One Category at a Time: Animated Short

Year in and year out, this is always one of my favourite categories, boasting a wonderfully diverse array of styles that make it well worth your time to seek out the Oscar Shorts program that brings them to theatres. While I still lament that Glen Keane's stunning Duet was left on the sidelines (ditto Bill Plympton's trippy Footprints), there's still lots to enjoy in the five toons that made the cut.

Animated Shorts finalists give me a firm rooting interest...

Normally, when the Academy announces its shortlist of Animated Short contenders, a handful of them can already be found online. This year, the only readily available one is Duet, by legendary Disney character animator Glen Keane. And I can tell you right now that I'm rooting for him all the way.

Not that I necessarily think his elegantly simple 3-and-a-half minute short will be the best (some of his competition looks equally impressive), but the simple fact that it's Keane -- the man who breathed palpable life into Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel -- who would be credited with the Oscar is enough for me to throw all my cheering power behind it.