diff --git a/doc/release/next_whats_new/animation_paused_start.rst b/doc/release/next_whats_new/animation_paused_start.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6d8a3303e969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release/next_whats_new/animation_paused_start.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Animations can now be created in a paused state
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+'.Animation' now accepts a 'paused' keyword argument. When set to 'True',
+the animation will not automatically start when the figure is first drawn.
+This allows starting an animation in a paused state without needing to
+access private API. Additionally, '.TimerBase.is_running' was added to
+query whether the underlying event source is currently running.
+
+::
+
+    ani = FuncAnimation(fig, update, frames=10, paused=True)
+    ani.event_source.is_running()  # False
+    ani.resume()
+    ani.event_source.is_running()  # True
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/animation.py b/lib/matplotlib/animation.py
index 7146dc28fcc9..153867acc0a3 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/animation.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/animation.py
@@ -883,9 +883,9 @@ class Animation:
     FuncAnimation,  ArtistAnimation
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, fig, event_source, blit=False):
+    def __init__(self, fig, event_source, blit=False, *, paused=False):
         self._draw_was_started = False
-
+        self._paused_at_start = paused
         self._fig = fig
         # Disables blitting for backends that don't support it.  This
         # allows users to request it if available, but still have a
@@ -934,7 +934,8 @@ def _start(self, *args):
         # Now do any initial draw
         self._init_draw()
         # Actually start the event_source.
-        self.event_source.start()
+        if not self._paused_at_start:
+            self.event_source.start()
 
     def _stop(self, *args):
         # On stop we disconnect all of our events.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/animation.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/animation.pyi
index e90a0103aefd..52da52b9a92c 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/animation.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/animation.pyi
@@ -162,7 +162,12 @@ class Animation:
     frame_seq: Iterable[Artist]
     event_source: EventSourceProtocol | None  # TODO: We should remove None
     def __init__(
-        self, fig: Figure, event_source: EventSourceProtocol, blit: bool = ...
+        self,
+        fig: Figure,
+        event_source: EventSourceProtocol,
+        blit: bool = ...,
+        *,
+        paused: bool = ...,
     ) -> None: ...
     def __del__(self) -> None: ...
     def save(
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
index 27c3752858a7..99e472e41d86 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
@@ -1072,6 +1072,7 @@ def __init__(self, interval=None, callbacks=None):
         # Set .interval and not ._interval to go through the property setter.
         self.interval = 1000 if interval is None else interval
         self.single_shot = False
+        self._running = False
 
     def __del__(self):
         """Need to stop timer and possibly disconnect timer."""
@@ -1080,10 +1081,16 @@ def __del__(self):
     def start(self):
         """Start the timer."""
         self._timer_start()
+        self._running = True
 
     def stop(self):
         """Stop the timer."""
         self._timer_stop()
+        self._running = False
+
+    def is_running(self):
+        """Return whether the timer is currently running."""
+        return self._running
 
     def _timer_start(self):
         pass
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.pyi
index 94a8522717cd..f63bf517cf99 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.pyi
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ class TimerBase:
     def __del__(self) -> None: ...
     def start(self) -> None: ...
     def stop(self) -> None: ...
+    def is_running(self) -> bool: ...
     @property
     def interval(self) -> int: ...
     @interval.setter
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py
index a00adcdf95f0..3bc3c34e13ac 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py
@@ -558,3 +558,33 @@ def test_animation_with_transparency():
     # Check that the alpha channel is not 255, so frame has transparency
     assert frame.getextrema()[3][0] < 255
     plt.close(fig)
+
+
+def test_animation_paused_start():
+    """Test that paused=True prevents the animation from auto-starting."""
+    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
+    line, = ax.plot([], [])
+
+    def update(frame):
+        return line,
+
+    ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, update, frames=5, paused=True)
+    fig.canvas.draw()  # triggers the first draw_event / _start callback
+
+    assert not ani.event_source.is_running()
+    plt.close(fig)
+
+
+def test_animation_default_starts():
+    """Test that the default paused=False still auto-starts."""
+    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
+    line, = ax.plot([], [])
+
+    def update(frame):
+        return line,
+
+    ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, update, frames=5)
+    fig.canvas.draw()
+
+    assert ani.event_source.is_running()
+    plt.close(fig)