The winners of the second annual Ursa Major Award (formally the Anthropomorphic Literature & Arts of the Year Awards), for the Best in anthropomorphic/"funny animal" literature and art first published during the calendar year 2002, were announced at a presentation ceremony on Friday, April 25 at ConFurence 2003, the 15th annual International Anthropomorphic Convention held at the Hilton Burbank Airport and Convention Center in Burbank, California on April 25 - 27, 2003.

The Ursa Major Award is Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom's equivalents of s-f fandom's Hugo Award, mystery fandom's Anthony Award, horror fandom's Bram Stoker Award, and so forth. The Ursa Majors were administered and presented by The ConFurence Group, a membership organization dedicated to promoting anthropomorphic fandom-related events. Nominations for the awards were open to the public, but voting on the final ballot was limited to members of the annual ConFurence convention. The physical award consisted of an illustrated trophy certificate or plaque, designed for the first two years when presented at the ConFurence by that ConFurence's Artist Guest-of-Honor. The image at right designed by Roy Pounds II is available for the winners to put on their websites.

Eligibility in nine categories was for works featuring intelligent &/or talking animals first published during the calendar year 2002. This could include new compilations of older works, such as a new collection of previously-published separate works.  The winners were chosen by popular vote among the ConFurence's membership from five finalists in each category.

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture

Lilo & Stitch

Disney, June 21, 2002

Also nominated were:
Ice Age (20th Century Fox, March 15, 2002)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (DreamWorks SKG, May 24, 2002)
Spirited Away (Disney, September 20, 2002)
Stuart Little 2 (Columbia Pictures, July 19, 2002)

Best Anthropomorphic TV Series

Greg the Bunny

Steven Levitan Productions for 20th Century Fox Television; 13 episodes, March 27 - August 25, 2002

Also nominated were:
Between the Lions (WGBH Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. for PBS syndication; 2002 new episodes, 3rd season, #56 - #65, September 16 - November 18)
Dinotopia (Hallmark Entertainment and MAT I Production for ABC; 3 episode mini-series, May 12 - May 14). Dinotopia: The Series (Hallmark Entertainment and MAT I Production for ABC; 2002 new episodes, 1st season, #1 - #6, November 28 - December 26)
Redwall; a.k.a. Brian Jacques' Martin the Warrior: A Tale of Redwall (Nelvana Ltd. for Teletoon in Canada, December 2001 and PBS syndication in the U.S., 2002; 2002 U.S. new episodes, Redwall 3rd season #27 - #39; a.k.a. Martin the Warrior 1st season #1 - #13, April 14 - July 28))
Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (CineGroupe, in association with Children's Television Workshop and IF/X Productions for PBS syndication; 2002 new episodes, #21 (February 13) to #40 (October 5))

Best Anthropomorphic Novel

Rescue Ferrets at Sea

(The Ferret Chronicles #1), by Richard Bach.

Scribner/Ferret House Press, June 2002.

Also nominated were:
Ecce Femina, by Raven Blackmane, in TSAT (Transformation Stories, Art, Talk) #25, December 2002-January 2003.
Changespell Legacy, by Doranna Durgin. Baen Books, June 2002.
Scars: An Ironclaw Novel, by Ted MacKinnon. Sanguine Productions, Ltd., January 2002.
Doom's Break: The Third Book of Arna, by Christopher Rowley. ROC Books, December 2002.

Best Anthropomorphic Short Story

"Familiars"

by Michael H. Payne

in Sword and Sorceress XIX, edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. DAW Books, January 2002.

Also nominated were:
"Six", by Samuel C. Conway, in Anthrolations #5, July 2002.
"Ailoura", by Paul Di Filippo, in Once Upon a Galaxy, edited by Wil McCarthy, Martin H. Greenberg & John Helfers. DAW Books, September 2002.
"Milk Run", by Jim Hayden, in Yarf! #65, July 2002.
"A Prison of Clouds", by Tim Susman, in Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, edited by Tim Susman. Sofawolf Press, January 2002.

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work

Ozy and Millie IV: Authentic Banana Dye

by David Simpson.

Plan Nine Publishing, November 2002. (Comic strip collection)

Also nominated were:
Fornax: Outtakes from a Recording Studio, by Gary Akins, Jr. Fauxpaw Productions, July 2002.
A Search for Meaning: The Story of Rex, color edition, by Michel Gagné. Gagné International Press, May 2002. (Children's picture book.)
Three Fingers, by Rich Koslowski. Top Shelf Productions, July 2002. (Cartoon art novel)
Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, edited by Tim Susman. Sofawolf Press, January 2002. (Collection of short stories)

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip

Usagi Yojimbo

by Stan Sakai.

Comic book, Dark Horse, monthly, 2002 issues from v. III #54, January to #62, November

Also nominated were:
Under the Lemon Tree, by Ralph E. Hayes, Jr. (Comic strip, Internet, tri-weekly, 2002 strips from January 2 to December 30)
Kevin & Kell, by Bill Holbrook. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2002 strips from January 1 to December 31)
Scrued, by Melissa Jewel. (Comic strip, Internet, irregular, 2002 strips from March 13 to December 23)
Herobear and the Kid, by Mike Kunkel. (Comic book, Astonish Comics, irregular, 2002 issues from #4, undated but published in January, to #5, undated but published in November)

Best Anthropomorphic Fanzine

Yarf!

2002 issues from #63, January, to #65, July

Also nominated were:
Anthrolations (2002 issues from #5, July, to #6, November)
Huzzah! (2002 issues from #45, February, to #48, November)
South Fur Lands (2002 issues from #24, March, to #27, December)
Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe (2002 issues from #29, March, to #31, December)

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration

Cover of Furrlough #109, January 2002.

by Natasha "Dark Natasha" Mleynek.

Also nominated were:
Heather Bruton. Cover painting for Anubis: Dark Desire #1, June 2002.
Heather Bruton. Cover painting for Furrlough #112, April 2002.
Odis Holcomb. Cover painting for Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, edited by Tim Susman, January 2002.
Chuck Melville. Cover painting for Wild Kingdom #13, April 2002.

Best Anthropomorphic Game

Star Fox Adventures.

Designer: Rare, Ltd.; Publisher: Nintendo, September 23, 2002.

Also nominated were:
JADECLAW: The Anthropomorphic Fantasy Role-Playing Game! Developer & Publisher: Sanguine Productions, Ltd., January 2002.
Kingdom Hearts. Developer: SquareSoft; Publisher: Square Electronic Arts, September 17, 2002.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. Developer: Sucker Punch; Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment, September 24, 2002.
Tank Vixens: The Card Game, by Paul Kidd (writer) & Greg Panovich (artist). United Publications, November 2002.