Well, it's been a couple of weeks since the Oscar nominations were announced, and while most people have been trying to work up the courage to sit through Emilia Perez to complete their viewing of Best Picture nominees, I've been on the hunt for the Best Animated Short nominees, just as I have been every year since I started focusing on this category all the way back in 2007. Besides the two that I found before the Oscar nominations were even announced I managed to come across Beautiful Men and Beurk! through Vimeo on Demand. Unfortunately I had not had the same success with Magic Candies which means I had to go to a showing to complete the set.
But now that it's happened, I'm ready to work on my review. Which to be honest is something I'm a bit hesitant to do. These reviews have become quite time-consuming and labor-intense. It's not like my reviews from over a dozen years ago looking back at old studio films or shorter independent shorts. With these reviews I often try to get into the filmmaker's mindset before offering my own interpretation, and that often means a lot of research into interviews done with the creators. And with the films becoming much more intricate (a phenomenon referenced in an editorial on Cartoon Brew), it becomes a lot harder to get all of my thoughts organized. And with operating on a time crunch it means by the end I often feel that what I'm writing is incoherent, as I did with last year's review.
But alas, I have seen and reviewed every single nominated film in this category dating back to 1932 (with the obvious exception of Rippling Romance). And so I must soldier on and provide my thoughts on the five newest addition to the Oscar nominated animated short lineup, a number that now totals 398!
Beautiful Men
Androgenetic alopecia, better known around the world as male-patterned baldness, is a condition that afflicts millions of men worldwide (and far more women than one would expect). Thankfully there are several methods of treatment including the surgical transplant of hair follicles from elsewhere in the body to the affected areas. A trio of bald (or balding) brothers travel from their home in Belgium to Istanbul to stay in a hotel attached to a hair transplant clinic. However, to his horror middle brother Steven realized upon checking in that while he has reserved accommodations for all three, he has secured only one transplant procedure. As he tries to break the news to older brother Bart and younger brother Koen, the trio's insecurities and skeletons all come spilling out, ones that threaten to destroy the brotherhood in the foggy Turkish streets. Or can some divine intervention rescue them?
Beautiful Men is a stop-motion animated film by the Belgian animator Nicolas Keppens (and as such it is the first Belgian animated short since
A Greek Tragedy, which was directed by Nicole Van Goethem who shares a surname with the brothers in
Beautiful Men). Keppens was inspired to make the film in a work trip to Istanbul, which really does have a thriving hair transplant business. During that trip he saw all of those balding men, some of whom has had the surgery while others were dealing with the anxieties related to waiting for the surgery. The idea percolated in his head and laid the foundation for
Beautiful Men. It was originally conceived as a 2D film like Keppens's previous works, but later in the film's development Keppens realized that the themes addressed in the film of insecurity, fragile masculinity, and loneliness would be better served by a stop-motion approach, as the stop-motion puppets would have more tactility and can provide a better visual portrayal of the isolation experienced by the characters both literal and figurative. The conversion to stop-motion animation may have been difficult for the filmmaking team, but it worked well in the case of
Beautiful Men as the animation is arguably its strongest aspect. The 3D printed puppets with silicone skin are very well designed and perfectly convey the characters' personality from the angry Bart to the anxious Steven to the serene Koen. There is a lot more full-frontal male nudity than I would have liked, but this is a piece of adult animation dealing with mature themes. The sets are well-designed and highlight the sense of isolation felt each character, especially with the addition of the climactic fog which was produced through clever practical effects. The story for
Beautiful Men is basically about the relationship between these three brothers and how their anxieties and personalities clash as they deal with the complication of the insufficient transplant slots. There is plenty of dark humor yet also with a strong sense of an underlying melancholy. The story is a bit slight for the nearly 19-minute runtime. However, the film does make use of the stillness from the extra run-time to add to the feeling of social isolation. The majority of the music is made up of a set of beats that really reminds me of much of the music in episodes of the YouTube series Journey to the Microcosmos but are quite catchy. The film is fairly heavy in the dialogue, and for some reason the downloadable version off Vimeo does not include subtitles which is fairly annoying. Nevertheless
Beautiful Men is still a worthy addition to the Best Animated Short nominees lineup.
Where Can I Watch It?
It's not readily available on YouTube, but you can rent it or download it off
Vimeo On Demand.
Beurk! (Yuck!)
Leo is a young boy spending a summer holiday going camping with his family. He spends his days going around the campsite with his siblings and other kids spying on couples of that are getting ready to kiss and reveling in their revulsion over the act. However, he finds himself having some funny feelings over Lucie, one of his new friends on the campgrounds. As he thinks about her green glasses and her pretty smile, he finds that he has the strong desire to kiss her. Ashamed at this newfound feeling, he tries to hide it from the other kids. Yet after a stunning revelation he goes to see Lucie alone, and to his surprise his feelings for her are reciprocated. They try to hide and perform the forbidden act in secret, but are caught by the other kids who taunt them mercilessly. He runs away and lashes out at Lucie who tries to comfort him. Is his summer and his relationship with Lucie doomed forever? Childhood is a very complicated period in an individual's life, as one must learn how to navigate the world around them including their relationship with regards to the individuals around them. It is a such that child psychologist Erik Erikson formulated a theory of psychosocial development about milestones that an individual must reach to have lived a fulfilling life. It is this wonder of childhood that inspired French animator Loïc Espuche to create his film
Beurk!. He was reportedly inspired to make the film by the reaction of kids at screenings of one of his earlier works during a kissing scene. The near universal scorn they shown amused him and together with memories of a long-lost childhood crush were incorporated into
Beurk!. Yet Espuche is not just content to look at the paradoxical feelings that a child has towards feelings, but has also expressed his desire to depict how a child observes the world, particularly with their focus on other people's gazes and how it impacts their actions, as well as their establishment of a safe space, which he describes as a "secret garden." Beyond these things, however, the film also depicts children's cruelty which may not stem from outright malice but a way to deal with undesirable feelings. The most noticeable aspect of the film is clearly the pink sparkly lips that symbolize a desire to kiss. It is not only a visual representation of a character's inner desires but also guided the creation of the entire film, from the visual design to the sound elements to the climax. According to Espuche the team deliberately designed most of the film to be in muted single-toned colors and put most of the action in the shade so as to make the pink lips stand out more. The team even used different foley elements to create a distinct but subtle sound effect that would play when a character develops the pink sparkly lips. It certainly makes for a memorable hook and adds to a sense of playfulness that pervades the film. Another is from the naturalism of the children's dialogue, which stem from recording sessions of the child voice actors at play. This was done without any animatics, and in fact the animatics were created directly from the recordings. The music which often plays during appearances of the pink sparkly lips is also cheerful with fun vocalizations.
Beurk! is overall a fun film about childhood yet also a worthy addition to the Best Animated Short nominees lineup.
Where Can I Watch It?
It's not readily available on YouTube, but you can rent it or download it off
Vimeo on Demand.
In the Shadow of the Cypress
A father lives with his daughter in a small seaside house on the shores of the Persian Gulf, but despite the locale life is far from idyllic for the duo. The father is moody and self-destructive, prone to angry outbursts that leave their abode a broken mess. It is all too much for the daughter to take, and one day she decides that she has had enough and prepares to leave, much to the father's chagrin. However, her departure is interrupted by a shocking a sight: a whale has found itself beached right in front of the house. The pair do their best to try free the whale from its predicament, but its sheer bulk prove to be too much. The father decides to give up and row out to his old boat where he finds sanctuary. While the daughter continues her efforts to help the whale, the father must confront his past which continues to haunt him. Is the poor whale ever going to get rescued? Trauma can affect people different in many different ways that go well beyond physical injuries. While some individuals can brush off traumatic experiences, for other people it leaves psychological scarring that persist even after the physical scars heal. The brain brings back intrusive memories of the incident as a way to prepare the body from further traumas, as individuals experience severe depression or anxiety. They frequently fall into substance use such as alcohol as ways to deal with their trauma. The most unfortunate aspect of post-traumatic psychological disorder is how common trauma is, especially from a war-torn country such as Iran. The effects of trauma is one of the major themes tackled by the Iranian husband-and-wife filmmaking team of Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani with
In the Shadow of the Cypress, which is the second animated short from Iran to pick up a nomination in this category, a year after
Our Uniform became the first. The two films couldn't be more different. While
Our Uniform is a fun look back at childhood,
In the Shadow of the Cypress is a gritty psychological profile about mental illness and its effect on those around them. While most online summaries mention the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the most extreme form of post-traumatic psychological illness, the film itself doesn't mention the condition and only shows the father's emotional breakdowns before gradually revealing the incident that continues to haunt him. It is an effective storytelling strategy. The use of symbolism is also quite stark as according to the filmmakers everything from the whale to the sea itself is representative of something. Even the title itself is a symbol, as a cypress tree does not actually show up in the film. Instead, a cypress tree symbolizes resistance in Persian cultures and whatever shade it does supply is a form of protection which the father wants to provide but can't. Even color can be used as a symbol. While the most of the film is in muted colors, the color blue is used to represent the emotional turmoil of the father as he relives the past. Besides the use of color, the animation also depicts the trauma in other ways. Most of the film is done in simple yet appealing 2D animation with characters that are quite adorable with their slender frames and beady eyes. Yet there are occasionally brief cutaways of traumatic imagery set against a black background that are completely different, culminating in a 20-second segment of the father's brain getting attacked. It looks different from the rest of the film, partially by necessity as the filmmakers report that staffing issues were so stark that a member of the color team had to animate the scene. Yet the importance of the scene is heightened by the stylistic differences.
In the Shadow of the Cypress is also the only one of the nominees this year without any dialogue, but the sound design and the music are strong yet unobtrusive.
In the Shadow of the Cypress is without a doubt the most serious of this year's nominees and also the most difficult to watch, but it is still no less a worthy addition to the Best Animated Short nominees lineup.
Where Can I Watch It?
It was one of the few films that was available in its entirety on YouTube when the shortlist was presented, but it had since been removed and now your only option to watch it at home is to rent it from
Vimeo on Demand,
Magic Candies (Amedama)
Dongdong is a young boy living in an unnamed city in Korea. He often plays alone in the park because none of the other kids ask him to come play with them. But that's okay with him because he has his dog Guseuli and his marbles to shoot. However, Dongdong has noticed that Guseuli doesn't want to play as much as he used to and he is worried that his dog now hates him. And he feels like he doesn't have enough marbles. One day he goes to a toy stand to buy some more. Yet when he picks out a pack of six marbles with unique patterns and designs, the strange shopkeep tells him they are magic candies instead. Dongdong tries one out when he goes home and he hears his sofa talking to him, pleading for Dongdong to help retrieve the remote control that is causing him pain and to ask his overbearing father to stop farting when watching TV. What other sort of magic would the other candies have? Communication is an important aspect of our everyday lives, yet it is a skill that must be trained, and that training often starts from childhood. An important aspect of communication is self-expression, and that can come easily for some but more difficult for others. It is this idea of learning to express one's self that inspired celebrated Korean children's book author and illustrator Hee-na Baek to write the book
Magic Candies, first published in Korea in 2017 and in the United States in 2021. The book was extremely well received, and was one of the works cited when Baek won the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2020, beating out over 200 other nominees. The book also came to the attention of Takashi Washio, a producer with Toei Animation best known for producing the popular
Pretty Cure series. He was struck by the story as well as the visual language of the book, especially given the fact that Baek has a background in animation. He contacted Baek and together worked out an agreement to adapt
Magic Candies as an animated short film. To direct the film Washio brought in longtime colleague Daisuke Nishio, who had worked as a director for
Pretty Cure as well as the ever-popular
Dragonball Z before that. Together with DandeLion Animation Studio, a studio specializing in CG-i animation, the crew set about to recreate and build upon the world inhabited by DongDong. The film is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the picture book, as it pretty much follows the source material. It does incorporate story elements from
I am a Dog, a prequel also written by Baek about Gusueli's early days with DongDong's family. The visual medium of film does allow for some extra flourishes not seen in the original. One fun element of the novel was that the words of the characters that DongDong hears is set to a different fonts in different colors. Not only is this is kept in the film, but the words can fall and clatter around. At one point DongDong is even attacked by his own name. The film also captures the visual style of the original illustrations, which has a somewhat claymation feel. I will confess that upon seeing the screenshots I thought DongDong would be annoying, especially since he has the bowl cut and paunch of Vector in
Despicable Me who is a pretty annoying character. Yet through the events of the film he becomes much more of a sympathetic character as his loneliness is palpable, making the ending more satisfying. The voice acting, a mix between industry veterans and newcomers is fine and does not detract from the story. The music by Naoki Sato, another veteran from
Pretty Cure (and also the composer behind the Oscar winning
Godzilla Minus One) is also quite pleasant.
Magic Candies isn't necessarily the deepest film on the list, but it is still a fun mediation on childhood and a worthy addition to the Best Animated Short nominees lineup.
Where Can I Watch It?
This is the one film that I couldn't find online. I guess you may just have to go to one of the showings of the Oscar nominated animated shorts.
Wander to Wonder
Back in the 1980s "Wander to Wonder" was a beloved children's edu-tainment series, and it featured an elderly gentleman Uncle Gilly interacting with his three anthropomorphic woodland creature friends Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton as they learned about the world around them and about things such as cleaning and about hobbies. What the audience doesn't know is that behind the scenes, Mary, Billybud and Fumbleton are really little people wearing fursuits, and that they rely on Uncle Gilly for sustenance. The problem is that Uncle Gilly has died, and the trio are trapped in the studio, left to their own devices to scavenge for food. As Fumbleton spends his time reciting Shakespeare soliloquies and Billybud practices his juggling, Mary uses the old tape recorder to make new episodes of "Wander to Wonder." But as the three suffer from the effects of hunger the episodes become increasingly unhinged. Can the trio survive? Grief is a fairly universal emotion experienced whenever one loses something that is beloved, whether it is an individual or a way of life, but because nothing in life is ever simple, people deal with grief in different ways. It is this question of how people respond to grief that is one of the key themes of
Wander to Wonder, the film made by Dutch-born animator Nina Gantz. She had envisioned a film that is a homage to children's entertainment programs of the 1980s and how they juxtaposed an unsettling feel with their cute and cuddly exteriors. However, a loss of a close family member during the planning stages led to her turning the film into a mediation of grief, focusing on how Mary, Fumbleton, and Billybud diverge from their on-screen personas, which is shown through old footage that Mary watches and tapes over. The character traits become much more pronounced as the characters get further into their desperation. The descent from an amusing portrayal of nostalgia into a haunting mediation of grief and finally into a struggle for survival is nothing short of absurd. Yet the film maintains a darkly comic tone throughout mostly from each of the characters' earnestness. In a memorable sequence, Mary tapes an episode telling kids not to eat the flies after a meal of one of the many flies that flew around Uncle Gilly's decaying body ended poorly. The film is done lovingly in stop motion animation, including the flashback scenes of the trio interacting with the live action Uncle Gilly that serve as a tribute to the work of the legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. The contrast of the worn-out nature of the furry costumes with the pristine looks in flashbacks add to the sense of change that is so prevalent in the film. Watching the characters run around in a life-size set is certainly charming, and also posed a technical challenge for the animation team as they were required to make the 3D printed puppets smaller than usual. This proved to be difficult as the team utilized facial replacement technology for expression, and pieces of the puppets would frequently go during changing. Yet the end results were fantastic as the expressiveness of the characters allowed them to come across as much more full-dimensional. Part of that also comes from the fantastic voice work, particularly from Amanda Lawrence (best known for playing Commander D'Arcy in the
Star Wars films everyone hated) and Toby Jones (best known for voicing Dobby in the
Harry Potter films) as Mary and Fumbleton respectively. Mary's increasing desperation and Fumbleton's indignant Shakespearean indulgence after playing the bumbling fool for so many years give the film much-needed gravitas. British actor Neil Salvage is also terrific as the live-action Uncle Gilly. The haunting score, some of which is the cloying theme song for "Wander to Wonder," also adds to the unsettling feel that is so pervasive. While
Wander to Wonder is not a film for children (due nudity in addition to the dark humor) despite being a film about a children's television show, it is still a worthy addition to the Best Animated Short nominees lineup.
Where Can I Watch It?
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Well, there you have it, the five nominees for Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards honoring films that qualified in 2024. It is the 93rd year of the Best Animated Short category (which means we are only seven years away from the 100th anniversary of the category, provided we don't get blown up by a wandering giant asteroid). This year we have two film about childhood that is suitable for children, and three films dealing with more adult themes. For the first time since
2009, none of the nominees were made in the United States, continuing the Academy's growing penchant for nominating foreign productions.
Of these five I'd have to say that
Wander to Wonder feels most like the one to beat. It won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short recently over two of its direct competitors, and has a good chance of winning the BAFTA for Best British Short Animation as well. While winning these precursors are far from a guaranteed path to victory, most of the films that win the Oscar but not the Annie were not nominated for an Annie Award. In fact you'd have to go all the way back to
The Moon and the Son in 2005 to find a film that won the Oscar despite losing the Annie. Yet I don't think I mind
Wander to Wonder winning since in looking back at all five films I do think it is the best. Of course, I will have to say that I like the film about childhood more.
My Rankings (by quality)
Wander to Wonder > In the Shadow of the Cypress > Beurk! > Beautiful Men > Magic Candies
My Rankings (by preference)
Beurk! > Magic Candies > Wander to Wonder > In the Shadow of the Cypress > Beautiful Men
Man, I can't remember the last time there was such a disparity between my rankings by quality and my rankings by preference, but I guess that's the type of year we're dealing with.
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