The Only Oscar That Matters, final edition

Well, tonight is Academy Awards night. Normally I use this time to promote my love for Short Subject Animation and promote the shorts nominated and offer links for you to watch them online.

When I first started this (2010) you could find all the nominees online and watch at no charge.  The following year only one of the nominees was unavailable. By 2012 there was only one nominee online. This year someone wants me to pay a dollar to watch their short and another place wants me to fill out a registration form to watch their short.

Screw it. It looks like the short subject animation people have become greedy, expecting people to pay to watch all their hard work. Well, count me out.

So I’m putting this post on the shelf along with such classics as the Zorro Kicks Butt-O-Meter and What’s On Ronnie’s Calendars.

Oh, and if I were a betting man I’d put my money on “Get a Horse!” by Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim. It’s the only one I’ve seen and it’s probably the only one everyone’s seen since it aired before the Disney hit “Frozen.”

It’s a very clever ‘toon although I thought it went on a bit long. Probably the best thing Mickey Mouse has done in a long time.

The Only Oscar That Matters, 2013

Time to once again examine this year’s crop of Academy Award nominees in the category of Short Subject Animation, aka The Only Oscar That Matters.

This year, as always, we have a strong list of shorts but one clear winner (which probably won’t win, which is why I hate awards). I’ll run them down from least to best.

HEAD OVER HEELS
by Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly

This is the only nominee I haven’t seen, so that’s why it’s last. It could be great, but who knows? It looks interesting.

Why isn’t this online? Seriously. It’s short subject animation. You might as well put it out there, you’re not going to sell a lot of DVDs for a 16-minute film.

MAGGIE SIMPSON in THE LONGEST DAYCARE
by David Silverman

This Simpsons short aired before the latest “Ice Age” movie last summer and last Sunday after “The Simpsons” episode. Baby Maggie has to protect a butterfly from her arch-enemy. It’s cute but not Oscar-worthy. It’s better than most Simpsons episodes of recent years, but that’s not much of an accomplishment.

FRESH GUACAMOLE
by PES

Now this is what I typically think of when I think of short subject animation. Weird. Surreal. Fascinating. Also, very short. I like it. I watched it a few days ago on YouTube but it has since been taken down and won’t be back up until after the Oscars. Don’t know what they’re thinking there.

PAPERMAN
by John Kahrs

Disney’s contribution and the favorite-to-win is this sweet little tale of a man, a woman and paper airplanes. The animation is impressive and it was better than “Wreck-It Ralph,” the film it opened for.

ADAM AND DOG
by Minkyu Lee

I rarely get emotionally invested in the Oscars. I don’t really care that much if “Argo” beats “Lincoln.” Sure, I have favorites in some categories but it won’t break my heart if they lose. Nothing this year really caught my attention in that “Wow. That Should Win An Award” kind of way.

Until I watched “Adam and Dog.”

This 15-minute fable encapsulates why I love short subject animation. The art is lush and feels like you’re watching an animated watercolor portrait. And the story is beautiful. It’s the tale of man and dog and how their relationship dates back to the dawn of time.  But don’t bother reading any more of my mindless ramblings, just watch.

If this doesn’t win, I will be very sad.

UPDATE: The Only Oscar That Matters (2012)

Oops. Turns out I had the wrong video for Dimanche/Sunday, which means there is only one contender online. The RROY REPORT regrets the error and I have removed the wrong clip.

Once again it’s time to examine the contenders for this year’s Academy Award in the category of Best Animated Short Subject. It will be a short post this year because only one of this year’s nominees is available to watch online.

I don’t know why some animated short subject makers decided to get all uppity, but if that’s the way they want to be, fine. I won’t even talk about the ones I can’t find on the Internet. Take that, Pixar.

The front-runner for the big prize is likely  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. This 15-minute short has that right combination of whimsy and weird that make me love short subject animation. I have no idea what this is about, but I like it.

A young man is torn from his home like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and winds up in a magical world of flying books. From there I’m not sure what was going on. It’s sweet and charming and well animated. I hope it wins.