Monday, February 26, 2024

Best Animated Short - 2023


It's been over a month since the release of the nomination list for the 2023 Oscars (because I have always believed that the Oscars year should refer to the year the films being celebrated were released), and I have been waiting to see if two of the five Best Animated Short nominees were ever going to appear online. I mean there was the Animation Showcase website that an anonymous commenter mentioned that had Our Uniform, but when I went to sign up the website said it was for industry professionals which kind of made me spooked, because I am definitely not in the animation industry. I am more of a freelance writer if anything. 

So it was down to searching constantly for Our Uniform or War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko. Of course, those searches have always been fruitless, so it came down to having to do something that I hadn't done since the 2018 Oscars, which is going to a showing of the animation shorts. While there were more theaters doing showings than there were five years ago, I was dismayed to find that the showings wouldn't open wide until February 16. I waited around but when the 16th rolled around I was dealing with some car issues that further delayed my being able to watch the films.

But finally my car problems were behind me, and I was able to find some time in my schedule to do not just one but two viewings of the Oscar nominated animated shorts. And at long last I can finally start my review of the 92nd set of nominees for the Best Animated Short category, growing ever closer to that milestone 100th year.