2013 Oscar nominated Animated Shorts

The Midtown Cinema in Harrisburg has granted us the chance to see the Oscar nominated shorts once again. What I love about the Animated shorts is that we not only get to see the 5 nominees, but also 3 "Highly Commended" shorts (in other words, up for consideration but didn't make the cut.)

Here are the nominees:

Feral
A feral child is found in the woods living amongst the wolves and is taken in by a man who hopes to civilize the child. Drawn in a chalk-like shadow play, it begins and ends with moments of transcendental contemplation of nature versus civilization. Ponderous.

Get a Horse
I almost wondered why this was included, since it starts out as a 1930's Mickey Mouse Toon. Suddenly, the characters break out of the black and white screen onto a color stage and proceed to fluctuate back and forth between the two. Very clever....but we expect this from Disney.

Mr. Hublot
A French film in which a solitary man spies a mechanical dog stranded in the metropolis streets below his apartment building. During a rainy night, he decides to rescue the dog. Very clever stop-motion/CGI animation that epitomizes Steampunk. At times very funny, yet also has some poignant moments.

Possessions
Based on Japanese mythology that claims after 100 years discarded objects take on a life of their own. A warrior is trapped in a storm and seeks refuge in a seemingly abandoned cabin. But he is not alone. An anime film that had the most beautiful colors I've seen in an animated film in years.

Room on the Broom
A claymation/CGI rendering of a childrens book concerning a witch and her cat flying on her broom. She continues to drop things and whenever they return to the ground to retrieve them, wind up picking up more passengers. Very sweet and charming.

And the highly commended shorts were:

Ala Francois
Another claymation/CGI (can anyone really tell the difference nowadays?) tale of a gathering at a French court in the 1700s. The only difference is, all of the characters are chickens. Very cute and funny.

The Missing Scarf
An Irish tale of a squirrel searching for his scarf. Along the way he comes across various animals with problems of their own, and he proceeds to help them rationalize their fears. Narrated with aplomb by George Takei, a very snarky and funny short.

The Blue Umbrella
Once again, I first wondered why this was an animated film. A man with blue boots and a blue umbrella is walking in the rain following a woman with red boots and a red umbrella. Suddenly the downspouts, mailboxes, drains, etc. start moving to the sound of the rain, and the two umbrellas develop faces. What transpires is the blue umbrella trying to meet up with the red umbrella. Another charming short.

So, there are the brief synopses of the shorts. My thoughts:

Mr. Hublot had me from the get-go, because it reminded me of the Wallace and Gromit shorts.

Room With a Broom. The crew who created this were in the "Highly Commended" category last year with their short "The Gruffalo's Child," and once again they created a charming tale, only this time they got the nomination.

However, the one that really blew me away was Possessions.
I wasn't sure where this story was going, but I was enthralled for the entire 15 or so minutes. A wonderful story with beautiful artwork. This is the one I'm rooting for Oscar night.

So readers, a warning...Ken and I have hit a landmark this year in the fact that not only did we strive to see all 9 Best Picture nominees and succeeded, but in the process have managed to see all of the acting nominees and all five director nominees. Expect a few blogs in the next few days!

Until next time.....Keep it Reel.