Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts 2022

We got to the theater, found seats, and ended up being the only people there. First time that's ever happened to me.

This year’s group of animated shorts was very adult. I’d say four of the five were not kid-appropriate, and three of them came with a warning to that effect. Some were hard to watch. There were no ‘honorable mentions’ or ‘highly acclaimed’ works shown afterwards, since the nominees were all on the longer side.

But they were all good – I won’t be mad if any of them wins. Understanding that this will be full of spoilers, let’s start light:

Robin, Robin

This felty stop-motion comes to us from Aardman Studios (Wallace and Gromit). A robin is raised by a family of mice, and has trouble fitting in. After some time with a magpie (delightfully voiced by Richard E. Grant) Robin comes to terms with their identity. Technically a nice piece, maybe something I’d show kids, but nothing I need to see again.

 

Boxballet

Do I think a Russian offering will win this year? No. No I do not. It’s a nice visual style, though, and tells a fine little story: a ballerina and a boxer strike up an unlikely friendship. There is a section about the ballerina being abused by her teacher – I imagine it goes over the heads of the kids, but it’s definitely there.

 

Affairs of the Art

An obsessive family’s eccentricities are related by a woman who needs to draw and paint. Very dark humor is presented throughout, but I didn’t find it landing as often as I’d hoped. That said, it was a solid piece of traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, and the main character comes across, even if the rest feel like sketchy caricatures.

 

Beast

This horrifying stop-motion, disturbingly based on a real story, deals with a monstrous woman with a Nazi background who did unspeakable things as part of Chile’s torture unit during the Pinochet era. Full of nightmarish imagery it may be the most X-rated nominee ever for the category. The animation is top-tier, but the content makes this short easily my last-place choice.

 

Windshield Wiper

A nice little meditation on love and it’s varied interpretations through a series of vignettes around the world. The rotoscoping style suits the stories well, balancing realism with heavy black outlines, and the message wasn’t too saccharine, mixing the good and the bad in equal parts, focusing on the complexity. Probably my favorite of the set.

And there you have it. By the end of the weekend we'll know which one won.