Ranking the Oscar Nominated Shorts: 2012 - 2021

Welcome to a very special edition of the Best Animated Short blog. We are still a few weeks away from the Academy Award ceremony, where the Best Animated Short category has been relegated to second class status. Yet it is also the 90th year where the Academy has a category for Best Animated Short. Which means it's time for me to pull out an old favorite from when I was going back in time reviewing the nominated shorts: I'm going to rank the Oscar nominated films from the past 10 years by how much I enjoyed them.

If you've been reading my reviews over the past ten years you'll know that at the end of each review I rank the shorts by quality and by preference. However, both of these metrics are incredibly subjective, and quite frequently how much I enjoy a film goes a long way by how good I think it is. There are certainly times where I can recognize the artistry into a film I didn't really like, but they almost never claim the top spot in rankings by quality. Anyways, when I have to go back over the 50 short films that were nominated in the past ten years, I think it's easier to solely rank them by preference. That is what I did with my eight previous entries, and that is what I'm going to do here.

This edition is going to be different in certain ways from the eight previous rankings that predated this one. For those I had almost all of the films available to me in some fashion, and I was able to make those rankings every ten reviews, which usually took a few weeks. For these 50 films I had to wait for the Academy to announce their new sets of nominees, and to do that for ten years. That means a lot more time for my tastes to change and evolve than with my previous reviews, especially since there are several of these films that I haven't seen since I wrote the review in their respective years. I have watched all of the films again to make these rankings, so yes, there will be some discrepancies between my rankings in the individual reviews and this one. 

And also, just because a film is ranked low doesn't necessary mean I hated it. There are just that many more of the nominees I liked more than it. I think it is a testament to how well the Academy had been doing in formulating these nominees. It's just a shame that they would relegate this category to secondary status. Anyways, as in previous entries, I will be writing small blurbs about each film that will get longer and longer until they become mini-reviews. I hope you're getting all settled because here we go.

Let's start off with a series of films whose artistic qualities I appreciate, but for some reasons or another I just couldn't get into the film.

50. The Windshield Wiper (2021)
The visuals are great, but for a film made up of vignettes they don't seem to coalesce into a coherent whole.

49. The Bigger Picture (2014)
The animation style is unique, but not even that can save a dreary story about the difficulties of end-of-life care.

48. Genius Loci (2020)
The film has some interesting visuals and use of symbolism, but then it seems to get lost in its pretentiousness. 

47. Daughter (2019)
The story is heartwarming and makes use of realism in stop visual, but the shaky camera can get very distracting.

46. Prologue (2015)
Richard Williams shows why he is a genius animator with its stirring visuals, but the unrelenting violence can be a turn-off.

45. Adam and Dog (2012)
There is a lot of beautifully animated scenes of nature to go along with an adorable dog, but the pacing is slow and Adam is annoying.

44. Garden Party (2017)
Garden Party features plenty of photo-realistic frogs and toads, but the amphibians eventually get boring, and the payoff isn't worth it.

43. Feral (2013)
The use of visual storytelling is a strong element in Feral, yet the pervasiveness of the chilling atmosphere makes the film quite unsettling.

42. Weekends (2018)
The dream sequences in this reflection of the director's childhood gives the film a surreal feel, but in the end it suffers from its slow pacing.

41. Bestia (2021)
This look into the internal mind of a notorious Chilean operative is certainly chilling, perhaps too much for its own good. The dog is adorable.

40. Head Over Heels (2012)
The film's concept of a longtime couple occupying different gravitational planes is clever and well done, but ultimately doesn't do enough with it.

39. Negative Space (2017)
This story about a boy's relationship with his father has some nice stop motion animation, but the characters are kind of ugly and the punch line falls flat.

38. Memorable (2020)
This French stop-motion animation deals with the subject of dementia in a very artistic manner, but it couldn't really overcome the dreadfulness of the subject.

37. Me and My Moulton (2014)
Canadian animator Torill Kove takes a look back at her childhood in Norway, but the surprisingly mature perspective clashes with Kove's colorful style and humor.

36. A Single Life (2014)
One of the shorter nominees from the past ten years, A Single Life is a one-joke film that's funny and well executed, but it doesn't really do much else groundbreaking.

35. Yes People (2020)
Iceland's first nomination in this category shows off the diverse utility of a single word. It's fairly funny, but at the same time it still feels somewhat on the slighter side of the films.

34. Lou (2017)
The lowest ranked of Pixar's six nominees from this past decade, there is nothing inherently wrong with the redemptive tale of a playground bully, but man J.J. was an annoying character.

33. Late Afternoon (2018)
Cartoon Saloon's first nomination in this category is another film dealing with dementia. This one feels more joyful and life-affirming due to its exploration of Emily's past, but it's still quite sad.

32. Room on the Broom (2013)
Magic Light followed the same formula from 2010's The Gruffalo. The story about a kind-hearted witch and her animal companions is charming, but it's still a picture book stretched to 25 minutes.

31. Revolting Rhymes (2017)
Magic Light went away from Julia Donaldson to adapt a classic novel from Roald Dahl. The story is quite a bit darker, which feels strange with the studio's charming visuals. Plus it ends with a cliffhanger.

30. Robin Robin (2021)
Aardman Animation's first nomination in this category since A Matter of Loaf and Death is a charming stop-motion musical, but I can't help but feel like it's indistinguishable from Magic Pictures' short films.

29. Kitbull (2019)
This heartwarming tale of an unlikely friendship between a kitten and a pitbull is the first of the Pixar SparkShorts to get an Oscar nomination. There are many adorable moments, but can also be brutally sad.

28. Pearl (2016)
This Google Spotlight Story was celebrated for being the first VR film nominated for an Oscar, but I felt the 360-degree elements were distracting. Its heartwarming story came out in a more traditional showing.

27. Boxballet (2021)
This Russian film is notable for its dynamic animation of movement as well as for its fun character design. The fact it also depicts a politically charged moment in Russian history may or may not add to its pathos.

26. Get a Horse! (2013)
This film was celebrated for bringing the traditional Mickey Mouse cartoons from the 20s and 30s to the present day. It's fun, but some of the slapstick moments feels a bit too forced, especially the ones that highlight 3D.

25. Mr. Hublot (2013)
This European steampunk film does a great job in establishing the setting, especially the obsessive-compulsive tendencies of the titular character. However, it does resolve the conflict of the second half a tad bit too abruptly.

24. Borrowed Time (2016)
This independent film by a two Pixar animators became somewhat viral when it debuted online and for good reason. The haunting tale of guilt and self-forgiveness tugs at one's heartstrings, not to mention the great CGi animation.

23. Feast (2014)
The second Disney film to win in this category in three years, Feast focuses on a dog's love for food to frame a love story between two humans. It's unique method of storytelling, and the dog is adorable. It does feel a bit slight.

22. Bear Story (2015)
The first Chilean short to get nominated, it tells the heart-rendering story of life under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet using anthropomorphic animals. The animatronic design of the story within a story is sublime.

21. The Dam Keeper (2014)
Another independent film by Pixar animators, The Dam Keeper was extremely popular in Asia thanks to its lively world of anthropomorphic animals. Its depiction of bullying is a bit too cruel, and it may do better without narration.

20. Tsukumo (Possessions) (2013)
The first segment in the anthology film Short Peace, Tsukumo is a ghost story rooted within Japanese culture. Despite the ghostly subject matter, the film is more humorous than outright scary while warning viewers of materialism.

19. Burrow (2019)
The other Pixar SparkShort to get an Oscar nomination in this category is this adorable tale of a cute little rabbit moving out on her own and learning to trust others. It's a little bit on the slight side, but it's so adorable it doesn't matter.

18. We Can't Live Without Cosmos (2015)
This film by Konstantin Bronzit is as much of a love story as his previous Oscar nominated film Lavatory Lovestory. It is a love between two men and space as well as for each other. It is funny yet heartbreaking in the end.

17. Blind Vaysha (2016)
This adaptation of a Bulgarian short story certainly leaves an impression with its dark message and its stark visuals resembling woodcuts. I've come to appreciate it as an allegory for depression and anxiety and has shown it in therapy sessions.

16. Piper (2016)
Pixar ended their 15-year drought in this category with this tale of an adorable piper and its efforts to overcome its fear of waves. It wowed viewers with the visuals that bring a strong sense of personality to these non-anthropomorphic animals.

15. Sanjay's Super Team (2015)
I feel like Sanjay's Super Team doesn't get enough love within the annals of Pixar short films. It tells of the clash of cultures that many minorities face while also being a warm tribute towards one's father. The action scenes are also very well done. 

14. The Longest Daycare (2012)
After missing out on an Oscar nomination in 2007, The Simpsons had better luck in the short category with this funny yet heartwarming tale featuring Maggie. It provides plenty of character development showing the industrial side of the oft-overlooked youngest member of the family.

13. Fresh Guacamole (2012)
One of the shortest and quite possibly one of the most viewed nominee in this category of all time, Fresh Guacamole is a triumph in the art of pixelation, or animation using still images. The depth is a bit lacking, but the amusing sight of common household items being used to make dip is great enough.

12. Pear Cider and Cigarettes (2016)
I'm not entirely sure why I love this film so much. At 35 minutes it's the longest film ever nominated in this category. The animation is fairly limited and reuses motifs frequently, and most of the film is about a dreary routine in China. Yet this reflection on the director's self-destructive friend fascinates me to no end. 

11. Opera (2020)
Director Erick Oh's short film and art installation requires intense concentration to fully appreciate, but it's well worth it. There is so much going on in the pyramid representing a kingdom that you need multiple viewings to see everything, which would work better if you watch it in an art museum where it could loop

10. Bao (2018)

Only two years after Pixar won the Best Animated Short Oscar for Piper, they would find themselves back in the winner's circle for this cute little allegory about parenthood. I remember that there was some backlash against this film initially came out alongside Incredibles 2, and the concept of a mother raising a baozi dumpling is admittedly foreign for those not in the Chinese culture. Nevertheless I still found this to be a warm and poignant film about family, which should be a universal concept. And perhaps I'm also biased because I'm Chinese myself and I'd fit the role of the unfilial baozi son.

9. Sister (妹妹) (2019)

Sister marked an important milestone in the history of the Best Animated Short Oscar in that it's the first nominated film to be voiced entirely in Mandarin Chinese (despite the fact it was made in the United States as a student film at CalArts.) The sobering look at the one-child policy from mainland China is actually more full of humor that one might expect, albeit humor that is tinged with a sense of melancholy that becomes more apparent when the big reveal happens in the second half. The stop-motion animation with needled felt is also very well done. Of course I'm also biased towards anything Chinese.

8. Hair Love (2019)

Football player turned filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry made an explosive debut on the animated short landscape with his endearing film Hair Love. The film was financed through Kickstarter and aimed to depict a loving African American family, something that is not seen often in mainstream media. The end result is a warm and funny film that still manages to pull on heartstrings. Sure, it's only about a father doing his daughter's hair, something I've seen around YouTube quite a bit, but it successfully creates a believable loving family, one whose adventures would continue on HBO Max. I still think it uses sound effects from Super Smash Bros.

7. Dear Basketball (2017)

Two years before Matthew Cherry, another former athlete entered the animated short picture and walked away with an Oscar: NBA superstar Kobe Bryant. There was a lot more backlash against Kobe, mostly due to his 2003 sexual assault case. The film is essentially an ego project for Kobe, as it is his retirement letter set to animation. Yet he surrounded himself with the right people. Legendary animator Glen Keane's rough-appearing drawings imbue the film with a strong sense of motion, and the music from legendary composer John Williams contribute to a rousing triumphant experience. Kobe's untimely death in 2020 also adds to the film's gravitas.

6. If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)

Netflix's entry into the awards circuit resulted in a triumph in the Best Animated Short category with the emotional If Anything Happens I Love You, a stark mediation on grief as well as a scathing indictment of the gun culture in America leading to school shootings. The film is at its best during flashback scenes as it builds up a picture of a loving, happy family before tearing it apart with its shocking climax. This climax borders on viewer cruelty, yet leaves some vestiges of hope. The use of a limited color palette with a few choice exceptions adds to the impact. It may be emotional manipulation but very rarely do films do it so well. Also, I remain convinced the family is mixed-race.

5. Affairs of the Art (2021)

Britain's favorite blue collar housewife, Beryl, is back after 15 long years, and this time she's brought along some of her family and friends. Animator Joanna Quinn has finally found time between her commercial work to create another short film featuring the character that made her famous, and boy is it a rollicking experience. Affairs of the Art focuses on the "obsessions" of her as well as her sister Beverly and her son Colin. There are some funny moments involving young Beryl and Colin, but it was the buck-toothed Bev that steals the show. Her morbid fascination with death and decay is absolutely hilarious and provides a lot of the film's humor. Quinn's hand-drawn aesthetic only adds to the comedy.

4. One Small Step (2018)

Animators from China and the United States came together to form Taiko Studios, a new studio with animators from both countries. They debuted with One Small Step, and blew it out of the world with to secure an Oscar nomination. The heartwarming tale tells the story of Luna Chu, an American-born Chinese (ABC) girl with dreams of becoming an astronaut and her elderly single father who supports her every step of the way. The story is told wonderfully without dialogue through a series of montages as Luna deals with the stresses of her studies in astrophysics. The storytelling isn't anything mindblowing, but it is done effectively to create a tale that would warm the heart while tugging at the heartstrings.

3. Animal Behaviour (2018)

The animation duo of Alison Snowden and David Fine hit paydirt when their film Bob's Birthday won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1994. Since then they moved into the realm of television, working on shows such as Shaun the Sheep and a Bob's Birthday spinoff before returning to the realm of animated shorts with Animal Behaviour. This comedic film is set in a world of unclothed anthropomorphic animals and features a group therapy session where a group of animals come to terms with some of their natural behaviors. The dialogue is hilarious and features a lot of psychology jokes, so much so I've shown it to med students going through their psychiatry rotation. As a bonus, it features the voice talents of several stars of My Little Pony and Equestria Girls!

2. Paperman (2012)

Disney had gone over 40 years without a win in the category they used to dominate by the time Paperman came out with Wreck-It Ralph. They mostly used it as a way to test a new system that allows animators to animate 3D CGi images with 2D animation techniques. I'll admit I wasn't terribly impressed with Paperman the first time I saw it. The fantasy elements were a bit too out there, and it felt like a cheap knock-off of the paper birds scene in Spirited Away. However, the more I watched it, the more I became engaged in the pure charm of the film. It took two characters stuck in the mundane cycle of life and gave them a happy ending. The animation is very well done, and I do love the character design especially of the heroine Meg. The music was also very beautiful. Apparently the Academy was charmed as well as it gave Disney their first Best Animated Short win since It's Tough to Be a Bird.

1. World of Tomorrow (2015)

Don Hertzfeldt has made a name for himself in the animation industry with his darkly humorous films whose depth belies the simple animation made up of mostly stick figures. It earned him an Oscar nomination in 2000 for Rejected, but since then he had been on the outside looking in, even with his critically acclaimed It's Such a Beautiful Day trilogy. That changed with the film that many proclaim to be his masterpiece: World of Tomorrow. Hertzfeldt took a page out of the John and Faith Hubley workbook and took recordings of his four-year-old niece and paired her with his fellow animator Julia Pott to create two characters: Emily Prime and her clone granddaughter Emily. The resulting film is a dark meditation on life in our near future, defined by the end of emotion and the collapse of meaningful interactions. World of Tomorrow is simultaneously hilarious and haunting, and it makes such a stark commentary of life that it leaves viewers with a sense of breathless awe. While Emily and Emily Prime are still just stick figures, the visuals are still dazzling as Hertzfeldt made use of computer animation to create more complex backgrounds. There are apparently two sequels to World of Tomorrow, but I have yet to see them. Part of me just doesn't want to ruin the magic that the original had provided.

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Well, here we are. 50 nominees from the past ten years, all ranked. I'm sure you can notice some of the differences from the rankings in the individual reviews. The biggest difference is probably Hair Love moving ahead of Sister in these rankings, although both films ended up on the top 10 anyways. Normally this is where I would compile stats about my rankings, but many of those stats involve the Oscar winners vs. non-winners, and to be quite frank we don't know what would be the winning film from 2021. There is a one-in-five chance that this year's winner would be in the top five for the decade, but a four-in-five chance that this year would have the lowest ranked winner from this past decade (including a one-in-five chance that it would be the lowest ranked film of the decade, a dubious honor that The Windshield Wiper would share with A Greek Tragedy, Leisure, and The Two Mouseketeers if it were to win.) 

Anyways, here are the stats that I do know:

Highest ranked non-winner: World of Tomorrow (1)
Films that were my favorite in a year outside the top 10: Pear Cider and Cigarettes (12), Tsukumo (20), The Dam Keeper (21)
Films that were not in my favorite in a year in the top 10: One Small Step (4), Sister (9), Bao (10)
Highest average ranking in a year: 2018 (avg ranking of 18.4)
Lowest average ranking in a year: 2014 (avg ranking of 33.2)

What's next? Well, there's waiting for the actual Oscars, which I don't think I'll watch because of what ABC is doing to the Best Animated Short category. I could rank all of the nominees in all of the years, but I think it may be better to do it ten years from now and I'd be able to rank 100 years of nominees. Instead, I might just take a look at the top 10 for each of the previous decades and see if there are any changes. I'm sure there will be. But that would be sometime in the future.