Most cartoon fans should be able to find something to enjoy in the 2022 edition of “The Animation Show of Shows,” a 90-minute survey of recent animated short movies. Unfortunately, the juxtaposition of certain shorts also sometimes detracts from their standout qualities.
Most of the ten included short films are technically accomplished and formally adventurous enough to warrant viewers’ attention. Some shorts, like the stick figure coming-of-age drama “Aurora,” also look corny or trite when compared with others. The piecemeal nature of this sort of omnibus also does a particular disservice to experimental or non-narrative shorts, like the playful and impossible-to-synopsize hand-drawn short “Zoizoglyphe.”
The first hour of this year’s “Animation Show of Shows” focuses on new shorts from the past two-plus years, since the series was put on hiatus during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The last half hour of this program highlights a newly restored short from 1987: “The Man Who Planted Trees,...
Most of the ten included short films are technically accomplished and formally adventurous enough to warrant viewers’ attention. Some shorts, like the stick figure coming-of-age drama “Aurora,” also look corny or trite when compared with others. The piecemeal nature of this sort of omnibus also does a particular disservice to experimental or non-narrative shorts, like the playful and impossible-to-synopsize hand-drawn short “Zoizoglyphe.”
The first hour of this year’s “Animation Show of Shows” focuses on new shorts from the past two-plus years, since the series was put on hiatus during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The last half hour of this program highlights a newly restored short from 1987: “The Man Who Planted Trees,...
- 12/29/2022
- by Simon Abrams
- The Wrap
The Best Animated Short category at this year’s Oscars is looking like it’s going to be an easy one to predict. According to our racetrack odds, the Netflix short, “If Anything Happens I Love You,” is way out front to capture the prize. These odds are derived from the predictions made by our Expert film journalists, Gold Derby Editors, Top 24 Users and the numerous Gold Derby users making their own predictions.
But is the short film really that safe? Let’s dive into this category with a closer look at all five nominees in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
“If Anything Happens I Love You” (odds of winning: 31/10)
A husband and wife are forced to navigate their grief after experiencing the tragic and unexpected loss of their daughter.
This is the first Oscar nomination for both Will McCormack and Michael Govier.
Pros: The short may not...
But is the short film really that safe? Let’s dive into this category with a closer look at all five nominees in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
“If Anything Happens I Love You” (odds of winning: 31/10)
A husband and wife are forced to navigate their grief after experiencing the tragic and unexpected loss of their daughter.
This is the first Oscar nomination for both Will McCormack and Michael Govier.
Pros: The short may not...
- 4/21/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Gísli Darri Halldórsson is a 2021 Oscar nominee in the Best Animated Short category for “Yes-People,” the eight-minute film that he directed, produced, wrote and animated. In an exclusive interview with Gold Derby (watch the video above), he reveals about the inspiration for the eight-minute film, “I was obsessed with routines and habits and it was my own terror of living my life in a loop. I found a way to marry those together, where characters stuck in a loop can only say yes.”
The film depicts its six protagonists saying “já” (“yes” in Icelandic) in a variety of mundane, everyday experiences over a single winter 1980 day in Halldórsson’s native Iceland, with the word taking on different meanings, depending on circumstances and intonation. He says about the limited dialogue, “I really like creative restraints. I really like that box and creating a space where you can become creative, because the...
The film depicts its six protagonists saying “já” (“yes” in Icelandic) in a variety of mundane, everyday experiences over a single winter 1980 day in Halldórsson’s native Iceland, with the word taking on different meanings, depending on circumstances and intonation. He says about the limited dialogue, “I really like creative restraints. I really like that box and creating a space where you can become creative, because the...
- 4/15/2021
- by Riley Chow
- Gold Derby
As the longer-than-usual Oscars race stretches into a marathon, there’s more time than ever to delve into some of the more obscure categories. Though certainly frowned upon, voters may not always have made time to view every nominated short film in previous years, which makes predicting these categories something of a wild goose chase. With the added time this year, Academy voters have little excuse not to do their due diligence. They will find a rich array of socially-conscious short form narratives, from the traditional to the experimental.
The five animated short film nominees vary widely in tone, visual style, and storytelling approach. Pixar and Netflix, which dominate the Best Animated Feature category with two films apiece, both landed a single nominee among the shorts. The other three, two from outside the U.S., blur narrative conventions to offer poetic moments of social critique. Their perspectives range from playful to fatalistic,...
The five animated short film nominees vary widely in tone, visual style, and storytelling approach. Pixar and Netflix, which dominate the Best Animated Feature category with two films apiece, both landed a single nominee among the shorts. The other three, two from outside the U.S., blur narrative conventions to offer poetic moments of social critique. Their perspectives range from playful to fatalistic,...
- 4/7/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Every year, ShortsTV brings the best in short film to the big screen, with a presentation of Oscar nominated shorts in the Animated, Live-Action and Documentary arenas. While movie theaters only recently reopened in Los Angeles and Orange County—with Covid cases, hospitalizations and fatalities on the descent—the distributor has already set theatrical and virtual premiere dates in both counties, for the Oscar Nominated Shorts of 2021.
ShortsTV’s live-action and animated short film programs will be released theatrically and virtually on Friday, April 2. Its documentary program, meanwhile, will become available virtually on April 2, with a theatrical opening scheduled for April 9.
Nominees in the category of Best Live-Action Short Film that will screen for LA audiences include Feeling Through (directed by Doug Roland), Oscar Isaac-starrer The Letter Room (Elvira Lind), The Present (Farah Nabulsi), Two Distant Strangers (Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe) and White Eye (Tomer Sushan).
Doc...
ShortsTV’s live-action and animated short film programs will be released theatrically and virtually on Friday, April 2. Its documentary program, meanwhile, will become available virtually on April 2, with a theatrical opening scheduled for April 9.
Nominees in the category of Best Live-Action Short Film that will screen for LA audiences include Feeling Through (directed by Doug Roland), Oscar Isaac-starrer The Letter Room (Elvira Lind), The Present (Farah Nabulsi), Two Distant Strangers (Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe) and White Eye (Tomer Sushan).
Doc...
- 3/24/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The Oscar race for animated short reflects the zeitgeist and the ascendance of streaming. And all five nominees explore the turmoil of a divided country and world, where the need for unity is the best salvation for attaining happiness and closure.
The favorite is Netflix’s first animated short, “If Anything Happens I Love You,” about a grieving mother and father visited by shadows of themselves and their deceased young daughter (who was the victim of a school shooting). The monochromatic, hand-drawn short, directed by Will McCormack (who wrote the original “Toy Story 4” script with Rashida Jones) and Michael Govier (“Conan”), boasts an illustrated style that represents haunting memories, bolstered by an all-female animation team supervised by CalArts graduate Youngran Nho. Laura Dern executive produced the short and Maryann Garger (“The Lego Ninjago Movie”) produced with Gary Gilbert (“La La Land”), Gerald Chamales (“The Irishman”), and Govier.
This season,...
The favorite is Netflix’s first animated short, “If Anything Happens I Love You,” about a grieving mother and father visited by shadows of themselves and their deceased young daughter (who was the victim of a school shooting). The monochromatic, hand-drawn short, directed by Will McCormack (who wrote the original “Toy Story 4” script with Rashida Jones) and Michael Govier (“Conan”), boasts an illustrated style that represents haunting memories, bolstered by an all-female animation team supervised by CalArts graduate Youngran Nho. Laura Dern executive produced the short and Maryann Garger (“The Lego Ninjago Movie”) produced with Gary Gilbert (“La La Land”), Gerald Chamales (“The Irishman”), and Govier.
This season,...
- 3/19/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Adarsh Gourav's co-star in The White Tiger and her husband, actor-singer Nick Jonas, today announced the Oscar nominations of Writer-director Ramin Bahrani's The White Tiger. Ramin Bahrani's film has been nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category at the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards.
Mank, with 10 nominations, has garnered the highest number of nominations this year. The black and white biopic, based on the life of 'Citizen Kane' co-screenplay writer Herman J Mankiewicz, garnered nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director (for David Fincher), Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Amanda Seyfried).
Other notable films that won multiple nominations include "The Trial Of The Chicago 7" (six nominations), "Judas And The Black Messiah" (six), "The Father" (six) and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (five).
The late Chadwick Boseman is a contender in the Best Actor category for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom...
Mank, with 10 nominations, has garnered the highest number of nominations this year. The black and white biopic, based on the life of 'Citizen Kane' co-screenplay writer Herman J Mankiewicz, garnered nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director (for David Fincher), Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Amanda Seyfried).
Other notable films that won multiple nominations include "The Trial Of The Chicago 7" (six nominations), "Judas And The Black Messiah" (six), "The Father" (six) and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (five).
The late Chadwick Boseman is a contender in the Best Actor category for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom...
- 3/15/2021
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
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