet lore that Mickey is technically the first non-human to win an Oscar. Although it made for a very cute photo op, Disney himself was the recipient of the award, not the talking rodent.

How many Oscars did Walt Disney win?

Disney received 26 Oscars, both competitive and non-competitive, throughout his career, including a special prize in 1939 for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” In addition to the standard-size gold statuette, the animation trailblazer was given seven tiny Oscars mounted on a miniature staircase.

Who are the most Oscar-winning cartoon characters?

Mickey’s cartoons have been nominated for nearly a dozen Oscars over the years, all in the category of best animated short film. But the only one to win was 1941’s “Lend a Paw,” in which Pluto saves a spunky little kitten and winds up fighting for Mickey’s attention.

Notably, “Tom & Jerry” are the most Oscar-winning cartoon characters ever with seven statues, beginning with 1943’s “The Yankee Doodle Mouse.” The playful cat-and-mouse shorts were nominated for 13 total Oscars throughout the 1940s and ‘50s.

Has an animal ever won an Oscar?

There is nothing in the Academy’s official rules stating that an actor must be human in order to be Oscar eligible, or that animals are not allowed to contend for the prize. According to Susan Orlean’s 2011 book “Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend,” Rinty received the most best actor votes during the Oscars’ first year, but Academy members worried it would delegitimize the awards. (Bruce Davis, the Academy’s former executive director, later denied Orlean’s claim.)

But there is precedent for honoring Hollywood dogs and their trainers at other awards ceremonies: In 2023, Messi, a border collie, won the prestigious Palm Dog Award at France’s Cannes Film Festival for his mesmerizing turn in “Anatomy of a Fall.” And for many decades, the American Humane Association hosted the annual PATSY Awards, recognizing iconic canines in “Old Yeller,” “The Shaggy Dog” and TV’s “Lassie.”