BY SEBASTIAN TORRELIO
A&E; senior staff
storrelio@media.ucla.edu
Every year, the Academy Award nominations for best animated short film can be pared down to a few types: the one with the name brand, the one with the witty premise, the one nostalgically targeted toward children, the one filled with sincere emotion and the one that pushes animation’s technical boundaries. Sometimes these categories overlap and sometimes they’re excluded, but they’re all present in this year’s picks. Like the films’ soulful storylines, the winner of the Feb. 22 Oscars is nearly unpredictable, though all present themselves as entirely deserving nominees. The animated shorts will be released as one program at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre on Friday.
“The Bigger Picture”
Directed by Daisy Jacobs
Stylistically the most innovative of the five selections, “The Bigger Picture” is an English film with a distinctly English type of black humor. As the short opens, two adult brothers hiss at each other about what to do with their aging mother – she doesn’t want to go to a nursing home, but she needs to; someone needs to tell her. It’s a conversation of dark, fast-paced comedy coupled with a very fun form of animation.
Jacobs uses a blend of claymation and small painted sets to mix 2D and 3D art forms. The characters appear as blotchy drawings on a wall until their arms pop out to grab a cup of tea resting near the camera. It’s frequently whimsical to watch the animators do their thing, which contrasts heavily with the film’s somber interests almost uncomfortably. “The Bigger Picture” goes for the hard-hitting pathos, and although it doesn’t quite hit that mark on the head, its impressive animation fluidity makes it one of the year’s highlights.
“The Dam Keeper”
Directed by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“The Dam Keeper” starts with a very affecting narration by Lars Mikkelsen – in a small town where a gigantic windmill atop a sturdy dam keeps the daily cloud of black ash away. It’s a nearly post-apocalyptic premise, all held within the capable hands of Pig, the lone, orphaned operator of the windmill, unbeknownst to the many woodland creatures of his locale. Pig tirelessly works to keep the town safe, despite being regularly bullied by his classmates, except for one newcomer who changes his perspective on life.
“The Dam Keeper” is the most beautiful, touching and strongest of the pack this year, and elegantly captures the tender feelings behind what animation can produce. Its message is subtler than it could be by the end, but any loose ends are tied up with a wondrously rendered drawing style that incorporates comfortably and passionately into Pig’s charming story line. Don’t be surprised if the Academy pushes this short into the echelons of Oscar history on pure heart.
“Feast”
Directed by Patrick Osborne
Disney’s “Feast,” like most Disney and Pixar shorts, was theatrically coupled with another feature film – in this case, “Big Hero 6.” So it’s no surprise that “Feast” is also the most widely viewed of the animated nominees. The film follows Winston, a young, stray puppy that is taken in by a man who shares all his meals with him. The camera quickly transitions from bite to bite as Winston happily gulfs down each serving, until his owner takes a liking to a vegetarian waitress, and the meals stop being so savory.
Winston is an impeccable character, both in rendering and in presence. Winston’s food-related goals are obvious throughout, but it’s the little mannerisms and tweaks of his floppy-eared face that give him personality. Disney’s animators are doggone impressive at telling stories quickly and effectively, even without words, and “Feast” is a prime example. If Winston’s six-minute journey doesn’t simultaneously evoke laughs and tears, nothing this year will.
“Me and My Moulton”
Directed by Torill Kove
Every year, at least one animated short comes along that seems to have popped right out of a children’s storybook. “Me and My Moulton” is a pleasantly simple story of three sisters, told from the perspective of the middle, 7-year-old sibling, who ask their parents for a bicycle. All of the other kids in their Norwegian town have one, so why should they be alienated? Their parents agree, but being unconventional modernist architects, they can’t just buy a bicycle from the local shops, they have to order a special one from overseas.
Director Torill Kove, who won the 2007 animated short Oscar for her similarly lovely “The Danish Poet,” has a droll way of telling her story that feels like a reborn bit of childhood memory. “Me and My Moulton” is a lesson on the importance of family, despite how embarrassing it may feel to be a part of one. Kove doesn’t hit the same fulfilling tones that she has in the past, but her latest, wonderfully scored work shows the nostalgic cuteness she does so well.
“A Single Life”
Directed by Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen
At under three minutes, “A Single Life” is incredibly impressive in how amusing it can be in such a short amount of time. It follows the unordinary day of Pia, a young woman who discovers a mysterious vinyl record that has arrived at her door. By playing the record forward and backward, Pia finds that it lets her travel through her own life, reliving the good moments or even skipping to the better ones.
The animation, like the film’s premise, is simple, to a point that it feels offbeat at times. But the idea behind “A Single Life” packs a deep punch, especially when Pia finds out that manipulating time might have unintended consequences. The most strikingly funny of the five nominees, “A Single Life” is brutally original and an extremely clever reminder that films don’t need to be entirely serious to be recognized for an Academy Award.
– Sebastian Torrelio