The crop of Oscar-nominated Animated Short Films of 2014 is marked by the fact that it’s made out almost entirely of films that deal with mortality and the passing of time. In Walt Disney Animation’s absolutely enchanting computer animated Feast (dir. Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed), a dog named Winston “tells” his life story through the series of meals he shares with his owner. From being a jolly puppy overfed with leftovers and snacks, to becoming a moderate eater as his owner begins to date a health-conscious woman, the short will tug at the heart of anyone who has ever shared a meal with a dog. The expressive Winston could warrant a feature film of his own, but with the precision and economy of the six minutes it lasts, Feast makes a wonderful companion to a potential Best Picture winner. Shall we go ahead and start calling it Doghood?
Speaking of economy, it takes A Single Life (dir. Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen) exactly two minutes to tell the life story of Pia, who one day decides to play a mysterious record which allows her to travel back and forth in time. Synced to a catchy, haunting melody, the animators make the most out of the frame by stuffing Pia’s room with details that allow us to see the kind of woman she is at each moment in time. Inventive, if a tad too quirky for its own good, the short leaves its biggest mark as it suddenly ends reminding us about the brevity of our time on earth.
In the breathtaking The Bigger Picture (dir. Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees) two brothers discuss their lives as they contemplate putting their mother in a nursing home. Told using life-size characters, made out of painted backdrops and protruding papier mache limbs, this short is the most impressive on a purely aesthetic level. Every frame contains what seems to have been a lifetime of work, and the characterization through the Picasso-like paintings is so expressive that we are able to see the mother’s sorrow as she realizes her time has come. The brothers in question seem like they would be comfortable living in an Alexander Payne film, as they discuss their daily thoughts having changed from sex to death.
A little girl wishes to be “normal” in Me and My Moulton (dir. Torill Kove), a vibrant telling of a childhood memory, in which the protagonist figures out she’ll be able to feel like the regular people if she is given a bike. Her parents, the town eccentrics, have given her and her sisters a life made out of minimalist architecture and colorful tunics, which are often the object of their friends’ jokes. Told with a uniquely Norwegian sense of humor, the film announces Kove as a voice to be reckoned with.
The nominees are rounded up by the lush, if somewhat lifeless The Dam Keeper (dir. Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi) set in an apocalyptic future where a lonely pig has to operate a dam that keeps poisonous fumes away. Bullied in school and ignored by most of the townspeople, the pig leads a very sad life until he meets a fox who wishes to befriend him. With a message about acceptance and the sadness of influential anonymity that’s too on-the-nose, the film might have been helped by some cuts, at 18 minutes it is the longest of the bunch, and most certainly overstays its welcome.
The nominees are accompanied by four additional “notable” shorts, including Footprints by the masterful Bill Plympton, the Fantasia-inspired, absolutely ravishing Duet by Glen Keane, as well as the least impressive Sweet Cocoon and Bus Story, both of which feel like deleted scenes from much better feature length releases.
The Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation will play in New York City at the IFC Center and will be available on VOD in February. For tickets and more click here.
