Over the last two days I was able to watch all five of the films nominated for Best Animated Short at the 2012 Oscars. Along with the Live-Action Short category and the Documentary Short Subject category, these are virtually the most impossible categories to predict whether you’ve seen them or not. Typically at the final hour some outlet will come out with news relayed to them by an Academy member that would seem to indicate a winner, but I personally don’t have the luxury of such information so all I can do is watch and decide for myself.
That said, after watching all five of the nominees for the first time William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg’s The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore stands out as the most likely to win as it tells a fantastical story primarily focused on the power of books and stories in general. It was said to be inspired in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz and a love for books and all of that is easily noticeable throughout and like two of the other five nominees (Dimance/Sunday and A Morning Stroll), it shares something in common with The Artist in that it too is a silent feature.
I’m sure many will opt to place Pixar’s La Luna in the number one slot. After all, how could the animation house go a whole year without winning at the Oscars? Without a nominee in the Best Animated Feature category it would most certainly have to win Best Animated Short… Right?
Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did as Enrico Casarosa’s film about a boy’s first journey out to work with his father and grandfather on what is a most peculiar occupation is truly beautiful, just as you would expect from the highly regarded animation house. However, I’m not sure it sticks with you as long as Mr. Morris Lessmore.
Interesting enough, with what now makes eleven nominations for Pixar in this category since their first nom in 1986 (Luxo Jr.), the studio has won three times, but has gone home empty handed the last six times they have been nominated. Will 2012 be the year the streak is broken?
As for the other three nominees, I didn’t particularly care for Dimanche/Sunday and Wild Life held no interest for me. However, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe’s A Morning Stroll was the best of all five as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve included the trailer for A Morning Stroll on the second page, along with trailers for the four other nominees as well, and the trailer gives you only a sampling of what this one entails as it begins in 1959 as a man walks past a chicken on his morning stroll on a New York sidewalk. From there we relive the scene again in 2009 and 2059 to see how times have changed and I can say with 100% certainty you have no way of expecting what the final third of this short has to offer.
As much as I would love to see A Morning Stroll take the win I feel the Academy will bend more toward the short that pays an homage to the art of storytelling and for that I can’t argue, nor would I argue with a win for La Luna, though I don’t think it matches A Morning Stroll or The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore in terms of overall quality.
That said, here are my current predictions for this category though I reserve the right to change them before Oscar night on Sunday, February 26. I will be watching the live-action shorts soon and will return with my thoughts on those once I have seen them.
After checking out the nominations, be sure to click over to the second page to watch trailers for all five nominees.
- The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (dir. William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg)
- La Luna (dir. Enrico Casarosa)
- Dimanche/Sunday (dir. Patrick Doyon)
- A Morning Stroll (dir. Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe)
- Wild Life (dir. Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby)
Final ballots for the Oscars were mailed today (February 1) to the 5,783 voting members of the Academy and are due back by 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 21.
As far as voting for this category goes, the rules state the following:
Final voting for the Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film awards shall be restricted to active and life members of the Academy who have viewed all of the nominated short films in a theatrical setting. Academy members may vote for only one film in each of the two categories. Those members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch who served on the Branch Nominating Committee, and who viewed all the nominated pictures, will receive mail ballots.
Now click over to the next page and watch those trailers…
