The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Animated
The Oscar for Animated Short Film has been awarded every year since the 5th Academy Awards beginning in 1932. Walt Disney received 12 of his 22 Academy Awards in this category. Needless to say it’s a prestigious honor that should highlight some of the most important contributions to the world of animation of that year. With that said, this year’s crop of animated films were a wee bit disappointing. With one exception, I found them to be pleasant but uninspiring.
Feral
USA/13min/Director: Daniel Sousa
A wild boy is found in the forest by a hunter. He is brought back to civilization where he must adapt to his new surroundings. Black and white with green tints, the hand drawn story has some eerie visuals and some beautiful music, but this wordless mood piece is rather dull and inconsequential.
Get a Horse!
USA/7min/Director: Lauren MacMullan
Easily the best of this group. Fun throwback to the earliest B&W shorts of Mickey Mouse. The production is thrown completely on its ear when flat animation becomes 3D and colorful. The characters appear to burst from the screen as they use their surroundings to their advantage. An homage to classic Disney but it also deconstructs the character in a delightfully modern way to create something fresh and original. A real winner.
Mr. Hublot
Luxembourg/France /11min/Director: Laurent Witz
Mr. Hublot is a quirky character that lives in a mechanized world beautifully rendered in computer animated detail. A robot pet resembling a dog is introduced into his life and the addition will have a major effect on his comfortable existence. If Get a Horse! didn’t exist, this would be my favorite.
Possessions
Japan/14 min/Director: Shuhei Morita
A man lost in the woods, waits out a storm in a small shrine. Suddenly the room is transformed and inanimate objects appear before him. Beautifully animated but the story is random and aimless. Not my cup of tea.
Room on the Broom
UK/25min/Director: Max Lang and Jan Lachauer
Story about a overly sweet witch with a collection of animals she invites to share space on her broom. This is based on a children’s picture book and it feels like something for pre-preschoolers. Constant narration explains to us what is happening while we actually watch it happening…for 25 long minutes. The book is read to us by what sounds like a librarian as portrayed by Simon Pegg. From the producers of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child.
Fast Film Reviews 
February 27, 2014 at 10:03 pm
One of my (somewhat) local theaters is playing these. I keep trying to steal away and see them, but timing never quite works out. Maybe I’m not missing all that much, with one or two exceptions.
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February 27, 2014 at 10:06 pm
See the documentary shorts. I will post about them before Sunday. They are extraordinary.
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February 27, 2014 at 10:08 pm
Sadly, those are the only ones not playing anywhere near me. The theater in question has the Live Action and Animated, but not the documentaries. Boo.
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February 28, 2014 at 12:41 am
Some interesting sounding stuff Mark, though your comment to James about doc shorts has my attention now, as a local indie theater will be playing those all weekend long. I’ll give them a shot.
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February 28, 2014 at 12:44 pm
I always anticipate seeing the animated shorts. I love the art form. The Disney one is really well done. The rest are cute but not particularly memorable.
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February 28, 2014 at 1:32 am
Some great highlights here, Mark. I’m familiar with Room on a Broom as I’ve read the book numerous times to my kids and actually met the author once. My youngsters will be happy about that and I’ll be sure to check out the rest.
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February 28, 2014 at 12:50 pm
I’m sure it’s a nice picture book, especially for little kids. It’s just kind of funny how a bird will fly by with a bow in its beak and then the narrator will say, a bird flew by with a bow in its beak. Like I said, aimed at very young children who might have difficulty following the simple story.
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February 28, 2014 at 7:41 am
Mark, nice job. I wish I had access to these shorts, I would love to see them on the screen.
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February 28, 2014 at 12:52 pm
They are also available through your cable provider as video on demand. Check your local listings.
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March 1, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Great short reviews 🙂 As a Disney buff, I really want to see Get a Horse!
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March 1, 2014 at 11:00 pm
You’ll love it. Really good use of 3D as well.
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March 1, 2014 at 11:05 pm
I actually watched it today. LOVED it.
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