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.

Burrow

A cute little bunny was ready to take a big step in her life and dig her own burrow in a quiet forest. However, as she was ready to dig she comes across a mole and a mouse, both of whom were digging their own burrows. Feeling somewhat self-conscious about her own burrow plans, she digs herself away from the two other animals. Yet everywhere she goes she comes across other creatures, including one too scary for her to approach. She finally comes to an isolated area, but when her digging goes awry, she has to do what she was avoiding all along and seek out help to keep her dream burrow from becoming a total disaster. Burrow was one of the two shortlisted films that were made as part of Pixar's SparkShorts program, which provides newer animators with the time and resources to make a short film of their own design. It had already provided one of the Oscar nominees with Kitbull in 2019, and in 2020 Burrow made it two. Out made some waves in mainstream media with its realistic portrayal of a gay couple, while Burrow warmed the hearts of viewers with its depiction of adorable woodland creatures. Yet just because Burrow didn't explicitly touch on controversial social issues doesn't make it any less deep. It does contain some important messages that can apply to everyday life. According to director Madeline Sharafian in an interview with Cartoon Brew, Burrow was based on her own experiences as a story artist at Pixar. She would power her way through deadlines without asking for assistance, which helped her career, but ended up leading to burnout. This sort of self-reliance is commonly seen in today's society, but can frequently leave individuals with a sense of isolation, one that was felt quite strongly in the turbulent year of 2020. It is fairly clear that Burrow highlights the importance of Neighbors. The execution of the idea is fairly straightforward. Sharafian used a little rabbit that she adopted an avatar (which was based on a childhood nickname, and she uses in her sketches, some of which she posts on instagram) and gave her the spotlight in the story. It did kind of bother me that it was never fully explained why the rabbit was so hesitant to share her ideas with others (I'm guessing that it's some sort of social anxiety where she was afraid of being judged), but that did not fully detract from the story. With Burrow, Sharafian went back to hand-drawn 2D animation which is not frequently seen in Pixar films. The design is simple but appealing, and is full of blink-and-you-miss-it moments that add a lot of character to the film. The film is dialogue free, with only squeaks and grunts from the animals, while the soundtrack effectively uses the final movement from from Mozart's Oboe Concerto to create a pleasant atmosphere for the onscreen action. Burrow is more than just a cute film about adorable animals and is a worthy addition to the nominees lineup.
Where Can I Watch It?
Burrow is readily available on Disney Plus.

Genius Loci

Reine is a young black poet living with her sister in contemporary France. She was tasked by her sister with making supper while watching over her young nephew, but she becomes cognizant of the sights and sounds around her, all of which come together to create almost an invisible force, guiding her out of her sister's apartment and into the city at night. She walks through the urban landscape, led by this unknown spiritual guide, interacting with different people. She finally comes to an abandoned church where she meets Rosie, a musician that she admires. She joins Rosie and her friends, but the dream-like landscape quickly becomes another nightmare for Reine. Can Reine return to reality? Genius Loci is a film by Adrien Mérigeau, a French animator that had spent many years in Ireland's famed Cartoon Saloon where he worked on films such as The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea. By the time the studio made their Oscar nominated Late Afternoon, Mérigeau was back in France and working on Genius Loci. Mérigeau was inspired by the concept of "genius loci," a term that refers to a protective spirit for a location, although it is now often used to refer to an atmosphere for a location. Genius Loci makes use of both of these definitions as the atmosphere eventually becomes the guide. As Mérigeau explained in his interview with Cartoon Brew, Genius Loci was a film that started out with a distinct narrative yet it evolved into more of a experimental art film that explored Reine's inner experiences. Mérigeau gave his team of animators free rein to create their own designs with limited direction from him, and that provides the film with a eclectic mix different styles. It goes from being based on reality to completely warped. There are a few recurrent design motifs, but for the most part the visual aspects of the film are largely unexpected, and that creates for a unique viewing experience. The story takes a backseat to the visuals, but it still attempts to tell the story of a minority experience. Mérigeau originally made the protagonist an Arab demiboy before ultimately settling on a black woman. This gives the entire experience a more threatening tone, which heightens the atmosphere. The idea of Reine as having suffered some sort of trauma provides some sort of context for the story, which was otherwise fairly difficult to grasp. The aural elements is also unique where both the presence and absence of sound also adds to the atmosphere. Genius Loci is not an easy film to digest, but one that can ultimately be rewarding if you go into it with the right mindset.
Where Can I Watch It?
Genius Loci was uploaded online and made public a few weeks ago but it has since been made private, so your guess is as good as mine.

If Anything Happens I Love You

Inside a suburban home there lives a married couple. Their silent lives seems devoid of happiness, and whatever conflict goes between them remains largely unspoken. There exists a void in their lives, one that is the source of their misery, and one that both husband and wife avoid confronting. As it turned out the couple had a daughter, one that only lives in their memory. One day while doing laundry, the wife knocks down a soccer ball that rolls into the daughter's old room, forcing the couple to relieve those memories, both the happy ones and the sad ones, especially the memory of the awful day that changed all of their lives forever. If Anything Happens I Love You was an independent film that was distributed by Netflix. It was the product of the minds of the team of Michael Govier and Will McCormack, actors trying to transition into filmmaking. They were fairly new to animation, although McCormack has a story credit for the Oscar winning Toy Story 4. They talked about doing a film about grief and developed the ideas of using shadows to represent suppressed emotions. From their they recruited a team of animators led by animation director Youngran Nho. They created a limited animation style that fits in with the concept of grief. Nho and her team was inspired by the muted color palette of another film that deals strongly with grief, Michael Dudok de Wit's Oscar winning Father and Daugher. As such for the most part early sections of the film is full of black and beige. The film also has no dialogue and just songs playing on the soundtrack. The minimalist approach in both colors and detail heightens the sense of loss and despair that pervades the house, and also provides a stark contrast to the introduction of other colors with the reintroduction of the memories of the daughter, in a way that echoes back to the red coat in Schindler's List. Of course, as Govier and McCormack mentioned in their interview with Cartoon Brew, the film was designed in a way to fit with the story, and the story is quite powerful (or it could be controversial depending on how you view it.) 

If you've read most of my reviews through the years you should know that I don't normally like posting spoilers in them. However, I will have to make an exception this time just because it seems like it's so key to this film. (And also because If Anything Happens I Love You is readily available for streaming on Netflix so it shouldn't be too difficult to watch.) At any rate, it is evident early on that the daughter in the film is deceased, but it was well within the second half before it becomes evident how she had passed away. She becomes a victim in a school shooting. I have seen takes of this film calling it emotional manipulation for using a topic such as gun violence to create its emotional core. Of course that is falling into the trap of treating gun violence and gun control as a political issue when really it should be a humanistic issue. Gun violence and school shootings have been a part of my life. The Luby's shooting in Killeen, Texas (near where I lived for four years) happened when I was six. My years in school were a time for numerous school shootings to the point where you can refer to them with just one word: Dunblane, Jonesboro, Columbine, Santee etc. Virginia Tech happened when I was a fourth-year at the nearby University of Virginia. Newtown happened when I was interviewing for residencies. And the frequency of these shootings have only increased afterwards. For most of these shootings much attention was derived towards breaking down the pathology of the shooter or the question of gun control. The impact of the shootings on the victims and their families eventually become overlooked. That impact formed the basis of If Anything Happens I Love You. Govier and McCormack were cognizant of the controversial nature of the topic and worked closely with organizations dedicated against gun violence such as Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action to make sure that the film was respectful, and frankly I feel that adds to the emotional impact of the film. If Anything Happens I Love You is a film that wants to tell a story, and uses a particular style to heighten the feel of the story. Some people might call that emotional manipulation, but I think it's just strong storytelling.
Where Can I Watch It?
If Anything Happens I Love You is readily available on Netflix.

Já Fólkið (Yes People)

It is wintertime in Iceland. Snow has fallen on the ground in front of an apartment building. An elderly man in one apartment prepares to eat breakfast with his wife, dreading the snow that he would have to shovel. His wife's loud slurping of her breakfast soup makes it worse. In a different apartment, a music teacher tries to wake her son up for school. And in the final apartment a grumpy-looking woman tries to keep her secret from her plump husband. As the day goes on the lives of these six individuals will run parallel and ultimately intersect in a way none of them could ever imagine. Yes People is a film from Icelandic animator Gísli Darri Halldórsson. Animation in Iceland is still relatively new compared to the rest of the world, and the influence is still mostly within the island nation. According to a review by Animation World Network, the first Icelandic animated short film came in 1974 and directed by the director Jón Axel Egilsson. From there he inspired a legion of other directors including Sigurður Örn Brynjolfsson, Inga Lisa Middleton, and of course Halldórsson. Young Gísli went on to study animation in Ireland, and stayed to work in Ireland and Great Britain. He had been part of the animation crew for such animated films as the Oscar nominated Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (where he was credited as Gisli Darri) and Room on the Broom. During this time he was thinking about his homeland of Iceland, especially with how the word Já can have multiple meanings depending on context, even if it translates approximately to "Yes." He tinkered with the ideas until he was able to secure proper financing. On the surface, Yes People reminded me very much of the Oscar nominated A Simple Life. The character design does appear to be very similar, and both of them are primarily focused on humor. However, Yes People does have quite a bit more depth. As Halldórsson had designed, the only word spoken in the film is "Já," but each of the six key characters have different goals and motivations in life. It leads to an interesting dynamic where you can gain an understanding of the characters even without the use of subtitles. The animation does have some complexity even if the character designs were quite simple. As Halldórsson explains in his interview with Cartoon Brew, the characters were composited into photographs, and the images are formatted a way to give it a used look. And yes, the film does have quite a sense of humor, although I'm not sure I found it quite as funny as some of the other reviewers online. Nevertheless, Iceland's first nomination in this category is a worthy addition. 

Where Can I Watch It?
Yes People has been made available online by a few sources. Currently I think The Screening Room on The New Yorker is the most trustworthy.

Opera

It is the dawn of a new day in the old kingdom. The previous regime has fallen, and a new one is installed. The news is greeted with rapturous joy and there is much celebration and together the citizens all work together to build up the resources that will be used for the betterment of society. Of course a portion of it goes towards the great and exalted ruler. As times goes on and people are born and live their lives and die. Eventually a division develops in the belief system of individuals, and crucial natural sources become depleted. A vicious battle develops between the different classes, threatening to envelope the future of the kingdom. It is the continuing cycle that mark the world we live in. Opera is the brainchild of veteran animator Erick Oh. Oh is a veteran animator from Korea who got his start working for Pixar. He worked on several projects including Oscar nominated short films Sanjay's Super Team and Lou and the Oscar winning Piper. It was there that he met Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsutsume, who invited him to their new studio of Tonko House where he served as the supervising animator for the Oscar nominated short film The Dam Keeper. He originally did work on The Dam Keeper as a side gig before moving to Tonko House for good. During this entire time he worked on projects of his own, and Opera is the biggest and most ambitious of them all. According to his interview with Cartoon Brew, he imagined creating a film that would represent the ebb and flow that forms the cycle of empires around the world. From there he worked on creating a film that can double as a short film as well as an 8K art piece that could play on a continuous loop at museums. The entire kingdom in Opera is essentially a giant triangle. From there the triangle is divided into smaller sections where events occur in their own smaller loops. For example in one section two people dance around a fountain. In another kids are grown and go to school and advance grades. There are dozens more individual sections, too many to be completely visible in just one viewing. In the art piece installation the entire pyramid would be visible. However, the film version the camera gives us a limited view that provides more of an emotional impact. The film starts at the top where there is much unity, and the camera slowly tilts down as we see other sections. Eventually the unified upper levels fade from view and we see the society split apart, with different sections worshipping different gods while the ruler exists only as a memory. As the camera gets to the bottom, war breaks out and the eventually the destruction of kingdom is complete. Then celestial beings come out to reset the scene and the cycle begins anew. The camera then tilts back up to reveal how the upper tier changed before all the chaos. It is bold and fairly profound filmmaking. However, the film ends somewhat abruptly and we don't see all of the action. With a few viewings I noticed that there was one character that was able to go and observe all of the action. I thought he would be the one whose actions led to the later turmoil, but it eventually became a dead end which was somewhat disappointing. The design of the characters that populate this world are simple, with no defined facial features and arms and legs that make them resemble stick figures. The music and sound are also fairly simple, but the haunting vocals complement and add to the images on screen. Opera is certainly a very ambitious work of art whose message is certainly applicable in this day and age. I am a bit miffed that the film version seems to cut out a crucial moment, but that only makes me curious to see the entire art installation.

Where Can I Watch It?
That's the thing. Opera was the film that the loyal reader had to get a version for me. I see now that a version has been uploaded on YouTube, but I'm not sure that thing is legitimate so I'm just going to leave it. I'm not exactly sure which museums have the film in its entire 8K glory, either.

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Well there you go. Here are your five nominees. I certainly appreciated all of them, which I can't say the same about everybody that had reviewed the films before me. As far as predicting winners, it really seems like If Anything Happens I Love You is the film to beat. It is fairly high profile and accessible. It deals with a timely subject matter, yet does so with artistic vigor. And if there are concerns about emotional manipulation, you know the Academy doesn't particularly care about that because they gave an Oscar to Dear Basketball which seems to have it in bunches. Opera is another great film, but its genius comes from repeated viewings, which I'm sure the Oscar voters don't have time for. Some people predict a Burrow upset, but I just can't quite see it happening.

Anyways, it's about time that I wrap this review up. The Academy Awards are less than 24 hours away!

My rankings (in quality)

If Anything Happens I Love You > Opera > Genius Loci > Burrow > Yes People

My rankings (in preference)

If Anything Happens I Love You > Opera > Burrow > Yes People > Genius Loci