2015 OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATION SHORTS – The Review

The 2015 OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATION SHORTS are currently playing in St. Louis at Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater

Another Oscar ceremony coming up and another batch of wondrous short subjects animated in a variety of styles.

A Single Life by Job, Joris and Marieke is a very funny, clever and even touching computer animation in which a 45 rpm record becomes a time machine and can boost the listener, a single woman, into the past or future depending on where the needle is dropped on the record. An entire, single life in less than 3 minutes.

A Bus Story by Tali is from the National Film Board of Canada and is somewhat similar to the animated films Norman McClaren used to produce for them. A shy, wistful woman dreams of being a bus driver and “waving to everybody.” Her dream job rapidly escalates into a series of nightmarish episodes. Not to worry, everything turns out alright and there is even a happy ending. The reality of driving a school bus has seldom been presented more humorously.

Duet Directed and animated by Glenn Keane is a beautiful film following the life of a boy and girl from infancy to young adult hood and true love. Along the way the boy has manly adventures while the girl becomes a top ballet dancer. Their paths cross repeatedly until they realize they were meant for each other. This one’s a heart breaker folks, if you have ever had a dream or been in love this one will move you to tears. And all in less than 4 minutes!

Footprints, by the legendary Bill Plympton, does not disappoint. With his unique visual style and odd sense of humor we see a man rudely awakened by a broken window. He follows footprints half way around the world, it seems. With his trusty gun in hand he imagines all sorts of horrid monsters who caused his window to be broken and how he will deal with this threat to law and order. No spoiler from me but when he finally meets the cause of his problem, it is not what you would think! Very funny and it is VERY Bill Plympton!

Sweet Cocoon directed by Mateo Bernard and several others is a sweet French computer animation in which an overweight larva needs help from a snail and an insect in getting into her cocoon. The bug and snail go above and beyond in helping the larva to stay in her cocoon. When she emerges she is a beautiful beyond measure butterfly, and then…but that would be telling! Funny, touching and horrifying all at once.

Me and My Moulton by Torill Kove is a production of the National Film Board of Canada and the Norwegian Film board. A sweet, wistful little film about growing up and being a girl in a Norwegian family in the 1960s. The narrator is the middle girl of a group of three. The girls dream of having a bicycle and a “normal” set of parents. Theirs are very art focused and left of center in their politics and lifestyle.   They do get their bicycle but it is not what they expected. A life lesson in learning to appreciate what you have and not to be disappointed by what you do not. A sight gag concerning the kitchen furniture was the biggest laugh in this collection.

The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs is a British film and a dead serious look at aging and family and death. Beautifully animated in a unique style using what appears to be charcoal drawing with puppet figures and 3 dimensional props two brothers deal with their Mother aging and finally dying. Not without humor but still this is not a light entertainment. The truth it ponders affects us all and it is brilliantly done.

The Dam Keeper by Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsusumi is a gentle fable from Japan about a young pig who “keeps the darkness at bay” in a little town where everybody is an animal. Drawn and colored like a child’s story book this is another heart breaker. If you have ever felt like a misfit or an outsider you cannot help but sympathize with this little pig, who in addition to working at being the Dam Keeper has to go to school with all manner of other animals. He is friendless and alone and picked on until a young girl fox who is also an artist befriends him and teaches him to draw. As fragile and delicate as a half remembered dream upon awakening this is one I would say has a good chance of taking home that Oscar. Although all these films are excellent and deserve their recognition at being nominated. I just wish that theaters would show these films before the main feature as they used to, they all deserve a wide audience.

Feast (Disney) was unavailable for review.