Oscar Nominated Short Animated Films: Short Reviews

Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
A barrage of sight gags and wisecracks. The Looney Tunes homage start as soon as the title credits roll, with Maggie's face bouncing towards us à la Bugs Bunny, but the film also plays like a contemporary silent slapstick. Even better, it has some genuine pathos in its swift narrative. It may actually be a bit too jokey-clever for its own good, but the five minutes fly by at a breathless pace. The audience loved it.





Adam and Dog
Expanding on the Adam & Eve mythology, Minkyu Lee's film asks if Man's Best Friend was also his first. It's a beautiful film --the backgrounds are rather stunning-- and the titular dog is one of the year's most memorable characters. The animation does suffer from a certain lack of flow at times (some of it is clearly under the standard 24-frame per second standard), and the animators' attempts at under-representing Adam's genitalia isn't quite effective: they've tried to do an "it's there, but not detailed!" move, but it's more distracting than not. I don't say this lightly, either, as nakedness is a major plot point in the myth and is referenced in the film. Nevertheless, it's probably my favourite of the bunch, and highly recommended.

Fresh Guacamole
A witty homage to the everyday object-surrealism of Jan Svankmajer, it's less than two minutes long (the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar), but a delight. It's Svankmajer-lite, though, and missing the gloomy edge and subtle politics of his work... but that's a note for snobs only.

Head Over Heels
A twilight romance with a twist. The visual gag has some steam to it, and the narrative is bittersweet. I honestly don't have too much to say about the film other than it could have gone even further with its surreal premise, and that those are some damned ugly puppets.

Paperman
The frontrunner for the Oscar and an audience-pleaser, the Wreck-It Ralph companion short is a beautiful, swift romantic tale with some rather stunning animation. Too bad it's classic Disney sexist. Impossibly skinny pretty girl (with red lipstick, the only colour of the film!) is pursued by adorkable office worker.

Will Win: Paperman
Could Win: Adam and Dog
Should Win: Adam and Dog