Waking Life has a unique visual style, in that it was filmed in live action, then rendered into animation on a Macintosh computer. The program used to do this was created specifically for the movie, and has the effect of making the visuals more surreal.
Nominated for numerous awards mainly for its technical achievements, Waking Life won the National Society of Film Critics award for "Best Experimental Film", the New York Film Critics Circle award for "Best Animated Film", and the "CinemAvvenire" award at the Venice Film Festival for "Best Film". Waking Life was also nominated for the Golden Lion, the festival's main award.