March 1, 2023
This Year’s Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts
By Dan Pal
While I don’t generally go out of my way to view the Oscar-nominated Animated Features, I do love seeing the Animated Shorts. There tends to be a frontrunner within the former category, this year being Guillermo del Toro’s very good version of Pinocchio. Most of the other nominees in that category tend to be aimed toward children where as the shorts are often more adventurous in both style and subject matter. Here’s a look at this year’s nominees and where to see them.
The most traditional of the five, and the most likely winner, is The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse. It is co-directed by Charlie Mackesy who wrote the original popular book about, well, each of the title characters who develop a friendship during a journey together. The sentiment clearly emphasizes the importance of being harmonious with people who are different from us. In other words, it’s a nice shout out to diversity. I couldn’t help but thinking as I watched it though about the Ornithologist in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds who, when people are trying to explain the strange onslaught of a variety of birds overtaking Bodega Bay California, says “I’ve never known birds of different species to flock together. The very concept is unimaginable!” I can only wonder what she might think about boys, moles, foxes, and horses becoming friends and traveling as a unit over many miles! But then, this film is based on a children’s book and seemingly very popular. I may be putting a bit too much logic into it… The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse is currently streaming on AppleTV+.
The Flying Sailor initially looks like a very simple rendering of a sailor walking along the water. Then a match is dropped and he has a near-death experience traveling through the air and into space. The animation gets more complex and the visual stimulation is impressive. While there’s not a lot of additional substance to the film, its view of one man’s life passing before his eyes is an interesting visual treat. The Flying Sailor is currently streaming on YouTube.
My Year of Dicks follows a fifteen years old female trying to lose her virginity. The animation is interesting but there is a bit of predictability to the narrative. There are several sections to the film each highlighting a different boy the main character is trying to connect with (sorry, I’m not sure what the current slang might be for what she is doing.) Each is introduced separately. I find that this structure feels a bit like a series of web episodes strung together. It takes away from the natural flow of the narrative. Still, this film has its pleasures and fans. My Year of Dicks is currently streaming on Vimeo.
Ice Merchants is a visually thrilling experience about a father and son’s daring approach to delivering ice to a small village in a very wintry climate. The director is Portuguese Joao Gonzalez who uses lines, shadows, and specific colors such as blues and oranges in very striking ways. The story is somewhat confusing to follow but it’s hard not to marvel at such an original production. This is definitely one of my favorites. Ice Merchants is currently streaming on YouTube.
Finally there is the amusingly titled An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe it. Using stop-motion animation, this very inventive film follows a telemarketer who starts noticing strange things happening around him, much like Truman in The Truman Show. In this case there is, yes, an ostrich that turns up telling him the world is fake. How this plays out is really a lot of fun as the film turns self-reflexive and includes some actual hands creating some of the animated figures. If I was a voter this one would get my vote for its imaginative look at stop motion and the corporate world. Unfortunately the film is not currently streaming anywhere although it may be possible to find it somewhere on the web…
As I mentioned, I think the moralistic children’s story The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse will likely win in this category. But then, there are always surprises and perhaps Ice Merchants or My Year of Dicks might satisfy more voters. Probably not though.