Style and imagination on display in Oscar-nominated animated shorts from around the world
Expect the weird and often wonderful from the animated short films nominated each year for an Academy Award. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the short film compilation programs (both Animated and Live-Action) that the Academy packages for theatrical release in advance of Oscar night, so the viewing public gets its only chance to see these films on a big screen. (Remember back in the Stone Age, when a cartoon short used to play before every feature film? Sigh, those were the days … )
But now, thanks to the annual “Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Animated” program, we can see the five nominated cartoons in all their cinematic glory. Besides the five nominees, the program is rounded out with an additional four animated shorts in competition this year that are offered as “Highly Recommended.” These films come from around the world, employing a fascinating variety of animation techniques, from CGI to stop-motion, to actual hand-drawing, and it’s a treat to see cinematic art (literally) at its most personal and imaginative.
A highlight of this year’s program is also the first film up: Me and My Moulton (Norway/Canada). Director Torill Kove’s wry, hand-drawn glimpse into Scandinavian family life in the mid-1960s, has a very droll, engaging sense of humor. A 7-year-old girl (“always the middle” between her younger and older sisters) observes her life. Their parents are both “modernist” architects; the three-legged dining room chairs are always falling down, the girls are always lined up according to height, in colorful Marimekko graphic print dresses their mom sews herself, and their dad is the only man in town with a moustache. It’s a charming take on arty nonconformity from the wistful yet loving viewpoint of a child who only wants to be “normal” like everyone else.
Another highlight is The Dam Keeper (USA). The country of origin is America, but there’s a European flavor to co-directors Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi’s winsome, if occasionally heartbreaking, tale of a lonely young pig who operates a windmill at the edge of town “to keep the darkness away.” Isolated in the mill-house home with a job inherited from his father, he’s bullied until the spirited new (fox) girl at school, with a talent for drawing, befriends him.
That all the town’s inhabitants are anthropomorphic animals is part of the film’s great charm. And while a bit of narration is provided from the pig as an adult, looking back, the clever soundtrack to the main story is made up almost entirely of laughter, from the bullies’ menacing guffaws to the ecstatic giggling of new friends. The title word “dam” suggests water, but we soon learn that “the darkness” is metaphorical—if frighteningly dangerous—in this touching film.
Nominee The Bigger Picture (UK), from director Daisy Jacobs and producer Christopher Hees, may involve the most interesting, original animation technique. It’s the story of two grown men caring for their elderly mother, one the designated caregiver, and his alpha, less-involved brother, Mum’s favorite, who wants to put her in a home. The bittersweet tale doesn’t amount to much, but Jacobs combines life-sized paintings (shot on a full-scale sound stage) and 3D stop-motion props—from body parts to kitchen crockery to a vacuum cleaner—in surprising, evocative ways.
Walt Disney Studios chimes in with Feast (USA), Patrick Osborne’s funny tale of an orphan pup living a high life of fabulous, forbidden people food with the young man who rescues him—until a new girlfriend arrives with a healthier food agenda. And just for fun, we get A Single Life (Netherlands) from directors Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, and Job Roggeveen, a fleet, fresh, two-minute extravaganza in which a woman discovers a 45 RPM record (once called a “single”) that enables her to time travel through her life.
In the “Highly Recommended” segment, look for the ever-irreverent Bill Plympton’s Footprints (USA), about gun culture and fear, and Glen Keane’s lovely line-drawn pas-de-deux, Duet (USA). Both the Animated program and the Live-Action program are playing at alternating showtimes at the Nickelodeon (separate admission for each program), in advance of the Academy Awards broadcast on February 22.
OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2015: ANIMATED
*** (out of four)
Nine short films by various directors. (Not rated.) 77 minutes.
PHOTO: ‘The Bigger Picture,’ from director Daisy Jacob and producer Christopher Hees, is one of the animated short films nominated for an Academy Award, and combines life-sized paintings and 3D stop-motion props.
