Oh,
if only it were a normal year! Best Animated Short would be so much
easier to predict if only it were a normal year! But as we've been
observing throughout the season, this Oscar year is anything but
normal, and that abnormality extends to the arena of live-action and
animated short films. For the first time ever, they are being sent on
screeners to Academy members, all of whom are now welcome to vote,
going by nothing more than the honour system that they did indeed
watch the nominated films.
Some
of the logic guiding pundits through the Animated Short race (filled
with delights on a yearly basis) is that block voting will benefit
studio entries like Paperman and Maggie Simpson in “The
Longest Daycare”, whereas the old voting system would certainly
have been more advantageous to lengthier and more artistically
rendered fare like Head Over Heels or Adam & Dog.
Watching Adam & Dog, it was clear to me that in a normal year, this would be the one to predict hands down. The gorgeously rendered watercolour backgrounds and lovingly hand-drawn animation make every frame a small visual masterpiece. Disney animator Minkyu Lee self-funded the project and may indeed have his fair share of supporters from the Disney voting block. I can easily see undecided members with no political allegiances voting for it on merit alone. It would be a handsome and well deserved winner.
As
wide open as the race is, I sense there is a clear underdog in the
form of PES' Fresh Guacamole.
The minute-and-a-half claymation is ingeniously pulled off, but
there's no story for voters to latch on to. As impressed as I was
with its technique, I came away from it thinking, “That's it?”.
I'd be surprised to see it win over competition with actual
narratives and emotional resonance.
One
that could ride some emotional resonance is Head Over Heels,
a stop-motion film about an old couple who've grown so far apart they
now live in separate gravitational fields! The student film by
Timothy Reckart is imaginative in concept, but a bit rough around the
edges in execution. That may have hurt it under the old rules, but
with the Academy at large being less discerning about technical
proficiency, it stands a good chance.
If
studio block voting is going to lead to an upset, it could be for
Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”. The Simpsons
were one of the big influences of my childhood, and as an old fan I
certainly couldn't sneeze at David Silverman's effort to bring the
show's trademark wit and satire to the big screen for a few minutes.
However, the cute little short is on the slight side, and certainly
doesn't 'wow' viewers like its competition does. If it wins, you can bet
it'll be on account of the Fox voting block.
Finally,
regular readers will know that for months I've been head over heels
in love with John Kahr's Paperman. The hopelessly romantic
Disney short would have faced scrutiny on account of its studio
origins under the old voting rules, but with a larger group of
people, its mainstream appeal could seal it a much deserved victory. It
certainly has the most buzz of the five, playing before Wreck-It
Ralph in November and maintaining a surprisingly consistent media
presence for its ground-breaking advancements in hybrid animation. I
love it so much, that I'm compelled not to predict it. I just
couldn't stand to be wrong.
Will
win: Adam & Dog
Runner-up:
Paperman
Should
win: Paperman
Should
have been nominated: The Eagleman Stag
