In any other year, we'd be just days away from The Oscars. But with this year's ceremony moved to April due to you-know-what we haven't even got the nominations yet. We're one step closer now though, as
The Academy has
revealed
their shortlists for a number of categories. Including (relevant to our interests) that for Best Animated Short.
The list has been whittled down from 96 films that qualified this year. It's from these 10 shorts that the nominees will be announced. Two shorts from
Pixar have made the list, both from the SparkShorts program.
Netflix has also managed to make waves in the category for the first time. The shortlisted If Anything Happens I Love You is one of
three shorts that the streamer was pushing for the category.
DreamWorks Animation are on the list for their short To Gerard.
Kapaemahu rooted in Pacific Islander and Polynesian mythology is a US
production but a non English-language film. It will hope to add an Oscar nomination to its already impressive list of nominations and festival selections.
The UK's Magic Light Pictures are in the running for their third nomination with the 30-minute TV special The Snail And The Whale. The
other international shorts that made it this far are Traces and
Genius Loci from France and Yes-People from Iceland.
In other categories, Pixar's Soul has made the shortlist for
Best Original Score and Visual Effects. No animated films among the Best Original Song shortlist is a bit of a surprise though.
Over The Moon seemed likely to be in with a decent shot.
The nominations will be announced on Monday, March 15 and the 93rd
Academy Awards will take place Sunday, April 25.
The Full Shortlist
Burrow (Madeline Sharafian, US) Pixar's adorable 2d animation
was due to play before Soul theatrically, but ended up debuting on Disney Plus
instead in most territories.
Genius Loci (Adrien Mérigeau, France) Mérigeau is a
former member of multiple-Oscar-nominated Irish studio Cartoon Saloon,
where he directed hist first Short Old Fang. He returned to France in
2015 to start work on his second short, Genius Loci.
If Anything Happens, I Love You (Michael Govier and Will McCormack, US) This heartrending piece about the aftermath of a school shooting was picked
up by Netflix, where it was released on International Children's Day (20th
November).
Kapaemahu (Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, US) Inspired by the mythology and history of the indigenous peoples of the
Pacific Islands, this gorgeous film is narrated entirely in native Hawaiian
language Olelo Niihau.
Opera (Erik Oh, South Korea/US) Former Pixar animator Oh's independent
film is a nine-minute animated film that presents a day and night cycle that
is designed so that it could be played in an infinite loop.
Out (Steven Clay Hunter, US) This Pixar SparksShort film is notable for
having Pixar's first gay protagonist.
The Snail and The Whale ( Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon, UK) Magic
Light Picture's eighth half-hour adaptation of a book by Gruffalo creators
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
To Gerard (Taylor Meaham, US) A product of DreamWork's
relatively young Shorts initiative, Meham's film features an old man looking
back at his childhood.
Traces (Hugo Frassetto and Sophie Tavert, France) A story set in
prehistoric times it brought to life with a style that evokes cave painting.
Yes- People ( GÃsli Darri Halldórsson, Iceland) Halldorsson's
short is a comedic look at the struggles of everyday life, presenting a
day-in-the-life of the residents of an average city street.
