Acclaim for Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts

By Josh Carmel and Audra Foster

While the predominant Oscar haze furnished by James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino may have eclipsed the scintillating cinematic brilliance of those films qualified as “Animated Shorts,” the lucid tinctures of emotion, both humorous and melancholy, and the acerbic tendrils of sarcasm that the latter provide, can never be disputed.

Going to see a film, in any capacity, reflects an inherent desire to capture what James Joyce termed “the splendor of truth.” It encapsulates an urge to place what one has experienced in the context of a deeply empathetic or outrageous situation, one that, by default, will allow the viewer witness to situations with which he or she has never been acquainted.

Such is no easy undertaking for any feature-length film, let alone those which are limited to anywhere between 6 to 30 minutes. Instead, these shorts must be on point and, given their truncation, must clarify the situations of humor, loss, or love, so that each emotion is more finely drawn. The films nominated for an Oscar in the category of “Best Animated Short,” including: Fabrice O. Joubert’s French Roast, Javier Recio Gracia’s The Lady and the Reaper, Nick Park’s A Matter of Loaf and Death, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell’s Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, and Nicolas Schmerkin’s Logorama, do just that with their resounding tales.

French Roast
(France, 8 mins)

A witty, moralistic tale about a French businessman who misplaces his wallet and must suffer the embarrassment, complete with an old beggar, a morbid waiter, and a not-so-angelic grandmother.

What We Thought: The animation was fluid and dynamic, reminding one of Disney Pixar’s Ratatouille. The storyline, although predictable in its similarity to old American cop-and-robber films, was humorous and heart-warming. Worth seeing once.

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
(Ireland, 6 mins)

A pseudo-humorous, pseudo-disturbing tale about a disgruntled grandmother and her attempt to highlight the inherent disadvantages of growing older by paralleling Sleeping Beauty.

What We Thought: The difference between CG animation and hand-drawn scenes was a bit over-the-top, and the grandmother’s bitterness was definitely dramatic. Nevertheless, a fairly frightening depiction of a usually much more light-hearted fairy tale. Worth seeing once.

The Lady and the Reaper
(Spain, 8 mins)

An endearing account of one woman’s desire to reunite with her husband in death, with a hilarious skirmish between the Grim Reaper and the doctor which results in a startling conclusion, The Lady and the Reaper reminds the viewer of the melancholy state of modern medicine.

What We Thought: The Lady and the Reaper was at times comedic, truly depressing, and resplendently romantic. The animation was an effective mixture of classic cartoon and futuristic fluidity. It was sweet but a little disturbing–the very simple cartoon style very much belied the serious undertones. Worth seeing more than once.

Logorama
(France, 16 mins)

Logorama takes the plot of a modern action movie and replaces the set, the characters, and even the dialogue with American advertisements, resulting in a scathing satire so flamingly true that only France could have come up with it.

What We Thought: Visually stunning, and a satirical masterpiece, Logorama will offend any and all ardent, diehard-conservative American patriots with its blasphemous truths and incendiary commentary. And all anyone else can do is laugh hysterically in agreement. Buy it, watch it, love/hate it, repeat.

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
(United Kingdom, 30 mins)

Kinky and ridiculous, as most Wallace and Gromit plots are, A Matter of Loaf and Death successfully combines mystery, romance, comedy, and standard British wit to form another great installment to the Wallace and Gromit series.

What We Thought: Even for the first-time watchers of Wallace and Gromit, A Matter of Loaf and Death is as endearingly cute and charming as any wayward comedic cartoon can be. Following the classical Wallace and Gromit structure, the cartoon had one central pun that created the foundation of the plot, additional characters, animation, and new inventions. Watch more than one, unless of course you love Wallace and Gromit (in which case, watch it as many times as you please).

RUNNER-UP

The Kinematograph
(Tomek Baginski, Poland)

Although this did not make it into the Oscar nominees, instead falling into the “highly commended” category, The Kinematograph detailed the intimate relationship between an inventor, his ailing wife, and his obsession with his latest creation. Complete with neglect, sorrow, and loneliness, this short animation had all the trappings of a full-length drama.

What We Thought: The characters in The Kinematograph share very concentrated, intimate dialogue, which contrasted with the stiff wooden texture of the animation. The film was sad, an emotion highlighted by the stunning color scheme and breathtaking detail-oriented movements. Buy it, watch it, love it, repeat.

The Academy Awards won’t air until March 7, but already the Forum has chosen its favorite for the Oscar. The winner, according to us, should be Logorama. The runner-up, although not nominated, should have been The Kinematograph. These two contain all of the recommended attributes of any short animation, providing intense detail, great plot, and a perfect blend of emotion, all packed into a impressively small amount of time.

Watch all the shorts, both live-action and animated, here at http://www.shortshd.com/theoscarshorts/!