The Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation (2011)

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Collective screening of the Academy Award nominated short films from the Animation category for 2011. The nominated Animated Shorts are: DAY & NIGHT; USA; Oscar Nominee: Teddy Newton. When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are… More Collective screening of the Academy Award nominated short films from the Animation category for 2011. The nominated Animated Shorts are: DAY & NIGHT; USA; Oscar Nominee: Teddy Newton. When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other's unique qualities - and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world - the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective. (6 min.) THE GRUFFALO; United Kingdom & Germany; Oscar Nominees: Max Lang and Jakob Schuh. The magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a nut. Encountering three predators who all wish to eat him - a fox, an owl and a snake - the plucky mouse has to use his wits to survive, creating an imaginary monster who then turns out to be all too real. The voice cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, James Corden, Tom Wilkinson, John Hurt, Rob Brydon and Robbie Coltrane. (27 min.) LET'S POLLUTE; USA; Oscar Nominee: Geefwee Boedoe. In the spirit of 50's & 60's educational films, 'Let's Pollute' is a modern satire on how pollution is our heritage and keeps our economy growing strong, while instructing us how to be better polluters for a better blighted tomorrow. (6 min.) THE LOST THING; Australia & United Kingdom; Oscar Nominees: Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan. A boy discovers a bizarre looking creature while out collecting bottle tops at the beach. Realising it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but is met with indifference from everyone else, who barely notice its presence, each unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to their day to day lives. For reasons he does not explain, the boy empathises with the creature, and sets out to find a 'place' for it. (15 min.) MADAGASCAR, CARNET DE VOYAGE (MADAGASCAR, A JOURNEY DIARY); France; Oscar Nominee: Bastien Dubois. A visual travel journal demonstrating the importance of dance, death, and traditional customs present and vibrant in the Malagasy society. (11 min.) Additional films in the theatrical program (Not among the nominated) URS (Moritz Mayerhofer, 10 min.) THE COW THAT WANTED TO BE A HAMBURGER (Bill Plympton, 6 min.) -- (C) Magnolia

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Teddy Newton, Max Lang
Genres: Animation, Special Interest

In Theaters: Feb 11, 2011 Limited
Studio: Magnolia and Shorts International

Critic Reviews

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
There are no handy publicity campaigns to introduce you to the five live-action shorts and five animated shorts nominated for Oscars, but I can help.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Gone are the days of "selected shorts" on movie bills, but thank the gods of cinema for this annual release of Oscar nominees.
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
They help dispel our often fatigued prejudices about that format as a haven for all things digital, 3-D, snarky and kid-marketed.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
Its spirit is so easygoing that its visual complexity and emotional nuances may take awhile to register.
Tim Grierson, Village Voice
Writer-directors Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan elevate a familiar storyline into something exceptionally moving that touches on friendship, loneliness, and the tragedy of how getting older numbs us to the wonders of the small oddities around us.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
In the past, we saw a lot of nominated animated films that seemed to be trying to out-Pixar Pixar, mixing gorgeous 3D animation and frenetic physical comedy. But this year's batch is more adventurous, harder to pigeonhole.
Brian Tallerico, HollywoodChicago.com
It's hard to believe that these are the ten best shorts of the year but it's a case of a good program that is only disappointing if one hopes that the Oscar nominees would be great instead of just good.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
This year's selection of five animated shorts is the strongest I've seen in a while, with all five contributing something special to the bunch, and no weak links.
Fr. Chris Carpenter, Movie Dearest
"The Lost Thing" is my fave.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
A varied lot, in both subject and quality. But they're an interesting bunch, well worth taking a lot at.
Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
Those of us who began our romance with the movies when double features were preceded by cartoons will revel in some of the outstanding animated shorts nominated this year by the Motion Picture Academy.
Keith Cohen, Entertainment Spectrum
This impressive showcase of cinematic treasures all have in common the amazing way that a complete story arc comes to fruition in a brief amount of time. The clear favorite to win this category is "Day & Night".
Alison Gang, San Diego Union-Tribune
"The Lost Thing's" unusual steampunk aesthetic brings to life a first-person narrative that really resonates in its 15 minutes.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
Like any compilation, it's a mixed bag, but this year's films are stronger than those of the past several years.
Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle
Teddy Newton's "Day & Night" is a six-minute spot of magic.
Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
Retro is the theme for this year's Oscar-nominated animated short films, and whether that's a reflection of where the art is headed or more simply of the taste of the Viewing and Nominating Committees...we'll never know.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
There's no unifying theme here, except that there's surely a short here for every taste.
Geoff Berkshire, Metromix.com
The good news: they're all better than any of the live action short nominees.