First winner of a PATSY Award

The first recipient of a PATSY Award, instigated by the American Humane Association, was Francis the Talking Mule, portrayed in the movie Francis (USA, 1950) by a female mule named Molly and voiced by actor Chill Wills. A gold-plated statuette was presented on 6 March 1951 by actor James Stewart at a ceremony hosted by future US President Ronald Reagan in Hollywood's Carthay Circle Theater.

The PATSY Award – aka Picture Animal Top Star of the Year – was created to celebrate "outstanding animal actors". The idea for the prize was conceived by the Hollywood office of the American Humane Association, which began monitoring movie productions for animal welfare after a horse fell 70 ft (21.3 m) off a cliff and died during the making of the movie Jesse James (USA, 1939). To this day, movies are still accredited by the AHA with their "No animals were harmed" certification.

On the evening of the first ceremony in the now-demolished Carthay Circle Theater, eight animals from 1949/1950 American movies were celebrated:

• Francis the Talking Mule, played by Molly (Francis) – overall winner
• California the horse (The Palomino)
• Pierre the chimpanzee, played by Tamba (My Friend Irma Goes West)
• Flame the dog (My Pal)
• Lassie the dog (Challenge to Lassie)
• Black Diamond the horse (Black Midnight)
• Jackie the lion (Samson and Delilah) – special award for wrestling with a stuntman doubling for Victor Mature (Samson)
• Jerry Brown the performing horse – recipient of the Richard C. Craven Award for his ability to fall on command.

Slated to share the role of Master of Ceremonies with Ronald Reagan was the performing chimpanzee Bonzo. Tragically, though, the simian co-host perished in a fire at his lodgings shorly before the ceremony – a fire that also killed movie star and PATSY nominee Tamba, who was acknowledged posthumously during the event for portraying Pierre in My Friend Irma Goes West.