Animated Thoughts: The 2026 Academy Award animated short films

The Oscars are March, 15th. For those of you who are interested in watching the Academy Award nominated animated short films, a number of them have been posted on YouTube for the time being--so I'd watch them sooner rather than later as they may be removed soon. 

I had two opportunities to see these films in the yearly Shorts International program: at the local theater and at the DIA. Unfortunately, some personal life events took precedence so I had to cancel my plans and make alternate arrangements in order to watch the films before the awards ceremony. Fortunately for me, I was able to watch them through my membership with ASIFA/Central, on YouTube, and by attending the Ottawa International Animation Festival last year.

Butterfly

Beautiful film that tells a tragic tale. This paint-on-glass film did what a good historical docudrama should, it inspired me to do some research on the story behind the story--in this case, Alfred Nakache, an olympic swimmer who was sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Watch the fill movie here: Butterfly.

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Forever Green

Nice enough film, although a bit schmaltzy. The story of a bear and his tree... or is it a tree and his bear? Regardless, this was a well produced film. Though my initial analysis of the story didn't match the actual moral of the story. I personally saw it more as the story of a parent and the sacrifices they make to protect their children. Watch the full movie here: Forever Green.

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Retirement Plan

Retirement Plan had this Fired on Mars (2016)' quality to it. Or maybe Nick Fox-Gieg's The Orange (2009). What I liked most about it is that as the story progressed, the character continued to age. It wasn't a pie-in-the-sky daydream. It honestly reminded me of How to Train Your Dragon when Hiccup lost his leg at the end of the film. There were actual, lasting consequences to the events in the film. It was very refreshing. Watch the full movie here: Retirement Plan.

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The Girl Who Cried Pearls

I'm assuming that this film will be on the NFB's website and YouTube channel soon, so I recommend keeping an eye on their website or the YouTube channel so you can watch this film as soon as it goes live. Fortunately for me, I got to see this film at last year's Ottawa International Animation Festival. It was a solid production and, much like the NFB's Madame Tutli-Putli (2007), it integrated stop-motion with some non-standard digital and practical effects. I highly recommend watching the following two-minute documentary where the Technical Director describes how they merged 3d CG animation with the stop motion animation. You can see it here on the NFB YouTube channel.

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The Three Sisters

Unfortunately for everyone, Konstantin Bronzit hasn't uploaded The Three Sisters as of yet. Hopefully sometime in the future. Based upon the name and the trailer, I was actually expecting this film to be more in tune and tonality with Chekhov's story. It ended up being an interesting look at human dynamics when routines are disrupted and with a very hopeful ending.

- - -

All-in-all, this year's selection was pretty solid and very approachable. I'm looking forward to seeing which one takes home the Oscar. Congratulations to the nominees.

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Animated Events: 2026 Academy Award Nominated Feature and Short Films

And the Academy Award nominations for 2026 are out.

In the category of animated feature film we have:

ARCO
Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman

ELIO
Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong

LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN
Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon

ZOOTOPIA 2
Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino

And in the category of animated short film:

BUTTERFLY
Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens

FOREVERGREEN
Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears

THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS
Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

RETIREMENT PLAN
John Kelly and Andrew Freedman

THE THREE SISTERS
Konstantin Bronzit

The full list of nominees can be viewed on their website. I've only seen two of the shorts (and one of the features) thus far. Can't wait until the shorts program comes to town so I can see the rest of them.

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Animated Thoughts: 2025 Academy Award Nominated Short Films

Well, the Academy Awards have come and gone. And I'm still rejoicing over the fact that Flow rightfully won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It was well deserved. I'm not one of those anti-Hollywood studio types, but it always feels good to see a superior film get the recognition it deserves, especially when it's not a big-budget production backed by hundreds of millions of dollars.

As for the animated shorts, while I usually drive down to the Detroit Institute of Arts to see the shorts program at the Detroit Film Theater, this year was different. As my car has passed the 300,000 mile mark on the odometer, I'm trying to be a little more selective with my day trips--both to stretch out the lifespan of my car for as long as I can but also to shuffle the money saved into a new used car fund.

You can imagine my joy when I discovered that the animated shorts program was being shown by a local theater chain about a ten minute drive from my home (thank you Studio C). So, with popcorn and soda in hand, I settled in to watch this year's program. Felt a little wistful that I didn't get to spend the day soaking in the beautiful works of art at the DIA, but I was very appreciative that I had a good crowd at the theater for the screening. There were only nine of us, but once the lights dimmed, we all forgot about the outside world and were drawn in to a magical world of animation. There were no smartphones lighting up the theater, no one talking to each other, just us and the art of the moving image. Pure bliss.

Onto my thoughts from the screening.

Beautiful Men (directed by Nicolas Keppens)

Beautiful Men is a very thought provoking film. I've seen it three times now at different venues and each time I discover something new in the story, be it an enormous realization or a small nuance. From this third viewing, the plight of the three brothers finally left me with a moment of clarity. After the events of the story, Stephen and Koen want things to go back to the way they were. Whereas Bart is haunted by the irrevocable change in their relationship--his hair being a constant reminder of what was lost instead of a source of joy. If this short ever gets released on DVD, I'd definitely like to pick this one up for the collection--hopefully as part of something like Ron Diamond's Animation Show of Shows. Beautiful Men is a slow burn but tells a surprisingly deep story. Rating: A.

In the Shadow of the Cypress (Directed by Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani)

This was a well executed, well animated film. Good animation quality, character design, cinematography, and color choices. Not much more to say. Decent film, but I just didn't find it memorable in the way that the other films were. I do think it's worth a second viewing. I'd like to go back, watch it again, and see if there's something there that I missed. Sometimes it's just not the right time in your life to connect with a film. Rating: B.

Magic Candies (Directed by Daisuke Nishio)

Not going to lie, I didn't like the character design. The boy looked ugly in an "uncanny valley" sort of way that made me cringe and look at other areas of the screen--which led to being able to really appreciate the lush backgrounds in this film. But I really liked the story as well as Dong-Dong's character growth arc as the lad learned, through the magic candies, what his impact on his little world really was. This was a story of growth and maturing and it was handled rather well. Rating: B+

Wander to Wonder (Directed by Nina Gantz)

Another film I've seen several times in different venues. This is the tragic tale of three doll-sized humans (faeries?) who are struggling with the loss of their caretaker--and the loss of the world as they knew it. This is a solid piece of stop-motion animation with an equally solid, very well executed story.--especially how they told the events leading up to the story's driving conflict using old VHS recordings as a flashback tool. It's well worth the time watching. Rating: A.

Yuck! (Directed by Loïc Espuche)

 
Yuck! was cute. It's another story about kids growing into maturity--this time where they are starting to make that shift from finding physical affection (kissing) between adults as something gross to one where, quoting the Princess Bride, "Someday, you may not mind so much." Like Magic Candies, Yuck! was a film where the character design really didn't do it for me, but the art design, color choices, and the animation were very competently executed with an engaging story and a heartwarming payoff. Rating: B+/A-

In the end, this was a pretty good selection. Personally, I was rooting for Beautiful Men or Wander to Wonder to take home the Oscar, but all the films in this year's line up are worth watching--and I hope you do, whether they're released on the net individually or as part of a festival program.

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Animated Thoughts: Art and the Academy Animated Shorts

It was Spring and time to make a drive down to the Detroit Institute of Arts in order to see the Academy Award Nominated animated short films program. My typical plan for this event is to show up a couple hours early and wander the museum drawing inspiration by the art, then have a nice meal, and finally watch the films. Sometimes my wanderings are to gather information for my History of Animation class. Other times, I'll thinking of a theme (like food) and search for works of art that match the theme. This time though, after looking at a few paintings, I found myself mostly seeking out three-dimensional art like glassware or sculptures.

Kingfisher, Cicada, and Willow Tree, from
the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, 1700
Unknown Artist, China

Vase with carnations, 1886
Vincent van Gogh

Water Pitcher, "Pomona"
Glass, 1885/86
New England Glass Company
East Cambridge, Massachusetts

Pandora, 1864
Chauncey Bradley Ives
American, 1810-94

After some musings about how the artwork was produced--and the tremendous skill it must have taken--I strolled over to the Detroit Film Theater. The films selected for the program were a bit on the longer side, so it was only a five-film screening consisting of only those that were nominated. Usually the program has a couple extra films from those submitted but not nominated in order to pad out the presentation to a full hour-and-a-half (ish). But this time, there wasn't any need for extras. As Zippy Films was kind enough to post a list of all the shortlisted films back in December, I debated the merits of looking up some of those short-listed films (you can view that article here). Wild Summon by Saul Freed and Karni Arieli looked particularly interesting, albeit a tad gruesome. The trailer for Humo (Smoke) by Rita Basulto had some very interesting visuals that left me wondering CGI or stop-motion? And the trailer for Eeva, by Morten Tšinakov and Lucija Mrzljak, had both a visual style and story style that projected those quirky Eastern European sensibilities which would definitely appeal to me. Alas, these films got passed over, so will have to do some digging on the internet in the future to see if the filmmakers have uploaded them after their festival runs.

The films this year had a wide array of techniques and topics, though I suspect all had elements of CGI in their production processes, be it compositing, special effects, or animation.

Our Uniform [Iran]: This film had some interesting visuals--the animated short was made to look like all the characters, models, and backgrounds were made of fabric. But with regards to the story, I kinda felt like I'd already seen this film when I watched Persepolis back in 2007. Not a bad film, per se, but I had repeated feelings of déjà vu and was left wondering if the creator was inspired by Marjane Satrapi's feature (or graphic novels)?

Letter to a Pig [France, Israel] - I found the story in this film a little confusing. On the one hand, it was pretty straightforward: you have an elderly Jewish man telling the story of his experiences during the Holocaust to a classroom of kids who (on the surface at least) don't seem to be grasping the nuances of what he was talking about--they fidgeted, some looked bored, I seem to recall one being expelled from the room for being disruptive. The portion of him telling his story about hiding from the Nazis on a farm was rather engaging. But I wasn't sure about the point of the kids being disruptive. Was this an actual event or did the filmmaker script the kids' behavior for the film? Was the filmmaker trying to make the point that as more and more Holocaust survivors pass away, the younger generations become more and more detached from the horrors of their collective history? Then there was the girl who was visualizing the story she was being told before it drifted into daydreaming... 

Well, over on the Hive Studio's YouTube channel, they have uploaded a pair of videos detailing filmmaker Tal Kantor's story and production process. I highly recommend watching them--especially the one on technique if you're a budding filmmaker. I found some of my questions being answered through this fascinating look into how she designed and constructed her film (videos aptly titled: 'The Story' and 'The Technique'). Others were left unresolved.

Interestingly enough, recently Tal Kantor popped up on my Facebook "Suggested Friends" list. Apparently we have ten mutual friends. After watching Letters to a Pig again, I might reach out to her and ask some questions about her film. This is one of those thought provoking animated shorts that I would really like to watch a couple more times to really let it sink in.

Pachyderm [France] - There were some really good visuals in this film--hauntingly beautiful imagery and solid animation technique--but sometimes the story being told is too abstract. During the screening, I didn't get the fact that it was about abuse. On the bright side, it did plant enough seeds within my consciousness that I looked up the film afterwards in order to get some more context and interpretation on the story. Even if they don't "get it" during the first viewing, I think that inspiring someone to look deeper into your film's premise outside of the screening is a pretty good thing.

Ninety-Five Senses [USA] - This film was a slow burn. An entertaining story told by an old man at the end of his days as he reminisces about his life. It was a very compelling story that drew me in from the start and ended with a startling reveal. Now, I'm not going to say that "this is the film that should've won", I've long since given up on trying to determine how the Academy members will vote. But what I will say is that if you only see one of the films nominated this year, it should definitely be this one.

War is Over [USA] - This was an nice film. A bit overly saccharine for my tastes, but it had a decent story (two soldiers on either sides of the war playing a game of chess with moves relayed by carrier pigeon). I honestly thought that it was more interesting to see how the film was created using Unreal Engine (using a video game engine to create an animated short film). What I think really made this film shine is that the concept was strong enough to stand on its own. I don't think that they needed the John Lennon song. Not saying the song's presence was bad or unnecessary, just that it was a solid concept with good storytelling and competent execution in and of itself.

So, all-in-all, I found this to be a very good program of films which were filled with a wide variety of animation techniques and visual styles. It was well worth the drive down to Detroit. Now, time to see what animated features the Detroit Film Theater will be showing this year so I can start planning return trips.

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Animated Events: 2023 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts at the DFT

Well, I made it to Detroit to see the animated short films that were nominated for the 2023 Academy Awards. And while I don't follow the Oscars, per se, I do have some friends that are voting members of the Academy--and watching the shorts program at the DIA's Detroit Film Theater is a fun experience, so off to the Motor City I went.

I spent a couple hours drifting around the DIA, mostly looking at paintings and sculptures up in the third floor -- the Dutch Masters galleries. Then had a brief, yet pleasant talk with one of the docents about 'Veiled Lady', a marble sculpture by Giovanni Maria Benzoni from back in 1872. A quick lunch later, and I checked out the Impressionists gallery to see that the four van Gogh paintings owned by the DIA were back in their home again.

After which, it was time to see the films!

An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It.

This is the story of a salesman working in a call center who has an existential crisis. It's a clever concept with competent execution. I don't think that they broke any new ground with the story or animation here but it was an entertaining film with good production values. 

For the time being, you can watch this film on the Troy | Movies | Videos YouTube channel at this hyperlink.

The Flying Sailor

Always good to see the National Film Board of Canada with a film in competition. And when the film is directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, you know that it's going to be entertaining. This one was the story of a Canadian sailor who was caught in an explosion when two ships collide. It was a really trippy film that looked at the nature of existence but without becoming pretentious or drawn out for too long. If you've ever had a near-death experience (or thought you were having one), you'll relate to what transpires on the screen. Watch to the end because even when you think that it's over, this film sneaks in a really good endcap. 

For the time being, you can watch this film on the New Yorker's YouTube channel at this hyperlink.

Ice Merchants

Delightfully quirky with a good payoff. This film reminds me of the fun and quirky films that I would see at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The story is all about a father and son who live on the side of a cliff, harvesting ice and selling it to the townspeople below. I was able to figure out the payoff at the ending about halfway into the film, but wow was it a fun ride to get there. This was my choice for the Oscar. Unfortunately, it lost out to 'Boy, Mole, Fox & Horse', but having seen all the contenders, you pretty much knew who the Academy members were going to cast their votes for. 

For the time being, you can watch this film on the New Yorker's YouTube channel at this hyperlink.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Gorgeous visuals and smooth animation. There was some clever dialog throughout the story of a boy learning life lessons from animals whilst finding his courage. A little too saccharine and simplistic for my tastes, but it was adapted from a children's book, so you know what to expect going in. It's worth seeing once and I'm sure that parents will enjoy watching this film with their children. Definitely stay seated through the ending credit sequence and pay attention. 

Last I knew, this film was only available to watch through the Apple+ streaming service.

My Year of Dicks

An interesting, entertaining story. Visuals were reminiscent of Joanna Priestley's Voices with some nods to Richard Linklater's Waking Life. The main problem with this film wasn't the story--a teenage girl who decides that she wants to lose her virginity and the hi-jinks that follow--no, it was that the music and sound effects drowned out the dialog, so there was a lot of nuance and character development that I ended up missing. It was a quirky film with some interesting notes and the final sequence was painfully funny and relatable to men and women alike. Honestly, I'd watch it again (though only if it came with subtitles). This short film is rated "R" for content, however, overall it was pretty tame. I don't recall any nudity or anything like that, just some foul language and its mature subject matter. The DFT and Shorts International did it right: before the film was announced, they gave time for parents to remove their children from the theater. I don't know where this film is available for viewing right now, but if you're into "coming of age" stories, this one is worth a look.

And to end this blog post with the obligatory foodie photo, I have to say: the DIA Cafeteria has a superior bowl of chicken soup!

 

 

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Annies and Oscars, 2022 edition

It was a good day for animation.

This weekend was the 49th annual Annie Awards, a celebration of animation's highest honors presented by ASIFA Hollywood. And it was also the day that animation luminary Ron Diamond hosted a private screening of the Oscar nominated animated short films -- and members of ASIFA were invited!

Given the restrictions that the DIA's Detroit Film Theater were still imposing on those of us who couldn't safely get the jab or had natural immunity, making my yearly trip to the DFT to spend a day appreciating some art before watching the Academy Award nominated short animated film program, well, it wasn't going to happen.

Fortunately, it was Ron Diamond to the rescue! Ron runs the Animation Show of Shows, a yearly curated program of animated short films that gets shown at arthouse theaters and colleges all across the country. So, this year he had a program dedicated entirely to the Oscar animated shorts. And as a member of ASIFA Central, I was sent a code to their website where Ron opened with a discussion about the awards and the films we'd be watching, followed by the program, and bookended with live interviews with some of the filmmakers. It was a good start to the day!

Later that evening, the Annies were streamed on their website. Everything was pretty much pre-recorded since they wouldn't be live streaming from the Royce Theater again this year. But, it is what it is. At least we were able to enjoy the show online rather than not at all. If you didn't get the chance to watch the show during the first broadcast(?), it can be viewed on the online in its entirety at: Annie Awards - Watch It Live and you can also download this year's program book on the same page.

And, thus, my yearly 'random thoughts I had while watching the show':

• Still loving that zoetrope animation that opens the ceremony!
• Best Short Subject: Night Bus had my vote to win. Saw it at the Ottawa fest... really quirky film that I found myself getting into for both the technical production and the story.
  
• "2021 was a continuation of the ongoing pandemic stress, yet animation continued striving and successfully leading the entertainment industry. More animation is being produced today than ever before and that bodes well for all of us." Very encouraging words from ASIFA Hollywood President Sue Shakespeare.
  
• June Foray Award: Was very pleased to see Renzo and Sayoko Kinoshita get some recognition for all their work in the field of animation.
  
• Best Production Design in an Animated TV/Media Production:  Arcane!!!!! A good start for one of the best animated series I've ever seen.
• Best production Design in an Animated Feature Production: Y'know, I was really hoping for Belle.
• I like how the awards are moving at more of a steady clip since we don't have to watch people walk down to the front of the Royce theater and accept their award--and give an extended speech before being played off by music--but the virtual format does seem to lack a little luster and the pomp & circumstance of the live awards ceremony.
• Character Design in an Animated TV/Media Production: Arcane again! So happy to see them pull this award. So rarely do the films I love get recognition, I'm gonna start crying any minute now. :)
• Glenn Vlippu received the Special Achievement award--and is very well deserved.
• Really liked how Dina Sherman was in a different location every time when she announced the next award and its presenters. Seemed a little odd at first, but it really grows on you.
• Character Animation in an Animated Television/Media Production: goes to Arcane!!!!! Wow. Just... wow! Wouldn't it be awesome if Arcane took home every award in all nine categories it was nominated in?
• Hrm. Didn't realize that the Annies started back in '72. Knew June Foray was the driving force behind the awards, but 1972? Hrm. I'm sure I'd heard that before, it just never registered with me.
  
• Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Media Production... Arcane wins again. My jaw is on the floor!
  
• Yeah, I really need to watch the Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf animated feature and the Castlevania series this year... :o
• Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production... Please oh please let it be Belle... aaaand... nope. :(
• Editing in an Animated TV/Media Production: What If...Ultron Won... My favorite episode from my favorite show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- So freaking awesome!!!
• One of the Winsor McKay Awards goes to Lillian Schwartz -- Wow. So many years later, so many advances in computer imagery, and her work still holds up. The mark of a master filmmaker.
  
• Another to Toshio Suzuki. Ah, the Annie Awards, one of the few awards shows where Anime actually gets some of the respect they deserve for their contributions to the art form. Toshio Suzuki. A titan in the industry but, like Isao Takahata before him, spends more time recognizing the people who work for and with him at Studio Ghibli. Man, such a class act.
• And the third to Ruben Akino whose body of work embodies so many of the pivotal films from those years when I was studying to become an animator. Watching those clips, it was like I was sitting in the theater just off campus during college and grad school all over again.
  
• Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Media Production: goes to Ella Purnell - HELL YES!!!!! Let's hear it for Jinx! Arcane is set to sweep the awards after all! Gonna have to watch the whole series again while I still have a little time before the Spring season of Anime is here.
• Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production: was really hoping for a win for John Leguizamo, easily one of the best character actors of our generation. I can't think of a single film of his that I've seen, live action or animated, where he didn't bring his 'A' game and produced a stellar performance.
  
• Writing in an Animated Television/Media Production: Another well deserved award for Arcane!!!
• Writing in an Animated Feature Production: Nope. Still hoping that Belle would get 'some' love during the ceremony. But, there's still the best Indie Feature.
• In Memoriam... always a tough segment to watch. Brenda Banks, Giannalberto Bendazzi, Jacques Drouin, we lost some real heavy hitters this past year and the community is diminished because of it.
  
• Wow!! They got Momoro Hosoda (the director of Belle) to present an awards category. Very cool. Not "Belle wins some awards" cool, but still, a nice consolation.
  
• Best General Audience Animated Television/Media Production: Hell yes!!! Another richly deserved award for Arcane!!!
• Tomm Moore is presenting for the Annies. Very cool. I still have my drawing/watercolor of Pangur Bán that he sent me back when I purchased the PAL version of Brendan and the Secret of Kells and had it shipped in from Ireland (this was before GKIDS picked it up for North American distribution). Think I'll get it framed this year.
  
• Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Media Production: Goes to Arcane! One more award and Arcane sweeps the Annies!!!!
• Directing in an Animated Television/Media Production: AND ARCANE SWEEPS EVERY CATEGORY THAT THEY'RE IN!!! Would've also been cool to see Love Death + Robots or Invincible get some love, but I'm so blown away about all the accolades for Arcane. It's so well deserved. And so refreshing to see it happen.
• So great to see John Leguizamo back at the Annies.
• Best Indie Feature: And no love for Belle. What a disappointment. A somber reminder that my tastes are usually way different than most of the viewing public and that we've got a long way to go before Japanese animation fully receives the recognition that it rightfully deserves. At least the DVD comes out in May. I'll get to watch it again and again in the privacy of my home theater.
  

My 'Pangur Bán' watercolor by
Tomm More of Cartoon Saloon

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Animated Thoughts: Annies and Oscars, pt. 2

I stopped watching the Academy Awards many years ago, pretty much when an anonymous studio exec admitted publicly that he (or perhaps she) never watched the animated films in competition. Since then, we've heard stories from other members of the Academy about how they just ask their kids what animated feature they like and then they vote for that film. Personally, I'm of the opinion that if you're not invested in that particular category, then don't vote in that category at all.

At that point, the awards lost all meaning for me. If I was a voting member, I'd only vote for the animated feature, animated short, and SFX categories because those are the only areas where I have an interest to watch all the films in competition--and where my both my knowledgebase and experiences in filmmaking lie. 

Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew maintains a pretty good series of articles that discusses this problem in depth--including 'should read' links to previous articles (Cartoon Brew). If you're interested in reading more about this problem within the Academy, I'd start my research there.

Now I have several friends who are members of the Academy and are very diligent to watch the films that they're voting for, meaning: it's kind of a delicate topic. Add to that, I have one of those Academy-related memories that is near and dear to my heart: seeing Nick Park's Wrong Trousers winning the Oscar in the Spring of 1994 and wishing I could watch that film--then, seeing the whole film at my first-ever Ottawa animation festival that Fall. So, while I've given up on the Oscar show itself, I still make it a point to watch as many of the Academy-nominated animated features and shorts as I can--which is made very easy by the Detroit Institute of Arts/Detroit Film Theater having a shorts screening program every year. It's a good use of your time: you take the better part of the day to walk around the DIA looking at artwork, have a nice lunch, then watch an hour-and-a-half's worth of animated shorts. And if I have time, I go back into the DIA to be further inspired by art. It's really tough to find a better way to spend a day.

This year was only slightly different. The DIA had hooked up with Eventive.org to stream the yearly Academy Awards shorts program to our homes (for a nominal fee, of course). So while it wasn't the full theater experience, I still got to see the nominated shorts along with a couple that were in the running but didn't make the cut.

The ones that really struck a chord with me were:

Burrow. Created by Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat as part of Pixar's SparkShorts program, Burrow was as delightful now as it was the first time I saw it. And having interviewed Madeline back when she was a student at CalArts, it's been a very fun experience to watch her career progress and how she continues to grow and mature both as an animator and as a storyteller.

Genius Loci, by Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise. Y'know, this film was visually engaging, especially with their willingness to use the 'white of the paper' or the open spaces in their backgrounds. But I found the story convoluted and difficult to follow, so it really detracted from my enjoyment of the film. Visually, it reminded me a lot of the beautiful Brazilian feature Boy and the World. Might be worth a watch on it's own, not as a part of a larger program.

The Snail and the Whale was a nice story--good for the kids market. But it went on for way too long. I think it would've made a much better ten to fifteen minute film.

And finally, DreamWorks' To Gerard, which was a very heartwarming and enjoyable film. Not really impressive from a technical perspective, I don't think I saw anything visually that they hadn't done in their features, but it was a wholly enjoyable story. I'd easily watch this short before a feature film on family movie night.

* * *

Animated Thoughts: Annies and Oscars, pt. 1

It was an animated weekend. Friday, after teaching my animation history class, I quickly finished grading most of the daily writing assignments, then tuned in to the 48th Annual Annie Awards -- presented on ASIFA Hollywood's "annieawards.org" website. If you haven't watched the ceremony yet, it's in the YouTube video embedded below. Some random thoughts I had about the ceremony are as follows:

• Really liked the animation that they showed at the beginning with the spinning zoetrope award animated through various styles.
• Hrm... need to see Hertzfeld's latest film sooner rather than later.
• Daisuke Tsutsumi seems like a really decent fellow. Very humble.
• We love you Brock Sampson!
• Nice to see Cartoon Saloon getting some love.
• Shroom's Odyssey by Piccalo Pictures - I put this on my list of films to track down.
• Am really liking the zoetrope bumper animations!
• Awards ceremony seems to be going at a pretty steady clip since people don't have to walk to and from the front of the auditorium.
• Another win for Wolfwalkers. Cartoon Saloon is getting the love tonight!
• Heh. The Frank Gladstone teleconference "cat" filter thing was funny...
• Epic Games' Unreal engine has come a really looooong way! :o
• Hoping against hope that Riot Games wins the award for Best Character Animation - Video Game... they didn't :(
• Nora Twomey is looking healthy. Glad she beat cancer. The industry would be greatly diminished without her.
• Definitely need to watch Transformers: War for Cybertron.
• Y'know, Over the moon looks interesting. Might have to put that one and Croods: A New Age on my list of features to track down.
• Hrm. Pixar's Soul is getting some love tonight.
• Heh. Pixar's Lamp Life looks funny.
• Yeah, still need to see Farmageddon. My list of features to watch continues to grow! I really miss the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema. :(
• Would love to hear all those stories about Willie Ito... Loved the little video trick they did for the presenting of his Windsor McCay Award.
• Bruce W. Smith was pretty funny and sincere. Great acceptance speech for his Windsor McCay Award.
• Okay, not the biggest Critical Role fan, but their intro was clever. Reminds me of the "Play All" gag on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD.
• Wolfwalkers wins again--this time for voice acting. Good night for Cartoon Saloon.
• Okay the Pixar best writing award "because of zoom" intro was hysterical! Soul is getting bumped up on my list of animated features to catch up on once the semester is over.
• Loved the animated portrait shout out to Brenda Banks during the In Memoriam video.
• Oh wow! I had forgotten that Gene Deitch had passed. Man that stings. I remember reading his part-bio/part-lessons for animators e-book on AWN.com many years ago. :(
• Probably the best, most touching 'In Memoriam' segment I've ever seen. with the animated portraits of select artists.
• Tartakovsky's Primal won the award for Best TV/Media - General Audience. Still need to watch Primal but that opening sequence is so freaking brutal!
• Primal wins again... Glad Tartakovsky is getting some love... not sure about the 'shower scene' acceptance speech though.
• Wolfwalkers wins again! Best Direction Feature.
• Best Indie Feature: Wolfwalkers! Cartoon Saloon wins big tonight!
• Best Feature: Soul with a pretty clever acceptance speech by Pixar. I wonder if the award winners were told ahead of time so they could film these acceptance speech videos?

Afterwards, I finished grading the last few papers and shuffled downstairs to watch the latest episode of Invincible. I know that it premieres on Thursday night, but I kind of like watching it on Fridays. Nice treat for getting all my grading done.

Next on my list would be finding time to watch the Academy Award nominated shorts through the program that the DIA set up...

* * *

Animated Events: 2020 Academy Awards Nominees

oscars.org

This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the nominations for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards.

The following are the films nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short Film. 

Best Animated Feature:

• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Dean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis, and Bonnie Arnold
• I Lost My Body - Jeremy Clapin and Marc Du Pontavice
• Klaus - Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh, and Marisa Roman
• Missing Link - Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner, and Travis Knight
• Toy Story 4 - Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen, and Jonas Rivera

Best Animated Short:

• Dcera (Daughter) - Daria Kascheeva
• Hair Love - Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver
• Kitbull - Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson
• Memorable - Bruno Collet and Jean-Francois le Corre
• Sister - Siqi Song

Additionally, the following two animated feature films had nominations in the category of Music (Original Song):

• 'I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away' from Toy Story 4; Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• 'Into The Unknown' from Frozen II; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

As always, for those who would like to see these short films before the awards ceremony, they will be playing at the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theater in January and February.

The schedule from the DIA's website is as follows:

• Friday, January 31, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 1, 2020 - 2:00 PM
• Saturday, February 1, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 2, 2020 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 2, 2020 - 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 5, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Friday, February 7, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 8, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 9, 2020 - 1:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 12, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Thursday, February 13, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Friday, February 14, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 15, 2020 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 16, 2020 - 1:00 PM

The Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, February 9, 2020.

Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration.

* The Academy Awards and the Oscar are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Animated Events: 2018 Academy Award Animated Short Films at the DIA

oscars.org

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the nominations for the 90th Annual Academy Awards and as per tradition, the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theater will be showing their annual shorts nominee program in February and March.

This year, the following animated films have been nominated (click on the links to see the trailers):

Dear Basketball - Glenn Keane and Kobe Bryant
Garden Party - Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
Lou - Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
Negative Space - Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
Revolting Rhymes - Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer

The screening schedule from the DIA's website is as follows:

• Friday, February 9, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 10, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 11, 2018 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 11, 2018 - 6:00 PM
• Thursday, February 15, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Friday, February 16, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 17, 2018 - 2:00 PM
• Saturday, February 17, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 18, 2018 - 1:00 PM
• Friday, February 23, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 24, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 25, 2018 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 25, 2018 - 6:00 PM
• Friday, March 02, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, March 03, 2018 - 2:00 PM
• Saturday, March 03, 2018 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, March 04, 2018 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, March 04, 2018 - 6:00 PM

For those interested in the results, the Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, March 4, 2018.

The Detroit Film Theater is located at:
5200 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48202

Ticket prices are listed as:

$9.50 general admission
$7.50 seniors, students, DIA members

And you can buy tickets from either the box office or online on the DFT's website.

Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration.

* The Academy Awards and the Oscar are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Animated Events: 2017 Academy Awards Nominees

oscars.org

Earlier this week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the nominations for the 89th Annual Academy Awards.

A lot of feelings regarding this year's nominees. On the one hand, I'm very happy to see that Kubo and the Two Strings was nominated in not one, but two categories. 'Kubo' was a beautiful film that deserved to do far, far better than it did in the box office. Travis Knight and the talented folks at Laika continue to impress with how they push the boundaries of stop-motion animation with every film they release.

And I'm very excited to see that Studio Ghibli was nominated for The Red Turtle. While a joint production between Ghibli and director Michaël Dudok de Wit, having followed the films of both for years, I'm really excited to see this film.

One sad note regarding the selections this year, there was only on female director nominated and it was for a co-directed film: Cara Speller for Pear Cider and Cigarettes. I'm not going to go off on a rant about the number of women creators in animation, however, I find it a little incredulous that there weren't enough women filmmakers making Oscar-worthy films in 2016 to garner more than one nomination, and for a co-directing position at that.

So, if you follow my sister-site 'The Women of Animated Film', this year is a little bittersweet. I was hoping to see more, especially after watching the trailer for the film Once Upon a Line, directed by Alicja Jasnia, which was in the running but didn't make the shortlist.


ONCE UPON A LINE by Alicja Jasina - Trailer from Alicja Jasina on Vimeo.


The following are the films nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short Film.

Best Animated Feature:
Kubo and the Two Strings - Laika
Moana - Disney
My Life as a Zucchini - GKids
The Red Turtle - Studio Ghibli
Zootopia - Disney

Best Animated Short:
Blind Vaysha - Theodore Ushev
Borrowed Time - Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Pear Cider and Cigarettes - Robert Valley and Cara Speller
Pearl - Patrick Osborne
Piper -Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Also worthy of note are the additional nominations in separate, non-animated categories:

Best Documentary:
Life Animated - Roger Ross Williams

Best Song:
"Can't Stop the Feeling" - Trolls - Dreamworks
"How Far I'll Go" - Moana - Disney

Best Visual Effects:
Kubo and the Two Strings - Laika

As always, for those who would like to see these short films before the awards ceremony, they will be playing at the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theater in January and February.

The schedule from the DIA's website is as follows:

• Friday, February 10, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 11, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 12, 2017 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 12, 2017 - 6:00 PM
• Friday, February 17, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 18, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 19, 2017 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 19, 2017 - 6:00 PM
• Friday, February 24, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 26, 2017 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 26, 2017 - 6:00 PM
• Friday, March 03, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, March 04, 2017 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, March 05, 2017 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, March 05, 2017 - 6:00 PM

The Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration.

* The Academy Awards and the Oscar are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Animated Events: 2016 Academy Awards Nominees, Update

oscars.org

Geek Flag achieved!

On Friday afternoon, I made the trek down to the Alamo Drafthouse Theater in Kalamazoo and watched the stop-motion film 'Anomalisa'. I have now seen all the Academy Award nominated Animated Features and Animated Short-Films and can give my predictions.

This year, I'm predicting that Pixar's "Inside Out" will win in the Animated Feature category and either "Bear Story" or "Sanjay's Super Team" will win the Animated Short Film category.

However, having now seen all the nominees, the films that I think are most deserving to win the Oscar are Aardman Animations' "Shaun the Sheep" or Studio Ghibli's  "When Marnie Was There" in the Animated Feature category. And either Don Hertzfeld's "World of Tomorrow" or Konstantin Bronzit's "We Can't Live Without Cosmos" in the Animated Short Film category. Out of all the nominees, these four are the most deserving of your time. They had it all: a solid story, engaging characters, superb animation and visual artistry--and two of them even had no dialog causing the visuals and animation to carry the entire film. Whether or not any of these four films win, I hope that you'll take the time to track them down and watch them. They are well worth the experience.

The 88th Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast live tomorrow night: Sunday, February 28th.

Animated Events: 2016 Academy Awards Nominees

oscars.org

Well, the Academy Award nominations were announced today. I'm terribly disappointed that the beautiful and touching film The Prophet didn't get nominated while the terribly disappointing film Inside Out did. I haven't seen When Marnie Was There or Anomalisa yet. Will hopefully get to see at least one of them before the ceremony, but I have high hopes for 'Marnie' being a quality Studio Ghibli film and 'Anomalisa' comes highly recommend to me by ASIFA San Francisco's own Karl Cohen. Both Shaun the Sheep and Boy & the World were delightful films. If you haven't seen either yet, 'Shaun' is out on DVD and 'Boy' was picked up by GKids, who have stated that it'll see a limited US theater run shortly--it just played here at the Detroit Institute of Arts/Detroit Film Theater.

The Best Animated Short films nominated were:

• Prologue, by Richard Williams,
• World of Tomorrow, by Don Hertzfeldt,
• Bear Story, by Gabriel Osorio,
• We Can't Live Without Cosmos, by Konstantine Bronzit,
• and Sanjay's Super Team by Pixar.

Having so far only seen Cosmos, World of Tomorrow, and Sanjay, I'm really pulling for Bronzit and Hertzfeldt to take home the Oscar. Both World and Cosmos were delightfully quirky and touching films with more heart and solid storytelling skills than I've seen in most animated features.

For those who would like to see these short films before the awards ceremony, they will be playing at the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theater in January and February.

The schedule from the DIA's website is as follows:

Friday, January 29, 2016: 7:00 PM
Saturday, January 30, 2016: 2:00 PM
Saturday, January 30, 2016: 7:00 PM
Sunday, January 31, 2016: 1:00 PM
Sunday, January 31, 2016: 6:00 PM
Friday, February 05, 2016: 7:00 PM
Saturday, February 06, 2016: 7:00 PM
Sunday, February 07, 2016: 1:00 PM
Sunday, February 07, 2016: 6:00 PM
Thursday, February 11, 2016: 7:00 PM
Friday, February 12, 2016: 7:00 PM
Saturday, February 13, 2016: 2:00 PM
Saturday, February 13, 2016: 7:00 PM
Sunday, February 14, 2016: 1:00 PM
Sunday, February 14, 2016: 6:00 PM

See more and buy tickets online at the DFT website.

The Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, February 28th.

Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration.

* The Academy Awards and the Oscar are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Animated Thoughts: Academy Awards, pt. 2

'Song of the Sea' by Cartoon Saloon

"Animation Geek Flag" achieved!

Fortunately for me, Song of the Sea received a wider than expected release here in Michigan. So on Saturday, I drove to Detroit and saw not only Song of the Sea at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak, but also the entire line-up of Academy Award nominated short animated films at the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theater.

I am now ready to watch the Academy Awards ceremony.

Animated Thoughts: 2015 Academy Award Nominees

oscars.org

The 87th Academy Award nominees have been announced.

The nominees for the 'Best Animated Feature' category are:

• Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
• The Boxtrolls (Laika)
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 (DreamWorks Animation)
• Song of the Sea (Cartoon Saloon)
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Studio Ghibli)

I'll be seeing The Tale of the Princess Kaguya this weekend at the Detroit Film Theater but unfortunately I'll have to wait until the first weekend in March to see Song of the Sea. I could watch it earlier, but I don't want to make a nine hour round trip to either Toronto or Chicago in order to watch a feature that I'll get to see in March where it'll be playing an hour away from my house. The gas prices are at record lows, so I am tempted to make a road trip... but, no. I'll exercise some patience and support a local theater--hopefully, they'll be encouraged to bring in more animated features. :)

While this years animated features are pretty strong I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed to see that neither Cheatin' by Bill Plympton nor Rocks in my Pockets by Signe Baumane got nominated. To be sure, independent animated features are a bit of a long shot with the Academy, but both films were strong contenders in their own right. It would have been wonderful to see either of them get acknowledged.

Given their wide theatrical releases, I'm assuming at his point everyone has seen Big Hero 6, Boxtrolls, or Dragon 2. So if you're in the Michigan area and you want to see either The Tale of the Princess Kaguya or Song of the Sea, here's where they'll be shown:

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
This film will be playing at the Detroit Institute of Art's Detroit Film Theater.

Friday, January 16, 2015 - 7:00 PM

Saturday, January 17, 2015 - 3:00 PM

Saturday, January 17, 2015 - 7:00 PM

Sunday, January 18, 2015 - 2:00 PM

Sunday, January 18, 2015 - 4:30 PM

Monday, January 19, 2015 - 7:00 PM

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 - 7:00 PM

Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - 7:00 PM

NOTE: Check the DIA/DFT website for this event before attending as some of the screenings are English dub and others are Japanese with English subtitles. The DIA/DFT link for this film is here.

Song of the Sea
This film will be playing at the Historic Howell Theater from March 3rd until March 8th. As it's about a month-and-a-half away, they haven't released any show times yet. But you can learn more about this film and watch trailers here while you're waiting.

The nominees for 'Best Animated Short' category are:

• The Bigger Picture (National Film and Television School)
• The Dam Keeper (Tonko House)
• Feast (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
• Me and My Moulton (Mikrofilm/the National Film Board of Canada)
• A Single Life (Job, Joris & Marieke)

I caught both Feast, and Me and My Moulton at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last year. I don't recall seeing the other three there, however, we'll all have the chance to watch all five nominees at the Detroit Film Theater's annual screening of all the animated short films.

As I've mentioned in the past, each year before the Academy Awards ceremony, the Detroit Institute of Art's Detroit Film Theatre shows a program with all the animated short film nominees. Additionally, Shorts International usually sells a digital download on iTunes with all the animated short film nominees. So there should be ample opportunities to view all the shorts before March and pick my favorite.

Event details for the Detroit Film Theatre can be found here and the schedule at the DIA/DFT is as follows:

• Friday, January 30, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, January 31, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 01, 2015 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 01, 2015 - 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 04, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Thursday, February 05, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Friday, February 06, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 07, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 08, 2015 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 08, 2015 - 6:00 PM
• Friday, February 13, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 14, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 15, 2015 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 15, 2015 - 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - 7:00 PM
• Thursday, February 19, 2015 - 7:00 PM

The awards ceremony will be broadcast on Sunday, February 22, 2015. Until then, more coverage can be seen on the following websites:

Animation Magazine

Animation Scoop 

Cartoon Brew

Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration.

* The Academy Awards and the Oscar are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Animated Inspiration: 'Ernest & Celestine'

Saw this film at the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema last year. Having been nominated for an Academy Award, 'Ernest & Celestine' is going to open in Los Angeles at the end of the month with New York screenings starting the second week of March and national distribution shortly thereafter. This is a supurb film to take the kids to. Hopefully GKIDS will release a DVD shortly thereafter as this animated film is a great addition to your collection whether or not you have kids.

And for your viewing pleasure, below is an interview with two of the directors Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar filmed at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2012 and produced by 'my ETV Media'.

Animated Thoughts: 2014 Academy Award Nominees *Update*

The following article, found on Animation Magazine's website, has stated that Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures have just announced that the Academy Award nominated short films: animation, live-action, and documentary, will start showing in theaters this January 31st.

Please refer to my previous post to see the viewing dates and times for the DIA's Detroit Film Theater. And more on the DIA's screening can be found on their website. Information on the animated and live-action shorts can be found on this page. And information on the documentary shorts can be found on this page.

Animated Thoughts: 2014 Academy Award Nominees

oscars.org

The 86th Academy Award nominees have been announced.

For the 'Best Animated Feature' category, we have:

• Frozen (Disney)
• The Croods (Fox/DreamWorks)
• The Wind Rises (Disney/Studio Ghibli)
• Despicable Me 2 (Universal/Illumination)
• Ernest & Celestine (GKIDS)

I didn't see 'The Croods' in the theater as the character designs just didn't appeal to me. But, I'm a big fan of both Chris Sanders and Nicholas Cage and DreamWorks has put out some real gems recently, so will have to track down a copy and watch it before the awards ceremony. It's been getting mixed reviews in the animation community so I'll have to see first hand who's closer to my personal tastes. I'm happy to see that another Miyazaki film 'The Wind Rises' has received a nomination. Though I haven't seen it yet, according to Animation Magazine, the english dub version will be released in U.S. theaters on February 21st.

I'm also extremely pleased to see the delightful 'Ernest & Celestine' receive a nomination. This was one of my favorite films from last year's Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema and it is my personal hope that 'Ernest & Celestine' will walk away with the golden statue.

But as happy as I am to see 'Wind Rises' and 'Ernest & Celestine' get nominated, I'm even more utterly disapponted to see that 'Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury' got passed over. While not the most accessible film, 'Rio 2096' was a powerful film that confronted the brutality that exists in Brazil's history all through the lens of two lovers who struggle to reunite throughout the centuries. It was bar none my favorite feature length animated film from WFAC and I had hoped that an Oscar nomination would spur a U.S. theatrical run. Hopefully though, we'll see 'Rio 2096' at least get a U.S. DVD or iTunes digital download release. This is a film that I would really like to share with my friends who can't make it to the festivals.

For 'Best Animated Short' there is:

• Feral by Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
• Get a Horse! by Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
• Mr. Hublot by Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
• Possessions by Shuhei Morita
• Room on the Broom by Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

I caught 'Feral' at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last year. And while a visually pleasing film with solid animation and art direction, it wasn't really to my tastes. Not a bad film by any means and is certainly Oscar worthy, it just didn't do it for me. Eh, everyone has their own subjective tastes in film.

Disney's 'Get a Horse!' was a fun ride made even moreso by the opportunity to meet Lauren MacMullin and Eric Goldberg at Ottawa. Ms. MacMullin and Mr. Goldberg showed their short film to the crowd then gave two presentations discussing how they made their film. A very appealing event to a room full of animators!

I don't recall seeing the other three films at the festivals last year, however, each year before the Academy Awards ceremony, the Detroit Institute of Art's Detroit Film Theatre shows a program with all the animated short film nominees. Additionally, Shorts International sells a digital download on iTunes with all the animated short film nominees. So there should be ample opportunities to view all the shorts before March and pick my favorite.

Event details for the Detroit Film Theatre can be found here and the schedule at the DIA/DFT is as follows:

• Friday, January 31, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 01, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 02, 2014 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 02, 2014 - 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 05, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Thursday, February 06, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Friday, February 07, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 08, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 09, 2014 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 09, 2014 - 6:00 PM
• Friday, February 14, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Saturday, February 15, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Sunday, February 16, 2014 - 1:00 PM
• Sunday, February 16, 2014 - 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 7:00 PM
• Thursday, February 20, 2014 - 7:00 PM

On a side note: I'm particularly pleased to see "Let It Go" from Frozen receive a nod for the 'Best Original Song' category. While I'm not a big fan of musicals, Idina Menzel's rendition of "Let It Go" during Frozen was easily the best song I've heard in an animated film in years. I think it would be fantastic to add another iconic Disney song to previous winners "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan, "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas, "Can You Feel the love Tonight" from Lion King, "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast, "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid, and "When You Wish upon a Star" from Pinocchio.

The awards ceremony will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2nd, 2014. Until then, more coverage can be seen on the following websites:

Animation Magazine

Animation Scoop 

Cartoon Brew

Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration.

Animated Thoughts: Academy Awards Aftermath

Well, the Academy Awards show is over and all the animated short films, save PES's "Fresh Guacamole", have been blocked from public viewing on YouTube. Hope you watched them when you had the chance. While I'm sure that we'll see "Paperman" and "The Longest Daycare" attached to a feature-length DVD release, I'm a little less optimistic about the beautifully produced shorts "Adam and Dog" and "Head Over Heels".

This brings up an interesting issue: how do you run that balance between getting people to see your work and getting paid for showing your work? As next month's women in animation blog posts are taking up my time, I'm going to have to file that thought for further research. But for now, Lucas Martell of the "Pigeon Impossible" blog has some insights worth reading based upon his first-hand experience. Click the following link to read his blog post "Making Money Off of Short Films, part 1" as he breaks down the different distribution methods and provides his experiences and opinions on each one.

Animated Thoughts: Academy Awards

Well, hopefully by now you've had the opportunity to visit the Detroit Institute of Art's Film Theatre screening of the Academy Award nominated short films program. But, if not, you can watch all the nominated films online with the exception of the Simpson's short: 'The Longest Daycare' (which will be shown on broadcast television Sunday, February 17th on your local FOX channel).

The following four (out of five) films have been nominated for an Academy Award in the 'Short Film - Animated' category. Please note: one of these films is NSFW.

UPDATE: I've located a copy of 'The Longest Daycare', however this wasn't posted on Fox's YouTube channel, so it's anyone's best guess how long it'll be up there.

Adam and Dog
Director: Minkyu Lee


Fresh Guacamole
Director: PES


Head Over Heels
Director: Timothy Reckart


Paperman
Director: John Kahrs


The Longest Daycare
Director: David Silverman