OSCAR GUIDE: Best Short Film (Animated)

Once again this year, Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International are teaming up to bring the Best Short Film nominees to a theater near you on February 11.  It’s the third straight year of this partnership and it remains a stellar way of getting these otherwise fringe categories out to the masses.

This year’s animated short field features a typically varied mixture of styles and approaches.  But it is, I feel, a less impressive line-up than we’ve seen in recent years.  Nothing really stands out as profound or instantly worthy of awards consideration, but there are certainly particulars of each that warrant praise.  What’s more, it could be perceived as a relatively open race.

The nominees are:

“Day & Night” (Teddy Newton)
“The Gruffalo” (Jakob Schuh and Max Lang)
“Let’s Pollute” (Geefwee Boedoe)
“The Lost Thing” (Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann)
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” (Bastien Dubois)

Most interesting to note this year is the lack of any stop-motion in the mix.  There is traditional 2D hand-drawn animation, computer generated animation and a mixture of both, but nothing like claymation or the like.

Pixar’s “Day & Night” was featured in front of the studio’s big feature endeavor this year, so it’s certain to be the most viewed of the nominees.  Director Teddy Newton, meanwhile, has been working in the Pixar stable for a few years now and was a character animator on the its 2008 nominee, “Presto.”  This time around he’s at the helm and he’s conjured up a nice enough five-minute yarn about tolerance and prejudice, but it’s slightly unremarkable on the whole (making that two Pixar shorts in a row that, at least for me, have left for wanting).  But it’s unique to say the least and therefore stands out from its fellow nominees.  I wouldn’t be shocked if it won, but I think it’s unlikely given some of the more engrossing competition.  Still, it does it’s job in a very short amount of time and there’s something to be said for that.

Jakob Schuh and Max Lang’s “The Gruffalo” certainly takes the prize for most recognizable voice talent as it features a who’s who of British actors, from Tom Wilkinson to John Hurt to this year’s Best Supporting Actress nominee Helena Bonham Carter. And at nearly 30 minutes, it is easily the most robust entry in the field.  But neither of those traits necessarily gives a leg up in this race.  Telling the story of a mouse traveling through the forest while avoiding the predatory tactics of a fox, an owl and a snake with a little white lie (or is it?), the film is based on the 1999 children’s book of the same name.  I could easily see this taking the win but there is something ultimately thin about the story it tells.  The animation — a CGI faux-clay look — is interesting, though.

Speaking earlier of Pixar, you might recognize illustrator Geefwee Boedoe’s work if you happen to catch “Let’s Pollute.” He did the main title design for “Monsters, Inc.” and also collaborated with the studio on “Finding Nemo.”  His Oscar-nominated short is a cute if somewhat forced piece of satire sending up the great American pastime: pollution.  The film is styled after educational films of the 1950s, so it gets points for being clever.  But the green thing can only take you so far.  The animation is great and the script (delivered with trademark salesman-like cadence) is humorous, but even if it is a message-bearing entry, I wonder if voters wouldn’t feel more inclined to spring for something that feels more substantial.  Nevertheless, at a little over six minutes, it makes for a thoughtful diversion.

Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan’s “The Lost Thing” is, for me, the most underwhelming of the lot.  Of course, that doesn’t mean much, as “The Danish Poet” didn’t float my boat a few years ago and yet it went all the way on Oscar night.  Based on Tan’s award-winning picture book, the 15-minute short tells the story of a young man collecting bottle tops on the beach who one day happens upon a strange creature resembling what Stephen King might have had in mind for his “lobstrosities” in “The Drawing of the Three.”  With no one giving the unique “thing” a second thought, the boy takes it in and tries to find a place in the world for it.  It’s a lovely enough fable, nicely rendered, but it’s not altogether captivating.  Having said that, I could see animators respecting the work.

The one I’d watch for as a spoiler is “Madagascar, a Journey Diary,” from first-timer Bastien Dubois (a French video game and web site designer).  It’s a truly personal entry in the field, built like the title suggests, as a travel diary swiftly recording a visit to the African island of Madagascar.  The film is like a living flip-book of memories both profound and mundane.  In particular it focuses on a unique ritual that struck Dubois: the Famadihana, during which the remains of buried family members are exhumed so they can visit the world of the living for a day when another family member is buried.  The animation is quite painterly and alive as the piece moves along, pages flipping through various experiences from the journeyman’s trip.  It’s formidable competition and, I think, could turn the trick.

Will win: “Madagascar, a Journey Diary”
Could win: “The Gruffalo”
Should win: “Madagascar, a Journey Diary”

Should have been here: (abstain)

What do you think deserves to win this year’s Oscar for Best Short Film (Animated)?  Have your say in the sidebar poll! (Note: I recognize the majority of you will not have seen all of the films and therefore don’t have an opinion on the matter, but in the service of uniformity, we’ll offer a poll anyway.)

[Photos: Geefwee Boedoe, Sacrebleu Productions]