Best Animated Short - 2024: The Shortlist

It's that time of year again, huh? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the shortlist for selected categories on December 17, and we have a new list of 15 titles that still have a chance to receive the coveted honor of being named the Best Animated Short of the year at the Oscars. Normally I'd write about these shortlisted films as soon as possible after the shortlist's release, but for the third straight year I had to do some traveling after the shortlist's reveal, and didn't have time to put in the research necessary to write about the films because once again I didn't pay attention to any festivals or anything so I knew very little about the titles. Two years ago I neglected to even write about the shortlist but I figure nowadays I ignore this blog in between awards season so I figure I should write something.

According to the press release there were 88 films that achieved eligibility through festivals or theatrical releases. I don't think the Academy released the full list of films that have been eligible although sites like Cartoon Brew has certainly tried to compile lists of potential competitors, and some lists of eligible films have been leaked. As such, I have no idea what are considered snubs. But taking a look at these titles it does appear that the Academy has continued their recent habit of avoiding populist titles such as Once Upon a Studio last year. But what did make the cut, in the fourth straight year that the Academy has expanded the shortlist to 15? I'm not going to do an in-depth analysis of each of these films because the majority of them are only available as trailers but I do hope I will write enough for a basic understanding of what each film is like.

War is Over! Wins Best Animated Short

 

Well, the Oscars are tonight, and I can't watch it because I'm busy working my day job. However, I did see that Best Animated Short is one of the first categories being presented. And of course it went to War is Over!, the anti-war short film inspired by the music if John and Yoko. It's not too surprising, as it coalesced into the favorite over the past few weeks from its star-powered beginning and its noble message, and its connections to Pixar through director Dave Mullins. I've seen some really scathing reviews of this film and its over-simplified message. I even saw a list that ranked War is Over! as the 53rd best film nominated for an Oscar...out of 53...yeah, they really hated it.

I didn't hate War is Over! as much some of those other reviewers, but I do feel that it would be one of the weaker winners in this category. The anti-war message is delivered with very little subtlety and is extremely shallow. Especially when compared to some of the other nominees. Also I'm very annoyed that there is no way to get the film online, which means my digital collection of Oscar nominated animated shorts is missing an important entry. Alas, I have come to accept the inevitability of War is Over! winning, which it naturally did. 

But then Hayao Miyazaki won Best Animated Feature for Kimi-tachi wa dou Ikiru ka? (That's The Boy and the Heron for you non-weeaboos) and maybe things aren't so bad after all. Anyways, I'll give an overview of the rest of the ceremony once it's done.

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.

Best Animated Short - 2023: Nominees

It's been over a month since the Best Animated Short shortlist was released. Heck, it's been a month since I posted about the films on the shortlist, and that went up a few days after the release of the shortlist. The films have all been screened, and the votes have been cast, and today the Oscar nominations were announced. Normally I have to wake up at ungodly hours just to catch the nominees, but now that I work overnights I can just stay up after my shift and watch the nomination announcement. Which still kind of sucks, but going to bed later than usual is better than waking up earlier than usual. Anyways, between the Oscar nominations in the morning and the Baseball Hall of Fame announcements in the evening it's going to be quite a busy day.

I will say I am encouraged by how my shortlist post had a couple of comments. It's good to know some people would care enough to post even though I don't post very often. I have been trying to find the shortlisted films, but with varying effect. I haven't had the guts to request access to the Animation Showcase, because I don't actually work in animation. I do this on the side, and not very well at that. But now we shall see if any of the films that I was able to track down would get the nomination.

And the nominees are:

Letter to a Pig
Ninety Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

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.