Best Animated Short - 2021: The Shortlist

It's that time of year. Earlier today the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the shortlist of 10 different Oscar categories, including Best Documentary Feature, Best International Film, and our favorite category Best Animated Short. This means it's the time of year where I drag myself out of hibernation and take a look at the films that could join classics like A Greek Tragedy and Magoo's Puddle Jumper in the annals of films to win Best Animated Short. 

One big change for this year's race is the fact that 15 films are on the shortlist as opposed to ten in previous shortlists. I think this is a pretty good change, as it provides a larger list of films to explore (since nobody actually cares about all of the qualifying films, of which there were reportedly 84 this year). Plus, it seems like a tighter race with one of three films getting a nomination instead of just one of two.

Anyways, unfortunately I haven't really paid attention to any of the short films this year, so my knowledge on these 15 finalists are fairly limited, so let's explore them together!

If Anything Happens I Love You Wins Best Animated Short

So, it sure seemed like it was only yesterday that I was hard at work trying to finish the review of the Best Animated Short nominees in advance of the Oscars tonight. Oh wait, it was yesterday. Where did all the time go?

Anyways, the Oscars have come and gone, and as most of us expected If Anything Happens I Love You walked away with the Best Animated Short Oscar. I was watching at a friend's house and didn't bring my computer so it's been a while since I was able to post this result. Nevertheless, it was a well deserved win for a strong film, and we can all go home knowing that the Oscars were perfect tonight and that there is absolutely nothing to complain about.

If only we were that lucky.

Best Animated Short - 2020

Doesn't it seem like forever since I wrote one of these reviews? Thanks to the delay in the Oscar ceremony, it's been 15 months since I wrote the review for the 2019 nominees. And of course there's the entire issue of 2020 being the longest year in people's lives given the problem with COVID and quarantine. But now the upcoming Oscar ceremony is finally upon us. While at times it seemed doubtful that I'd be able to get this review written, largely due to the fact that I was unable to get myself to a showing of the Best Animated Short nominees. (It always sucks to have to miss those showings, I like going even if I've seen all the nominees.) Yet one of the loyal readers of the blog (I'm surprised that those exist, considering my lack of a background in animation means my opinions are largely through a layman's eyes) came through with an assist, and I am finally able to present to you a review of the Best Animated Short nominees from the most difficult year in human history.

Best Animated Short - 2020 Nominees

As I'm sure you're all aware, the Academy Award was pushed back by over a month as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and so we are getting the nominations now in the middle of March, well after the previous Oscar ceremonies since I've started writing this blog nine years ago. Nevertheless, the nominees have finally arrived, and that means we will see who will contend for the chance to enter the echelons of greatness of being a Best Animated Short winner.

This year I had seen eight of the shortlisted films, since many of them are available on different streaming platforms. This was far greater than how much I usually get to see before nomination day, and if things go right, then I had a shot of having seen all the nominees by the time nominations were announced.

Things did not go right.

Best Animated Short - 2020 Shortlist

I swear I'm not dead. I will confess that I haven't updated this page since Hair Love won the Academy Awards literally over a year ago. I've had some ideas for posts (such as counting down my favorite Studio Ghibli films), but with moving and getting a new job that is much busier than my old one and getting into Animal Crossing New Horizons, I haven't had much motivation to do much writing. I guess that is why I will never be much of an animation blogger. 

But now is no longer the time for procrastination. The global coronavirus pandemic has pushed the Academy Awards back by two full months, but the Academy has continued their recent tradition of releasing shortlists of finalists for certain categories, including Best Animated Short. The release of the shortlist is two months later than usual, but like years past I will introduce each of the ten shortlisted films, stopping short of a full review.

As with most years, the shortlist has a combination of big studio films and independent films, both American and foreign. The biggest difference is that with most theaters closed due to the coronavirus, many of the films have been more accessible through streaming services, which certainly helps.