Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

Every year a local cinema exhibits the Oscar nominated short films, animated, live action, and documentary. This year I got to see the nominated animated short films. The live action and documentary shorts played only during business hours, so I had to skip them. Here are the nominees.

in Our Uniform (Iran) an Iranian woman reminisces about the school uniform she was forced to wear. It is not the biting social commentary it might have been, just a personal story about her experiences. The animation style is quite original and it was a pleasant watch.

In Letter to a Pig (Israel and France) a holocaust survivor speaks to school children about his experience. Running from Nazis, he was forced to hide in a pigsty. He recites a letter to a pig that he feels saved his life. Again, the animation style was very original and quite effective. I admit I was left a little confounded. I suppose it was commentary on how the Jews saw pigs as filthy animals, like how the Nazis saw Jews. A second viewing would be in order.

Pachyderme (France) is a very personal story of a young girl's experience staying with her grandparents over the summer. If there was a larger theme, I missed it. Still, it was very heartfelt and imaginative film. You can watch it on YouTube.

WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (USA) is the story of two soldiers playing chess by homing pigeon during trench warfare. Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon (as Sean Ono Lennon) are executive producers. WAR IS OVER! might be the least visually and narratively original story but it was still emotionally effective. The graphics were apparently created using Unreal Engine.

Ninety-Five Senses (USA) took me by surprise. It starts with an old man with a southern accent talking about kids these days but the story takes us in unexpected directions with surprising complexity and impact. It too is available on YouTube.

In addition to the five nominated shorts we were treated with two additional stories.

I’m Hip (USA) is an amusing short featuring a cat singing a jazzy song about, quite ironically, being Hip. The song was recorded by David Frishberg (of I’m Just a Bill fame) back in 1957. Amusing and visually interesting, but not much for depth. I got an Aristocats vibe.

Wild Summon (UK), narrated by Marianne Faithfull, reads like a pretty standard nature documentary, describing how salmon travel back upstream to spawn in the same place they were born. In fact, it could have been taken in whole cloth from a PBS special. The only difference is that the fish are depicted as tiny humans in salmon colored wet suits and flippers. It is quite graphic at times and really brings the carnage home.

Each short film was quite entertaining and imaginative, and I won’t be disappointed whichever wins. Knowing the Academy, I’m guessing WAR IS OVER! will win because the story is the most accessible and it ends with the John Lennon song. My vote, however, would go to Ninety-Five Senses. I've rewatched the two available on YouTube, but they all deserve a second viewing.