Michelle reviews the animated short films that are in the running for an Oscar.
The Bigger Picture
(UK): Out of all the shorts I watched, The
Bigger Picture had the most novel art style, with its mixture of oil painting
and stop motion animation. It centers around two brothers and how they deal
with the slowly deteriorating health of their elderly mother. The story itself
is rather disjointed and it jumps around quite a bit in its short running time.
However, it does have a few touching moments and anyone who has ever lost a
close family member will be able to relate to the characters’ emotional states
and actions. The British are well-known for their ability to laugh in the face
of adversity and their trademark acerbic wit is littered throughout the film. Some
of the gravitas is lost with the jumbled narrative, unfortunately, as short
films fare much better with tight focus. 6/10
Feast (USA): Feast
was released in conjunction with Disney’s recent CGI film Big Hero 6, so it has much more visibility
than the other nominees. As it is a Disney backed short, the production value
is through the roof and the animation looks amazing. They chose a cell-shaded
look but with a more delicate approach—usually, cell-shading goes for a bold,
dark outline to the characters and objects. The plot is deceptively simple: a
man picks up a stray dog that enjoys eating people food. Though Feast has a short runtime, it manages to
tell a touching story with minimum dialog. 8/10
The Dam Keeper (USA):
Former Pixar animators Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi are behind the
breathtakingly gorgeous The Dam Keeper.
It takes place in a world inhabited entirely by animals in which a young
orphaned pig has the duty of keeping a small town safe from black caustic smog.
Every day he must crank up a windmill to make a “wall of wind” to keep the
village from being enveloped. He is teased mercilessly at school, but finds a
friend in an unlikely place. The animation looks like a painting, but
everything has a smudged and indistinct style—as if a still drying canvas got
water spilled on it. All of the colors are super saturated and intense, swirled
into beautiful gradual ombré. While The
Dam Keeper is suitable for all ages, it does have a dark undertone to it
which makes it even more poignant and ultimately uplifting. This is my pick to
win the Oscar this year. 9/10
A Single Life
(Netherlands): This is the shortest of the nominees with a runtime of only
three minutes (including the credits). A woman discovers she can travel through
different periods of her life via a magical record player. The concept is
clever and the visuals are cute and to the point. It’s really more of an
extended joke with a naughty punchline—many people at the showing I went to had
a hearty laugh at the ending. As it is, there really isn’t much to it and it
doesn’t break any new ground with either the story or the animation. It is amusing
for what it is though and worth a look. 7/10
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Me and My Moulton
(Norway/Canada): The quirky and independent view that this short presents
is definitely its strong point. Me and My
Moulton is a coming-of-age story about three sisters who have to deal with
their non-traditional architect parents. It’s light-hearted and maintains that
tone throughout the entire feature. The animation has that kitschy, Scandinavian
Ikea look to it, with primary colors and stylized curly lines. Admittedly, the
plot is predictable but at the same time it’s satisfying and ultimately well
done. The good-natured atmosphere is infectious and it’s hard not to giggle at
the silly antics and situations. There are some sadder parts to it but that
just grounds it a bit more in reality. Overall, it’s a delightful and amusing
little film. 7/10
-Michelle Kisner