The winners of the first 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 2001, were announced at a presentation ceremony on Friday, April 26 at ConFurence 2002, the 14th annual International Anthropomorphic Convention held at the Hilton Burbank Airport and Convention Center in Burbank, California on April 26 - 28, 2002.

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 Roz Gibson 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 2001. 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

Shrek

DreamWorks SKG, released May 16, 2001)

Also nominated were:
Cats & Dogs (Warner Bros., July 4, 2001)
Dr. Dolittle 2 (Fox, June 19, 2001)
Monsters, Inc. (Disney/Pixar, November 2, 2001)
Planet of the Apes (Fox, July 27, 2001)

Best Anthropomorphic Television Series

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

(CineGroupe, in association with Children's Television Workshop and IF/X Productions for PBS syndication; 20 episodes, first broadcast September 3 to September 28, 2001)

Also nominated were:
Between the Lions (WGBH Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. for PBS syndication; 2001 new episodes, 2nd season, #31 - #55)
Disney's The Legend of Tarzan (Walt Disney Television Animation for UPN and syndication; 36 episodes, September 3, 2001 to October 14, 2001 [episodes #37-#39 produced but unaired])
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (Hartbreak Films, in association with Viacom, Inc.; 2001 new episodes January 12, 2001 [#108] through December 7, 2001 [#127])
Wolf Lake (Big Ticket Television, in association with CBS Productions; 5 episodes, Sept. 19, 2001 to October 24, 2001 [episodes #6-8 produced but unaired])

Best Anthropomorphic Novel

Casual Rex

by Eric Garcia

(Villiard Books, March 2001)

Also nominated were:
Lady: My Life as a Bitch, by Melvin Burgess (Andersen Press, September 2001)
The Sands of Time; a Hermux Tantamoq Adventure, by Michael Hoeye (Terfle Books, September 2001)
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett. (HarperCollins Publishers (U.S.)/Doubleday (U.K.), November 2001)
The Shast War: The Second Book of Arna, by Christopher Rowley (ROC Books, February 2001)

Best Anthropomorphic Short Story

"Beneath the Crystal Sea"

by Brock Hoagland

(in Hoagland's collection of original stories "Tales of Perissa"; London, United Publications, July 2001)

Also nominated were:
"Niner-Thirteen", by Jim Hayden, in Yarf! #61, January 2001.
"The Good Sport", by Bill Kieffer, on the Metamor Keep website, uploaded March 29, 2001.
"The Brave Little Cockroach", by Mark Mellon, in Anthrolations #3, January 2001.
"Man In The Mirror", by Sly Squirrel, on the Cubist's Stories website, posted October 17, 2001.

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work

The Sound & the Furry: The Complete Hoka Stories

by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson

(Science Fiction Book Club, April 2001; the first complete collection of the "Hoka" stories originally published from the 1950s through the 1980s)

Also nominated were:
I Love You, Because You're You, by Liza Baker, illustrated by David M. McPhail (Cartwheel Books, October 2001; children's picture book)
Havoc Inc. V.1, Risky Business, by Mark Barnard & Terrie Smith (Radio Comix, January 2001; comic book collection)
The Collected Tall Tails: Thieves' Quest, vol. 1, by J. D. Calderon & Daphne Lage (DreamWeaver Press, December 2001; comic book collection)
Tales of Perissa, by Brock Hoagland (United Publications, July 2001; collection of short stories)

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip

Usagi Yojimbo

by Stan Sakai

(Dark Horse, monthly comic book; 2001 issues include vol. III #45, January, through #53, December)

Also nominated were:
Get Fuzzy, by Darby Conley. (Comic strip, newspaper United Feature Syndicate & Internet, daily, 2001 strips from January 1 through December 31)
Jack, by David Hopkins. (Comic strip, Internet, usually Mon./Wed./Fri., 2001 strips from March 1 [#1] through December 31)
Kevin & Kell, by Bill Holbrook. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2001 strips from January 1 through December 31)
Living in Greytown, by Dave Kelly. (Comic strip, Internet, daily, 2001 strips from January 1 through December 31 [ended January 10, 2002])

Best Anthropomorphic Fanzine

Yarf!

(Published by Jeff Ferris & others; irregular; 2001 issues include #61, January, and #62, December)

Also nominated were:
Anthrolations (2001 issues from #3, January, to #4, July)
Fur Visions (2001 issues from #19, January, to #22, October)
PawPrints Fanzine (2001 issues: #12, Fall 2001 [announced as final issue])
Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe (2001 issues from #26, March, to #28, December)

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration

Front cover of Fur Visions #20

by XianJaguar (Brenda DiAntonis)

published by Karl Maurer in April, 2001.

Also nominated were:
Dust jacket painting for Kingdoms of Light, by Alan Dean Foster, February 2001. by Don Maitz.
Cover painting for Furrlough #102, June 2001. By Natasha "Dark Natasha" Mleynek.
Cover painting for World Tree, by Bard Bloom & Victoria Borah Bloom, January 2001. By Mike Raabe. Cover painting for Tales of Perissa, by Brock Hoagland, July 2001. By Vicky Wyman.

Best Anthropomorphic Game

Conker's Bad Fur Day

(Developed & published by Rareware; released March 5, 2001)

Also nominated were:
Black & White, by Peter Molyneaux. (Developer: Lionhead Studios, Ltd.; Publisher: Electronic Arts, March 27, 2001; with Patch updates in May, June & July)
Bloody Roar 3. (Developer: Eighting; Publisher: Activision, June 26, 2001)
Looney Toons Sheep Raider. (Developer & Publisher: Infogrames Interactive, Inc., May 29, 2001)
World Tree, by Bard Bloom & Victoria Borah Bloom. (Padwolf Publishing, January 2001)