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One adage we live by here at Stately Beat Manor is that to win the office Oscar pool, you’ve got to get Best Short Film and Best Short Film (Animated). These obscure categories have been clogging up the Oscar® telecast with little known people in ill-fitting tuxes and inadvisable dresses for years, and while some think getting rid of them would shorten the telecast, we think you gotta keep the betting honest with something NO ONE knows about.

So as we have usually done over the past few years, here’s a guide to this year’s nominees in the Best Short Film (Animated) category. After reviewing the list, we feel confident that you’ll be one category closer to winning that pool.

(We don’t handicap the short films, but we should note that one of them — SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND) — is about the Holocaust, and The Holocaust Always Wins Awards (see Reader, The.))

La Maison en Petits Cubes by Kunio Kato

An old man stacks up boxes to avoid a flood. WE SAY: Poignant and haunting! Here’s a clip:

LAVATORY – LOVESTORY by Konstantin Bronzit
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In this simply animated entry, a homely bathroom cleaning lady finds romance in the stalls. While normally that is the kind of thing that gets you arrested and/or thrown out of the Senate, this is a cartoon we’re talking about. WE SAY: Touching!

No embeddable clips but if you wait long enough, one will come up here.

OKTAPODI by Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
A cunning octopus embarks on a daring rescue when his love is taken out of the tank to be grilled with a bit of balsamic vinegar. WE SAY: The cute funny animals world of CGI animation has long cried out for invertebrate heroes! Watch below:

PRESTO by Doug Sweetland
A magician wars with his rabbit over carrots and so on. WE SAY: This ran in front of WALL*E so millions and millions of people must have seen it. You saw it, right?

THIS WAY UP by Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Two undertakers undergo comic misadventures as they head for the cemetery, WE SAY: Clever! Underexposed subject matter! A trailer:

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AND THE WINNER IS: While La Maison en Petits Cubes has the poignant tone and innovative look that Oscar sometimes rewards, did we mention that PRESTO is from Pixar? And MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of people have seen it? Don’t bet against Pixar.

1 COMMENT

  1. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/rules/rule19.html

    Rule Nineteen: Short Films Awards
    V. VOTING
    D. Final voting for the Short Films awards shall be restricted to active and life Academy members who may vote for only one film in each of the two categories. Members must have attended official Academy screenings of the nominated achievements. However, those members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch who served on the Branch Nominating Committee, and who viewed all the nominated pictures, will receive mail ballots. When a non-standard format nominated film cannot be included in the official Academy voting screenings for its category, members must submit evidence of having seen that film elsewhere in order to vote in that category.

    Okay… so it’s not a craft award. All members of the Academy can vote (if they’ve seen the cartoons).

    I saw “This Way Up” at a children’s film festival last summer, and it has lots of great humor built around a simple presence.

    That said, “Presto” is Pixar. It’s a sequel/homage to Tex Avery’s “Magical Maestro”. It’s great, but Pixar doesn’t always win. (Eight nominations, resulting in three wins.)

    Unfortunately, Presto was the only film nominated by both the Academy and the International Animated Film Society. (I suspect they have different qualifications.) It didn’t win the Annie. Wallace & Grommit did.

    Oh, and Kung Fu Panda won the Annie for feature. But Best Animated Feature Film is voted by the entire membership, just like Best Picture. (Pixar: Five nominations, resulting in three wins.) Technically, Bolt is a Pixar movie (although not produced at Pixar), developed after John Lasseter became Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation. I liked Kung Fu Panda. But Wall-E will probably win. (Ecological message (see: Happy Feet), well told, magical cinematic moments)

  2. I’ve only seen Presto and Oktapodi, and while Presto was amusing, of the two only Oktapodi made me laugh and cheer. Which doesn’t mean it will win the vote – just that I prefer it.

    This Way Up looks rad.

  3. I saw all of these at the Music Box theatre in Chicago. With one exception (s film you didn’t mention), they were all great! You didn’t mention a French short about meteorites and mental illness, which was tragic and very affecting. Some how i don’t feel it will win though.

  4. Much as I like Pixar, and I think that short is a lot of fun, I like Oktopodi the most. Especially the end when the pink octopus drops it’s legs in a “are you kidding me?” gesture, and then launches itself in the air with a determined look. It’s just a perfect little short. Funny, a bit of sentimentally but nothing trite, and it’s pitch perfectly paced.

  5. Much as I like Pixar, and I think that short is a lot of fun, I like Oktopodi the most. Especially the end when the pink octopus drops it’s legs in a “are you kidding me?” gesture, and then launches itself in the air with a determined look. It’s just a perfect little short. Funny, a bit of sentimentality but nothing trite, and it’s pitch perfectly paced.