Animated Short Finals - Pt 1: Bad Seeds, Robin Robin, and Us Again
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 7:03PM by Nathaniel R
Oscars short film categories don't get much attention in this size queen world of ours out there but let's do our part to change that. While the preliminary "predictions" are up those were made before seeing any of the films. We'll revamp the predictions as soon as we're finished watching all 15 finalists. Let's dive in together on this first batch of three since they're all available to stream right now...
BAD SEEDS - Streaming on YouTube
Claude Coultier's new short is about carnivorous plants. It's a dialogue free and grimly amusing tale of evolution and competition as two plants shape shift and battle over flies... and then each other. The traditional animation, perfect for the physical comedy of shape-shifting, is very pleasing. The color palette, which is not quite black and white, is also deployed superbly.
Trivia: It's the shortest film in competition this season, so that will either help it stand out or hinder it if voters feel its too slight and miss its sneaky political bite. This is veteran animator Coultier's 14th short as a director. He was an Oscar finalist in 2015 for Carface. Though he has yet to be Oscar-nominated he's won several festival prizes over the years plus a Genie at home in Canada for Best Animated Short.
ROBIN ROBIN -Streaming on Netflix
Daniel Ojari and Michael Please co-directed this half hour Christmas tale about a bird raised by mice. Though her family loves her she is quite terrible at being a mouse. The basic skill of sneaking around quietly to steal food is lost on her. She goes on a dangerous funny journey of self-discovery after striking out on her own. The very tactile stop motion animation is endearing; you can practically feel the scratch and fuzzy of the fur and feathers. It's easy to imagine the satisfying adorable story helping to land this one in the nominated shortlist. Bonus points for the excellent voice work across the board including Richard E Grant as "Magpie" and Gillian Anderson as "Cat".
Trivia: Michael Please won the British Student Academy Award for The Eagleman Stag (2010) but he has yet to be Oscar-nominated. Aardman has produced many films that Oscar has embraced over the years though they haven't had a short nominated since 2009's Wallace and Gromit adventure A Matter of Loaf and Death.
US AGAIN - Streaming on Disney+
Like Bad Seeds, this is a wordless short where the animation itself is the star of the show. An elderly couple regains their youth dancing in the rain together. The animation of constant dancing and the visual effects of city lights and reflections in the rain are, frankly, eye-popping to the point where it almost feels like a computer showreel rather than a heartfelt human-made film. That's a common problem in this category though most shorts, including undoubtedly this one, are actually both! Us Again's high energy, visual splendor, and simple heartwarming sketch of old marrieds, make it a real threat for the nomination and maybe win. What's more it will undoubtedly be the most widely-seen short in competition (Us Again played in theaters in front of Raya and the Last Dragon.)
Trivia: This is Parrish's fourth short but he's been on the animation teams of some major movies including Oscar winner Zootopia and nominees like Moana and Tangled. He won two Visual Effects Society awards (shared with his team) for his work on Big Hero 6.
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Reader Comments (7)
i think these particular 3 have a fair chance to get in, Robin Robin being Netflix's contender for the category and they already won last year here, the thing that could prevent it is the recent bias against christmas-themed work. Us again being Disney, the dominant force here, although i'm surprised Far from the tree, an incredibly cute and beautiful short missed the shortlist, and Bad Seeds having the NFB behind, which has a strong record in the category.
I've seen 14 out of the 15 on this year's Animation Showcase (where oh where can one see "Boxballet?)
I have a strong hunch that the missing one will also be one of the nominees, but so far I have 3 firm favourites:
1.Robin Robin
2. Angakusajaujug The Shaman's Apprentice
3. Affairs of the Art
Last year's winner was so easy to predict as it really was the most moving and best of the bunch... this year it's more even.
The other 2 predicted noms come from the mix of (this is the order of my taste): Mum is pouring rain, Step into the river....and my oh my, how stylish and special is The Windshield Wiper (I only hoped that the story was just as strong as the visuals). I also wouldn't count our "Souvenir Souvenir", "The musician", "Us again", "Bestia" (this one particularly seems to get a lot of love from everywhere) and "Bad seeds".
But last year I did a mistake of neglecting Namoo author's short animation... so what do I know, but one does not learn from his mistakes, so this year I would count him out again :) and also Flowing Home and Only a child are not my cup of tea.
Huh. How did you get to watch all of those other shortlisted films? I've been unable to go to any film festivals this year so I've only been able to watch the seven that are streaming right now (the three reviewed here plus Affairs of the Art, Flowing Home, Only a Child and Step Into the River.) I do think Affairs of the Art is terrific, and the Academy has nominated Joanna Quinn before, although the family friendly Famous Fred is VERY different from her Beryl films.
The Eagleman Stag did make it onto the Oscar shortlist in 2012. I thought it would get nominated, but it was left in the cold in the year Paperman won.
@ajnrules - if you're active in animation or motion pictures industry, then you can get an access to Animation Showcase online platform: https://www.animationshowcase.com/#home
There are 14 from this year's shortlist up + Flee + several other new and last year's awarded short animations + some of the live action shorts from this year's shortlist also. You can also get more information about Animation Showcase on Cartoonbrew page.
Kris -- all 15 are there - boxballet too.
Weird... For me it says "Not available" when I click on Boxballet there... But maybe it's georgraphically blocked of smthg...
Yes!!!! Now finally all 15 are up there :)
And I would nominate:
1. Robin Robin
2. Angakusajaujug The Shaman's Apprentice
3. Affairs of the Art
4. Mum is pouring rain
5. Step into the river
Alt. The windshield wiper.. only because it's so stylish :)