Best Animated Short - 2023: The Shortlist

It's that time of year again, when I dust off this blog and force myself to write about the films that can potential win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Of course I haven't really paid attention to the race beforehand, not like Cartoon Brew who have kept track of animated shorts that qualified by winning festivals, then interviewing their directors. Of course, yesterday marked the day when I can no longer ignore the race, since it was the day that the Academy released the shortlist for several categories, including Best Animated Short. 

Ideally I'd write about the shortlisted films the day the shortlist was released, but I was driving to Pittsburgh on no sleep and went to watch a Pittsburgh Penguins game, so I really didn't have a chance to watch the trailers for each of the shortlist or learned a little more about these films. But now that I'm back home there's no excuse for me to delay. Of course I'm not going to be reviewing the films, since that's not the point (and also because I've seen barely any of them). Which makes me wonder why anybody would read this post.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse wins Best Animated Short - 2022

After last year's debacle where the short categories were presented before the live telecast, the Academy finally reversed their decision and included them in the telecast. Of course, that didn't stop host Jimmy Kimmel from blaming the short categories for the length of the show (and not stuff like the bullshit Warner Bros montage or the Little Mermaid trailer). Anyways, it's good that Best Animated Short gets its regular due, although it means I have to watch the rest of the telecast to find out who won. Not that I mind, since it seems like Everything Everywhere All at Once is a top contender for Best Picture.

But there really shouldn't have been any surprise. While My Year of Dicks made some splash with its name and Ice Merchants touched the hearts of viewers, the front-runner the entire season ended up capturing the crown: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.

No real qualms from me. While I enjoyed all of the rest of the nominees more (and thought Ice Merchants should have won), The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is still an exquisite piece of art that expound on the idea of kindness, something that is sorely lacking in today's society. At 34 minutes, it does surpass Peter & the Wolf to become the longest winner in this category.

More about the rest of the night after the break.

Best Animated Short - 2022

Well, here we are, the 91st year of the Best Animated Short category at the Academy Awards. It's already been the 17th year since I started following this category closely with the 2007 Oscars. And it's the 12th year since I started this blog before the 2011 Oscars so I have a space to write my reviews instead of posting them on my Facebook page (which is probably a good thing since Facebook ended their notes.) Of course it's also been close to ten years since I've finished catching up on the reviews, and I still haven't exactly found anything else animation-related to write about. (I did recently watch and write about Ke Huy Quan's 1993 Taiwan TV drama The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter so I'd appreciate it if y'all check it out.)

But for the most part this blog is still dedicated to the Best Animated Short category at the Oscars. Yes, I'm still pretty upset that the short categories including this one were relegated to pre-recorded status. And yes, I'm still not over the fact that the pretty but pretentious The Windshield Wiper walked away with the Oscar over four films I liked a lot more. But it's another year and we have another five films to review. I had a difficult time finding An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It and I was getting worried I had to watch it on the big screen to get all the nominees reviewed. It was something I hadn't had to deal with since 2017 when I had to go to a showing to watch Negative Space. I suppose I don't mind it that much because I do enjoy going to the showings. I mean I did go to the showing for the 2018 nominees even though I had finished my review because I enjoyed the films that much. But I do find it more convenient to have the films at my disposal when I write my reviews. Thank goodness a copy of An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It finally showed up and I am able to get this review out before the official release on February 17.

Anyways, now that I've seen the nominees for the 91st time I'm here to write a review on all of them.

Best Animated Short 2022 - Nominees

Yes, this is the beginning of the tenth decade of the Best Animated Short category at the Oscars. Of course, I haven't exactly been the most diligent at updating this blog. (I guess a part of me is still somewhat upset at The Windshield Wiper taking the category this past year.) Why, the shortlist was announced all the way back on December 21. Normally I'd make a post introducing the shortlist, but as you might have noticed I haven't done so this year. It doesn't help that December 21 happened to be the day that I drove cross-country and didn't have the chance to make the post, but it's been a whole month since then and I still hadn't made the post. I guess I just didn't think it was all that necessary.

Of course by no means did it indicate that I was no longer paying attention to the category. During the month-long deliberation I had managed to watch 11 of the 15 shortlisted films. And all that leads to the nominees, the final list of five animated short films that could be up for the exalted honor shared by such legendary films as Magoo's Puddle Jumper, A Greek Tragedy, and The Windshield Wiper.

And the nominees are:
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
My Year of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It