One Category at a Time: Animated Short

As always, the shorts are a unique and seldom disappointing viewing experience, boasting an international potpourri of content. All but one of the live-action entries are multilingual, and the animated efforts are striking for the variety of media on display. I hope that Shorts HD continues doing what it's doing. It's never been easier for audiences to preview these once uninvestable categories before the show. Predicting winners, however, is still about as head-scratching as it ever was. Best we can do is rule a handful of titles out.

Inside Out dominates Annie Awards

While all eyes were on the DGA last night, ASIFA-Hollywood held its annual Annie Awards. It was a great night for Pixar Studios, which scooped every single eligible category, mostly for Inside Out (quelle surprise), although The Good Dinosaur was tossed one very deserving consolation win for its visual effects.

As a nice change, the organization added a category for Independent Feature Animation. Is it a ghetto category? Sure. But small, scarcely distributed animated films would never stand a chance against widely seen studio fare. I'm delighted to see Ale Abreu's wonderful Boy and the World took this prize, and hope that it helps ensure the continued success of international GKIDS pickups in future awards seasons.

Equally delightful was the decision to give Best Animated Short to Don Hertzfedlt's brilliant World of Tomorrow. Fingers crossed for the Oscar!

Check out all the feature film winners after the cut.