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| THE LOST THING |
One great thing about the Academy Awards is how they provide much needed
notoriety to the booming market of short films. Every year
hundreds and hundreds make the rounds at film festivals all over the world,
and as a lover of shorts of every genre, I see as many as I can.
And The Academy does a terrific job in nominating the best.
PIXAR's decade long excellence in animation keeps rollin' as their features and shorts seem to get nominated, and win, every year. When bright, energetic Daytime meets dark, moody Nighttime an instant struggle between crescent moons and sunshine, rainbows and fireworks results as one tries to understand the other. An uncredited Wayne Dyer in a concluding voice gives you a clue as to the message. As a lead in to Toy Story 3 this is probably the most seen of the nominees; an edge with voters.
"Don't Delay, Pollute Today."
This satire of those lame educational films from the 50s and 60s is from ex-Pixar animator Geefwee Boedoe with help from Day and Night's Teddy Newton. They've recreated that old-time, on the cheap animation to perfection and the energetic images keep the obvious message interesting. Good thing, too, for this short's shortness is a plus. Geared for younger viewers.
Adapted from a 1999 picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, this animated bedtime story was a huge hit on British TV. About the antics of a sharp and skillful mouse who avoids predators in the woods with tales of a make believe monster, he has to be even smarter when the monster, The Gruffalo, becomes real. With a visual nod to Maurice Sendak, the voice talents of Helen Bonham Carter, Tom Wilkinson, and John Hurt and, rare for a short, a memorable score by Rene Aubry. A wonderful production youngsters will enjoy.
This short made the last cut, but wasn't
nominated. I'm including it because I'm a big fan of Plympton's Plymptoons since seeing his 2008 three-minute animation Santa, The Fascist Years. His child-like imagery and fairy-tale style belie a subversive agenda about capitalism, advertising, and their influence on the young and impressionable. A calf watching hamburger ads naturally wants to be the best hamburger ever. He even works out to get bigger and stronger. Then he finds out how misleading the ads were and is forced to face the true finality of his decision. An effective message, nicely told.
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| DAY AND NIGHT Teddy Newton USA/6min |
PIXAR's decade long excellence in animation keeps rollin' as their features and shorts seem to get nominated, and win, every year. When bright, energetic Daytime meets dark, moody Nighttime an instant struggle between crescent moons and sunshine, rainbows and fireworks results as one tries to understand the other. An uncredited Wayne Dyer in a concluding voice gives you a clue as to the message. As a lead in to Toy Story 3 this is probably the most seen of the nominees; an edge with voters.
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| MADAGASCAR, CARNET DE VOYAGE Bastien Dubois France/11min |
This visual diary takes us page by page through the African island nation with drawings that shift from pencil to water colors to realism. We ride through the country, walk through village, watch people go about their lives, and watch them watch back. Points of view shift quickly as the pages turn, creating the feel of being on the island yourself. Adding to the feel, video animator Dubois uses the rich, vibrant reds, oranges, and banana yellows that are so much a part of the island. High spirits through the closing credits, which are basically another short in themselves.
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| LET'S POLLUTE GeeFwee Boedoe USA/6min |
"Don't Delay, Pollute Today."
This satire of those lame educational films from the 50s and 60s is from ex-Pixar animator Geefwee Boedoe with help from Day and Night's Teddy Newton. They've recreated that old-time, on the cheap animation to perfection and the energetic images keep the obvious message interesting. Good thing, too, for this short's shortness is a plus. Geared for younger viewers.
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| THE GRUFFALO Jakob Schuh, Max Lange UK/Germany/27 min |
Adapted from a 1999 picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, this animated bedtime story was a huge hit on British TV. About the antics of a sharp and skillful mouse who avoids predators in the woods with tales of a make believe monster, he has to be even smarter when the monster, The Gruffalo, becomes real. With a visual nod to Maurice Sendak, the voice talents of Helen Bonham Carter, Tom Wilkinson, and John Hurt and, rare for a short, a memorable score by Rene Aubry. A wonderful production youngsters will enjoy.
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| THE LOST THING Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruhemann Australia/UK 15min |
This short's complex imagery mixes Joan Miro's surrealist paintings and the novel 1984, if you can imagine.Yet the story is simple -- when a young lad finds a "thing" while looking for bottle caps on a beach, he takes it home to figure out what to do with it. No one seems to notice or care about "thing," including the boy's parents.
Tan not only wrote the picture book on which this animated short is based, he also worked on WALL-E (there's Pixar again). The Ruhemann- Tan team create eye-riveting landscapes that convey complex and contradictory moods -- a sort of melancholic hopefulness -- yet you never lose track of the story.
This is the best of the nominees and has my vote as the winner. Worth repeated viewings so will be a good buy on DVD.
Tan not only wrote the picture book on which this animated short is based, he also worked on WALL-E (there's Pixar again). The Ruhemann- Tan team create eye-riveting landscapes that convey complex and contradictory moods -- a sort of melancholic hopefulness -- yet you never lose track of the story.
This is the best of the nominees and has my vote as the winner. Worth repeated viewings so will be a good buy on DVD.
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| THE COW WHO WANTED TO BE A HAMBURGER Bill Plympton USA/6min |
This short made the last cut, but wasn't
nominated. I'm including it because I'm a big fan of Plympton's Plymptoons since seeing his 2008 three-minute animation Santa, The Fascist Years. His child-like imagery and fairy-tale style belie a subversive agenda about capitalism, advertising, and their influence on the young and impressionable. A calf watching hamburger ads naturally wants to be the best hamburger ever. He even works out to get bigger and stronger. Then he finds out how misleading the ads were and is forced to face the true finality of his decision. An effective message, nicely told.
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