Daily post 30 Nov 2010 02:28 pm

Oscar Animation Short List

The Academy has announced its short list for animated short films. This list will be narrowed down to five come early January and the nominees will be announced on Jan. 25th.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

    “The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger,” Bill Plympton, director (Bill Plympton Studio)
    “Coyote Falls,” Matthew O’Callaghan, director and Sam Register, executive producer (Warner Bros. Animation Inc.)
    “Day & Night,” Teddy Newton, director (Pixar Animation Studios)
    “The Gruffalo,” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang, directors (Magic Light Pictures)
    “Let’s Pollute,” Geefwee Boedoe, story-design-animation (Geefwee Boedoe)
    “The Lost Thing,” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann, directors (Passion Pictures Australia)
    “Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary),” Bastien Dubois, director (Sacrebleu Productions)
    “Sensology,” Michel Gagne, director-producer (GAGNE International LLC)
    “The Silence beneath the Bark,” Joanna Lurie, director (Lardux Films)
    “Urs,” Moritz Mayerhofer, director (Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg)

I’m glad to see “Sensology” by Michel Gagne and “The Gruffalo” by Jakob Schuh and Max Lang on the list. Others I’m really sad to see there. And where is the one really funny film, Don Hertzfeldt’s “Wisdom Teeth”?

Congrats, also, to Bill Plympton for making the list for “The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger,”

You should go to Cartoon Brew‘s announcement of the full list of contenders to see what these films are about.

9 Responses to “Oscar Animation Short List”

  1. on 30 Nov 2010 at 4:39 pm 1.keith lango said …

    Glad to see ‘The Silence Beneath the Bark’ on the list. I’m not sure it’s a terribly deep film, but I enjoyed the look and the vibe it sent out. Which ones did you not like seeing on the list? ‘Coyote Falls’ sticks out to me. Nice effort, but the film ended up like a strange translation of a poem from a different language. (reminded me of English translations of Pablo Neruda’s poems). Yeah, you get the point, but it’s nowhere near as beautiful and soulful as it is in the original language.

  2. on 30 Nov 2010 at 4:47 pm 2.Michael said …

    Keith, you hit the nail on the head, but there are other big studio, big budget films that were lacking soul even though they tried. I liked the Disney clock short and thought it better than some others.

    I really like Michel Gagne’s tribute to Oskar Fischinger and would love seeing this win, never mind get nominated. If it’s nominated, it’ll be the first time a truly abstract film made the list.

  3. on 01 Dec 2010 at 6:32 am 3.The Gee said …

    I’d very much like to see ‘Sensology” at least get a nomination, too.
    However, given past winners and having seen the overall selection from earlier, it is tough to think it will get a nomination.
    (hopefully, it connects with enough to impress others as much as it impresses some)

    I hate to say this but if it had a message to it–not a story– but some sort of allegorical framing going on then almost any potential audience would approve or disprove of it based on that message. I think more people would be less likely to dismiss it because it isn’t character animation, for sure.

  4. on 01 Dec 2010 at 10:53 am 4.Mark said …

    Fair list. I’ve seen all of these shorts, and have NO idea how sensology made the list. It’s dated, unimaginative,, and “been done better” before.

  5. on 01 Dec 2010 at 1:19 pm 5.Michael said …

    Personally, I think SENSOLOGY is one of the best of all the shorts shown. I don’t see it as dated in any way. It takes some very abstract music and animated abstractions to it. Oskar Fischinger animated abstractions to more accessible music, making it easier on the audience. Today’s audience is probably as illiterate on abstract animation and abstract music. The best chance that this film has is that Michel is well liked in LA, and everyone wishes him well.

  6. on 01 Dec 2010 at 3:47 pm 6.Teodor said …

    My favorites are also Sensology and The Gruffalo
    I can not decide between them.

    Sensology contains an excellent animation of simple forms
    The Gruffalo has great, great, great characters in appearance and behavior.Such good characters we have not seen for a long time.

    I gave The Gruffalo to my friends daughter.After whole year – she still love it.Her parents also.

  7. on 01 Dec 2010 at 3:58 pm 7.Michael said …

    The brilliance of the voice acting in THE GRUFFALO cannot be understated. Tom Wilkinson is magnificent. The caharacter animation of the mouse is also very good. The film’s a little long for me, but it’s the best character animation of anything on this list.

  8. on 01 Dec 2010 at 5:37 pm 8.The Gee said …

    One of the coolest things about cartoons, static or animated, is the ability to show things which don’t exist nor could happen. To me, if I were to compare making them to making something photorealistic or shooting pictures or video, I’d have to say that with cartoons, more often than not I’m much closer to reproducing what I have in my head. You can come close to that essence without monumental compromise. And, like its been said, once it leaves your head, the idea is always compromised. Its always less than perfect.

    The reason I write this is because, to me, what Gagne does in “Sensology” is what I’d like to see in my head if I just heard that music for the first time or anytime. I’d also like to think that he made what he saw in his head and did a good job at sharing it.

    He described it as toying around with the notion of Synesthesia, a condition involving mixed-up senses where one sense evokes another. For instance, tasting something and “seeing” colors; seeing colors and “tasting” something; hearing something and “feeling” textures, etc.

    I can dig that because I’ve toyed around with that idea for years in stuff I’ve done. Unlike me, he finished the project and is getting recognition for it. ha ha. Cartoons and Film are two of the easiest ays to explore that concept/condition. True, prose can capture it but you still need to rely on the reader’s understanding, too.

    Anyhow, I realize the short isn’t character animation and that I probably wouldn’t call it a cartoon. But, it is animation, done well.

    Also, to me it says a lot that obviously, this isn’t the only type of animation Gagne has done or will do. So, the fact that he felt the need to experiment is a positive.

    Again, I find it hard to see it winning, and tough to think it might get nominated.

    Anyhow, sorry to go on so long on this (ha. if anyone reads yesterday’s posts besides those who posted.)

  9. on 03 Dec 2010 at 9:56 am 9.George Griffin said …

    Anyone who liked “Sensology” as much as I will also like Chris Hinton’s “C-Note.”

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