Review: Oscar-Nominated Animation Shorts

There are six nominees for the animation short category

Went back to the theatre this afternoon to watch the Oscar-nominated animation shorts. There were more people who came to watch, and the 83-minute length probably made it more palatable for them.

The Three Sisters by Konstantin Bronzit (14 mins)

An amusing story made funnier with sound effects about three sisters living on a remote island and then a big scruffy sailor comes to rent a home from them. 

Forevergreen by Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears (13 mins)

A bear cub is friends with a tree in the forest, but once he has a taste of potato chips, he's hooked. It's a kind of fable, cute story about friendship and the importance of healthy eating.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (17 mins)

This stop-motion animation is impressive

This short is produced by the National Film Board of Canada, renowned for its filmmaking, particularly in animation. This tale is made in stop motion and the details are impressive. 

A desperately poor boy discovers that when the girl next door cries in her sleep, her tears become pearls. It's well-written script and told through the voice of actor Colm Feore.

Butterfly by Florence Miailhe (12 mins)

Representing France, this beautiful animation was painted in oil paint to create movement. The story is about the life of Jewish French swimmer Alfred Nakache, who was born in French Algiers in 1915. He was the top swimmer in North Africa in 1931, and was one of the pioneers of the butterfly stroke.

He represented France in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and came in fourth in the 4x200m relay with three of his countrymen, beating out the German team.

Forevergreen and Butterfly about Nachake

However, 1943, he and his wife Paule Elbaze and daughter Annie were arrested by the Gestapo and held in prison and an internment camp before they were sent to Auschwitz the following year; he was separated from his wife and daughter and never saw them again.

Nachake managed to survive because he was assigned to the camp infirmary where he received food rations. In January 1945 he was sent to the death march that ended at Buchenwald, where he was liberated by American troops in April 1945.

Director Miailhe made the animation about Nachake because her father knew him from the camps. It's a lovely tribute and viewers get a short, but concise biography of his life through images.

Retirement Plan by John Kelly (7 mins)

Ray imagines what his retirement will be like

Actor Domhnall Gleeson is trending at the moment, starring in Taylor Swift's latest music video, Opalite; they were both guests on The Graham Norton Show when Gleeson offhandedly suggested he would love to be in one of her music videos, and Swift's reaction has a look as if a light bulb went off in her head.

But in Retirement Plan he is the voice of Ray, a middle-aged bespectacled guy who fantasises about what he will do when he retires, like reply to every single email and read 30 years' worth of unread emails, organise his closet, get a dog and on and on which got chuckles from the audience. 

Eiru by Giovanna Ferrari (13 mins)

The main character Eiru is a Celtic red-head girl who is desperate to prove her courage, but the clan laughs her off. However, when the well runs dry, she is the only one small enough to go down to see where the water went.