The Lost Thing is a 15 minute animated short film based on the highly acclaimed picture book by multi award winning author and illustrator, Shaun Tan, that says to have been influenced by Tim Burton, Francis Bacon and Rene Magritte. I will not dare to write a piece about Tan's life and work, but, by these influences, you can have an idea of how this movie will be shown: with subliminal meanings and metaphors. As this short film was adapted from the children's book of same name, you shall watch it through the eyes of a child, that is now knowing the world it lives. I believe the metaphor created successfully by Shaun means to a kid that the world it was born at is a place of bitter people that lost their brightness; they do not care about life and happiness anymore; but you must not care about it. You are special the way you are, and you will find your place in the world some day; not among the others people, but among equal friends who will comprehend your feelings and make you happy. And by its signification, watching this 15 minutes film worth it.
16 Reviews
Lovely CGI....
planktonrules19 February 2011
This Australian film is about a young man who finds a very bizarre looking 'thing' at the beach. He has no idea WHAT it is and no one else seems to care or notice. He makes it his job to try to find out where it goes. In the end, he finds a strange land filled with LOTS of strange creatures.
While far from my favorite of the 2011 nominees for Best Animated Short, this is still a very nice film and I enjoyed seeing it. I went to the theater with a friend to see this and we both agreed it was not very likely to win the award--mostly because the story is its weakest aspect. But, I should say that it DID have amazingly wonderful animation. The computer animation is truly wonderful--high quality, unique and impressive. So, in my case, while I didn't love the story (it was a tad weak), the film looked so great that I didn't mind too much. My advice is that it you see it, turn off your brain and enjoy.
UPDATE: I was surprised, but just moments ago I saw that "The Lost Thing" won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. To me, this was a surprise!
While far from my favorite of the 2011 nominees for Best Animated Short, this is still a very nice film and I enjoyed seeing it. I went to the theater with a friend to see this and we both agreed it was not very likely to win the award--mostly because the story is its weakest aspect. But, I should say that it DID have amazingly wonderful animation. The computer animation is truly wonderful--high quality, unique and impressive. So, in my case, while I didn't love the story (it was a tad weak), the film looked so great that I didn't mind too much. My advice is that it you see it, turn off your brain and enjoy.
UPDATE: I was surprised, but just moments ago I saw that "The Lost Thing" won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. To me, this was a surprise!
It's got that classic monster befriends child charm to it!
Hellmant23 February 2011
'THE LOST THING': Four Stars (Out of Five)
One of the best animated short films nominated for an Oscar last year (2010), this one tells the story of a boy (voiced by Tim Minchin) who finds an odd and mysterious creature on a beach, which no one else seemed to notice. He takes it home with him and attempts to find it a place of it's own to live but finds little help as he discovers no one else seems to care. The film focuses on our modern civilization and how busy and self centered we are to notice amazing thing right in front of us. It of course delivers the message that as a child we still have awe and wonder for such things but eventually grow out of it. It's directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and written by Tan. The film is quirky, nostalgic and cleverly animated. It's got that classic monster befriends child charm to it. One definitely worth the recognition it's received.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqNUf10kuk
One of the best animated short films nominated for an Oscar last year (2010), this one tells the story of a boy (voiced by Tim Minchin) who finds an odd and mysterious creature on a beach, which no one else seemed to notice. He takes it home with him and attempts to find it a place of it's own to live but finds little help as he discovers no one else seems to care. The film focuses on our modern civilization and how busy and self centered we are to notice amazing thing right in front of us. It of course delivers the message that as a child we still have awe and wonder for such things but eventually grow out of it. It's directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and written by Tan. The film is quirky, nostalgic and cleverly animated. It's got that classic monster befriends child charm to it. One definitely worth the recognition it's received.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqNUf10kuk
A masterpiece found: "The Lost Thing"
Hereafter6 February 2011
The lost thing rises as a breath of fresh air against an ever rising tide of wise cracking or sickly cute fur balls and violent comic animation fueled by the American market. At around 15 minutes in length "The lost thing" had a production time line sprawled over nearly ten years with the bulk of work done over three years. The required creative control in adapting and complementing a very popular book have clearly been kept in check buy the directorial hand of the original illustrator and author Shaun Tan and very small production team principally Leo Baker, the main animator and computer graphics artist Tom Bryant.
It is a simple story which reflects on human natures diminishing observation and appreciation of a world out side the day to day pathway we are all forced to travel by both greater authority and selfish ambition. Childlike observations laced with surrealistic circumstance create the distinctly dream like world of "The Lost Thing"
"The lost thing" is short but so visually rich with Shaun Tans remarkable eye for detail it feels complete and invites repeated viewing. If your a little over street wise dudes with stand up comic sarcasm, over blown CGI action coupled with misfiring plots take a medicinal shot of "The Lost Thing". You can not go wrong.
It is a simple story which reflects on human natures diminishing observation and appreciation of a world out side the day to day pathway we are all forced to travel by both greater authority and selfish ambition. Childlike observations laced with surrealistic circumstance create the distinctly dream like world of "The Lost Thing"
"The lost thing" is short but so visually rich with Shaun Tans remarkable eye for detail it feels complete and invites repeated viewing. If your a little over street wise dudes with stand up comic sarcasm, over blown CGI action coupled with misfiring plots take a medicinal shot of "The Lost Thing". You can not go wrong.
There was no denying the unhappy truth: It was lost.
Horst_In_Translation26 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This film is the 2010 effort from Asian-Australian writer-director Shaun Tan that won him the Oscar in the animated short category over such prestigious competition like Pixar or the Centre National de la Cinématographie. I wouldn't want to be the judge if it's the best of the year, but it's surely a cute piece of animation with an interesting story and it fits story-wise very well in with Toy Story 3 winning the full-length animation prize that year.
We meet a boy who finds a giant red creature with tentacles, plays with it for a while just as if it's a dog. They have a fun time at the beach building sandcastles, but as the moment of farewell moves closer and everybody would go his way again, the boy realizes that his new companion is lost and has nowhere to go. So he first takes it home, then, after the parents complain, puts it in the shed while trying to find out where it came from, on his own and with the help of a friend. But no success. Finally, he takes it to a lost property office hoping somebody came asking for it. But is this how it ends? It's a nice little tale on misfits that offers an uplifting ending and an interesting moral (maybe that was what lifted this one above the other nominated films to Oscar glory) that finds a good balance and is not too much in the viewer's face. It's not a real standout in regard to anything, animation, story or voicework, but the combination of all the aspects resulted in a thoughtful overall result. Recommended and I'm curious about Tan's work in the future. I'd really like to see a feature film from him, maybe even centering around The Lost Thing.
We meet a boy who finds a giant red creature with tentacles, plays with it for a while just as if it's a dog. They have a fun time at the beach building sandcastles, but as the moment of farewell moves closer and everybody would go his way again, the boy realizes that his new companion is lost and has nowhere to go. So he first takes it home, then, after the parents complain, puts it in the shed while trying to find out where it came from, on his own and with the help of a friend. But no success. Finally, he takes it to a lost property office hoping somebody came asking for it. But is this how it ends? It's a nice little tale on misfits that offers an uplifting ending and an interesting moral (maybe that was what lifted this one above the other nominated films to Oscar glory) that finds a good balance and is not too much in the viewer's face. It's not a real standout in regard to anything, animation, story or voicework, but the combination of all the aspects resulted in a thoughtful overall result. Recommended and I'm curious about Tan's work in the future. I'd really like to see a feature film from him, maybe even centering around The Lost Thing.
Wonderfully Imaginative
diggler30228 February 2011
Shaun Tan, is quite well known among Australian children and teacher/librarians for his contributions to the field of children's books and art work.
The Lost Thing was originally published as a children's book in 1999. The story revolves around a young man who finds a... well... Thing. Nobody else seems to notice the Thing, and the young man decides to find out where it is meant to be.
The film is set in a drab, dystopian world that is akin to Dali's impressionistic artistry.
For people that enjoy not only animation, but also art, this is a fantastic choice. The visuals and Thing are quite astounding to watch and the story is very well executed.
For people wishing to buy this film. It is purchasable from here http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/13969/the-lost-thing
The Lost Thing was originally published as a children's book in 1999. The story revolves around a young man who finds a... well... Thing. Nobody else seems to notice the Thing, and the young man decides to find out where it is meant to be.
The film is set in a drab, dystopian world that is akin to Dali's impressionistic artistry.
For people that enjoy not only animation, but also art, this is a fantastic choice. The visuals and Thing are quite astounding to watch and the story is very well executed.
For people wishing to buy this film. It is purchasable from here http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/13969/the-lost-thing
"So you want to hear a story?"
ackstasis6 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
'The Lost Thing (2010),' winner of the 2011 Oscar for Best Animated Short, is narrated by Australian comedian and musician Tim Minchin, who I thought an odd choice. The film unfolds like a storybook, so I had envisioned a warm fatherly narrating voice (we can blame Adam Elliot for putting Geoffrey Rush into my head), but Minchin's whiny, apathetic Aussie drawl is completely at odds. But it works. The storyteller is, in fact, a first-person narrator, so it does make sense that he would sound like an ordinary bloke.
A young man, while scouring the beach for bottle caps, comes across a bizarre mechanical beast: part industrial boiler, part crab, part octopus (if you can imagine that). The man can't identify this odd creature, but nevertheless gets the feeling that it is lost. He takes it home, where the extraordinary creature is treated with relative apathy by friends and family, so caught up are they in their own dreary lives. The "lost thing" is eventually returned to its home, a vibrant land of mechanical gizmos living in perfect harmony.
Co-directors Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan forge a stiflingly Orwellian atmosphere, complete with oppressive shadows, dim lighting, skyscrapers of filing cabinets and administrative forms. The setting is a drab version of Melbourne (as suggested by the trams), set in a nostalgic portmanteau of industrial past and post-apocalyptic future. The graphics are computer-generated, and yet they have all the character and warmth of traditional animation or claymation.
A young man, while scouring the beach for bottle caps, comes across a bizarre mechanical beast: part industrial boiler, part crab, part octopus (if you can imagine that). The man can't identify this odd creature, but nevertheless gets the feeling that it is lost. He takes it home, where the extraordinary creature is treated with relative apathy by friends and family, so caught up are they in their own dreary lives. The "lost thing" is eventually returned to its home, a vibrant land of mechanical gizmos living in perfect harmony.
Co-directors Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan forge a stiflingly Orwellian atmosphere, complete with oppressive shadows, dim lighting, skyscrapers of filing cabinets and administrative forms. The setting is a drab version of Melbourne (as suggested by the trams), set in a nostalgic portmanteau of industrial past and post-apocalyptic future. The graphics are computer-generated, and yet they have all the character and warmth of traditional animation or claymation.
A Touchingly Trippy Animated Short
NozinAroun8131 August 2010
Perth Comedy Muso Tim Minchin narrates this charming, if somewhat bizarre animated short. It's only about 30 minutes long and it's based on a children's book by Shaun Tan, also from Perth.
A boy discovers a large and rather strange contraption on the beach. The only way to describe it would be like a 12ft crab-like industrial boiler... with tentacles. It doesn't say much, but it seems to love playing fetch. The boy can't understand why everyone around him is totally oblivious to it. They must have more important things to pay attention to. The boy spends a bit of time with it, they form an instant bond and it soon becomes clear that this inexplicable thing... is lost. The boy tries taking it home with him but his parents are none too pleased to have a large unidentified lodger. What is a boy to do? Surely this thing... belongs somewhere.
The Lost Thing is a cool little toon for all ages. The animation is a bit like Pixar meets Aardman. You can view a low budget, subtitled, Minchin-less version on YouTube, but if I were you, I'd hold out for the real deal. I must admit that I'm from Perth and I'm a huge fan of Tim Minchin so my review is a bit biased, but now I've discovered a new homegrown talent. Shaun Tan has a uniquely brilliant imagination. Let's hope that he makes a full-length feature or at least a collection of shorts soon, because the only problem with Lost Thing... is that it's too short. The DVD contains a few extra features that make up for the short running time and there's also a bonus sketch book that's definitely worth thumbing through. Just consider it to be a preview of things to come. Watch this space!
A boy discovers a large and rather strange contraption on the beach. The only way to describe it would be like a 12ft crab-like industrial boiler... with tentacles. It doesn't say much, but it seems to love playing fetch. The boy can't understand why everyone around him is totally oblivious to it. They must have more important things to pay attention to. The boy spends a bit of time with it, they form an instant bond and it soon becomes clear that this inexplicable thing... is lost. The boy tries taking it home with him but his parents are none too pleased to have a large unidentified lodger. What is a boy to do? Surely this thing... belongs somewhere.
The Lost Thing is a cool little toon for all ages. The animation is a bit like Pixar meets Aardman. You can view a low budget, subtitled, Minchin-less version on YouTube, but if I were you, I'd hold out for the real deal. I must admit that I'm from Perth and I'm a huge fan of Tim Minchin so my review is a bit biased, but now I've discovered a new homegrown talent. Shaun Tan has a uniquely brilliant imagination. Let's hope that he makes a full-length feature or at least a collection of shorts soon, because the only problem with Lost Thing... is that it's too short. The DVD contains a few extra features that make up for the short running time and there's also a bonus sketch book that's definitely worth thumbing through. Just consider it to be a preview of things to come. Watch this space!
The Lost Thing
CinemaSerf7 April 2024
A lad is combing the beach for additions to his bottle top collection when he encounters a great big red metallic object - with tentacles. It looks something akin to an octopus stuck in a diving bell! He says hello and suddenly it comes alive. Armed with two great pincers up front, it just wants to play ball and build sandcastles with it's new human friend. As the day comes to a close, the boy realises that his pal has nowhere to go. No home, no friends, no nothing! He goes to his boffin mate to try and identify his tin friend, but in the end they have to conclude it's lost and so he will just have to take it home to his sceptical parents - dirty feet or not! Then he sees an advert on the telly for the "Federal Dept. For Odds and Ends". That became his plan - surely they'd know? Well they might have done had he not been weighed down by a ton of form-filling and red tape and then been warned off by the cleaner! Maybe the best chance is that it will actually remember where it's supposed to go by itself? Well, let's give that strategy a go... Tim Minchin's understated narration works wonders with this engaging mystery and as the pair spend the day exploring potential homes for "thing" the producers have a free rein to create a range of colourful and vivid scenarios using various styles of animation to create a myriad of creatures - human and otherwise, to enhance this simple story. I did enjoy this, even if it's a bit sad at the end.
Bittersweet
Rectangular_businessman22 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
"The Lost Thing": One cute animated short, filled with tenderness and nostalgia, having also a quite original and well made aesthetic, heavily influenced by dystopian and steam-punk stories.
Even when the aspect of the human characters isn't anything special, the designs of the mechanical creatures (referred by the narrator as "things") and the sceneries is truly beautiful, with a wonderful use of colors and shapes, with very stylish results.
However, it is the nice story what makes this short special, being mostly a fable about how caring about a living being could result in something positive, despite the indifference of the others. The ending is particularly bittersweet and melancholic, though I guess that it fits with overall tone of the story.
Even when the aspect of the human characters isn't anything special, the designs of the mechanical creatures (referred by the narrator as "things") and the sceneries is truly beautiful, with a wonderful use of colors and shapes, with very stylish results.
However, it is the nice story what makes this short special, being mostly a fable about how caring about a living being could result in something positive, despite the indifference of the others. The ending is particularly bittersweet and melancholic, though I guess that it fits with overall tone of the story.
Beautifully done short which deservedly won the Academy Award for Animated Short
llltdesq1 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This short won the Academy Award for Animated Short. There will be spoilers ahead:
This short is based on a book written by Shaun Tan, who also adapted this for the screen as well as co-directed. There really isn't a false note here. This is beautifully animated, excellently paced, the narration is superb and it keeps your interest throughout.
Essentially, this is the narrator looking back to an incident earlier in his life where he found "something", "a lost thing", something which seemed completely out of place, which nobody else seems to either notice or care about. The boy goes about trying to find someplace where the "lost thing" will no longer be "lost", but instead will find its place.
I found it fascinating to watch this around the edges of the main story, because there are a lot of little things going on here which are nice to spot as the story unfolds. There's a steampunk feel to this that I enjoyed particularly. The ending is bittersweet, particularly the final bit of narration at the close.
This short is on a Blu Ray/DVD combo release by Shorts International comprised of Academy Award winning animated and live action shorts. The compilation itself is quite good and well worth getting. This short is marvelous and is most highly recommended.
This short is based on a book written by Shaun Tan, who also adapted this for the screen as well as co-directed. There really isn't a false note here. This is beautifully animated, excellently paced, the narration is superb and it keeps your interest throughout.
Essentially, this is the narrator looking back to an incident earlier in his life where he found "something", "a lost thing", something which seemed completely out of place, which nobody else seems to either notice or care about. The boy goes about trying to find someplace where the "lost thing" will no longer be "lost", but instead will find its place.
I found it fascinating to watch this around the edges of the main story, because there are a lot of little things going on here which are nice to spot as the story unfolds. There's a steampunk feel to this that I enjoyed particularly. The ending is bittersweet, particularly the final bit of narration at the close.
This short is on a Blu Ray/DVD combo release by Shorts International comprised of Academy Award winning animated and live action shorts. The compilation itself is quite good and well worth getting. This short is marvelous and is most highly recommended.
Beautiful
ersbel12 November 2016
I have just finished reading The Arrival by Shaun Tan and I am so impressed. Looking for interviews with him, I have found on youtube The Lost Thing and watched it. Amazing. Very well done. Nice story. Nice parable. I come to find out this short took an Oscar. And that Oscar was won against The Gruffalo. I still like The Gruffalo better, but this one is somehow deeper. I guess the old men and women of the Academy Awards Jury went for the old man sadly looking behind to the lost youth instead of the wise youth theme. Still, it was a tough choice and I can name a few years when all the candidates were of lower quality. But that is life!
Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch
Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch
A Sad Story
Hitchcoc5 May 2019
This is about someone facing insurmountable odds as he attempts to bring a strange creature back home. One day, the thing just shows up and is so unique that there seems to be nothing to connect it to. He is cut off at every turn, but he perseveres. The interesting thing is that this creature, while being somewhat monstrous in appearance, is kind and gentle, and he continues to deliver those traits. The theme of this film, which is from a children's book, has to do with misfits and their trials and the need for someone to believe in them. Nice work.
emotional rollercoaster
underpants-1401612 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
One of the greatest short films i have ever watched. Very easy to connect with the charecters and the art and desigh was spectacluir and made you feel lots of emotions. The story starts with a yong man walking on the beach the beach is very poluted and a bit depresing he sees a red thing in the distance the people around him dont seem to notice the thing. He takes it home with him and askes his freinds about it. The young man and the thing seem to form a bond with each other. The boy decides to take it to this place but is aproched by a wierded monster looking thing it gives him a piece of paper with a arrow on it the boy follows the sigh and finds a door he opens the door and there are many other lost things the boy says goodbye and leves. This short movie is a great short film i enjoid it i highly recomend wathcing it.
beautiful and interesting animation short
myriamlenys28 September 2019
A well-made, layered animation short which asks questions about the things we elect to see (or not to see) in our lives. There's quite a vivid and fertile visual imagination at work here, but the work also seems rooted in a certain artistic tradition. I would not be wholly surprised to discover that the various makers of the movie were great admirers of the work of Hiëronymus Bosch.
The first scenes on the beach gave me a certain chill, because they reminded me of a real-life anecdote. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was spending the weekend in a Belgian seaside city, together with his wife. The pair were spending a lazy midday demolishing a vast plate of seafood, when they suddenly noticed a tiny girl of four or five roaming the street all on her lonesome. My friend and his wife ran out of the restaurant in order to intercept the little girl, who was dressed only in sandals and a swimsuit. They immediately warned the various authorities guarding the beach. The child was soon reunited with her parents. So far this is an unremarkable little tale, but what makes the story so strange is that the girl had wandered off at least an hour earlier, without the parents noticing. How can two normal adults fail to supervise their offspring playing next to a vast body of water ? And, especially, how can they fail to notice one of their offspring getting lost for at least an hour ?
Questions to ponder...
The first scenes on the beach gave me a certain chill, because they reminded me of a real-life anecdote. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was spending the weekend in a Belgian seaside city, together with his wife. The pair were spending a lazy midday demolishing a vast plate of seafood, when they suddenly noticed a tiny girl of four or five roaming the street all on her lonesome. My friend and his wife ran out of the restaurant in order to intercept the little girl, who was dressed only in sandals and a swimsuit. They immediately warned the various authorities guarding the beach. The child was soon reunited with her parents. So far this is an unremarkable little tale, but what makes the story so strange is that the girl had wandered off at least an hour earlier, without the parents noticing. How can two normal adults fail to supervise their offspring playing next to a vast body of water ? And, especially, how can they fail to notice one of their offspring getting lost for at least an hour ?
Questions to ponder...
Where do we belong?
lee_eisenberg12 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The 2010 winner of Best Animated Short Film looks at a boy who befriends a thing that looks out of place. Everyone around him is too wrapped up in their personal affairs to even notice the thing. "The Lost Thing" shows a stark contrast between the boy's world and the place where the thing fits in. Basically, the boy's world is a reflection of our own: a concrete environment where people are too distracted by the latest whatever to notice what's right in front of them. I guess that as we age, we lose the ability to see the fun in everything. As the boy puts it "I haven't seen any more of those things. Or maybe I just haven't noticed." Really good cartoon.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
