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# A Look at the Oscar-Nominated (and Not) Animated Shorts
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/a-look-at-the-oscar-nominated-and-not-animated-shorts/
- Published: 2014-02-28T21:00:57.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:33:49.000Z
- Description: The Oscars are coming up this Sunday, which can only mean one thing ... Best Animated Short Film! OK, fine, I do care about Best Picture, and whether Ellen will pull off her hosting duties, but Best Animated Short Film is one of those off-the-radar categories that seems less predictable and thus mor
- Author: Jillian Steinhauer
- Tags: Art, Animation, Oscars, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:03 (2014, 2015, part 1)

![Still from Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden's Oscar-nominated short "Feral" (via oscar.go.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/02/feral-still.jpg)

Still from Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden’s Oscar-nominated short “Feral” (via oscar.go.com)

The Oscars are coming up this Sunday, which can only mean one thing … [Best Animated Short Film](http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv/?ref=hyperallergic.com)! OK, fine, I do care about Best Picture, and whether Ellen will pull off her hosting duties (I’m optimistic), but Best Animated Short Film is one of those off-the-radar categories that seems less predictable and thus more enticing — like the people who win could actually just be ordinary, hard-working humans briefly elevated to the realm of Oscar celebrity.

I hadn’t yet seen all of this year’s Oscar-nominated animated shorts, so I went looking for them online. None of them is available in full, but there are trailers and clips. The five nominees seem to cover a wide range of animation approaches and styles: there’s “[Feral](http://vimeo.com/ondemand/feral?ref=hyperallergic.com),” the beautifully drawn story of a boy who grows up in the woods; “[Get a Horse!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiTwhXfgHPc&ref=hyperallergic.com),” a new Walt Disney Animation Studios entry that looks like an old one, featuring 1920s-style hand-drawn animation and archival voice recordings of Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse; “[Mr. Hublot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C965JmzstCU&ref=hyperallergic.com),” the story of an OCD bachelor who gets a dog, done in a sepia-toned 3D and CGI; “Possessions,” one of four short anime films in a [quartet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5F2CxPUhezFc&ref=hyperallergic.com) compiled by manga artist and director [Katsuhiro Otomo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuhiro%5FOtomo?ref=hyperallergic.com) (although “Possessions” was made by Shuhei Morita); and “[Room on the Broom](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdGSzvPZV0s&ref=hyperallergic.com),” which is based on a children’s book and seems the most kid-aimed of the lot.

There are also three runner-up films, shorts that Oscar voters highly commended but didn’t quite nominate. Of those, one is a bland Pixar entry, “Blue Umbrella,” which you can watch a bootleg version of [on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPS%5FEWAzW0Y&ref=hyperallergic.com); another is “[The Missing Scarf](http://themissingscarf.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” which looks smart and design-y, and is promised to be online soon; and the third is “[A la Française](http://a-la-francaise.tumblr.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” which is excellent and available to watch in full!

“A la Française” is the “graduation movie” (which I assume is something like a thesis project) of five students at [SUPINFOCOM Arles](http://www.supinfocom-arles.fr/?ref=hyperallergic.com), a computer graphics university in France: Julien Hazebroucq, Emmanuelle Leleu, Morrigane Boyer, Ren Hsien Hsu, and William Lorton. In lush, seemingly sun-drenched visuals that hint at [Louis XIV’s nickname](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis%5FXIV%5Fof%5FFrance?ref=hyperallergic.com), the seven-minute-short re-creates the world of 1700 Versailles … except that all of the inhabitants are chickens. (France’s national animal is the [Gallic rooster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic%5Frooster?ref=hyperallergic.com).) These chickens are dressed, of course, in outrageous outfits and sport period-appropriate hats and hairdos, and they do things like play badminton and have affairs. It’s goofy, clever, and incredibly well done. Enjoy it! And then go see the Oscar-nominated animated shorts, playing hopefully at a theater near you.

*The* [*Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts 2014*](http://theoscarshorts.shorts.tv/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *are currently playing at the* [*IFC Center*](http://www.ifccenter.com/films/academy-award-nominated-animated-short-films-2014/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(323 Sixth Avenue, West Village, Manhattan),* [*BAM Rose Cinemas*](http://www.bam.org/film/2014/oscar-nominated-animated-shorts?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn),* [*The Landmark Theatre*](http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/LosAngeles/LosAngeles%5FFrameset.htm?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(10850 West Pico, Los Angeles),* [*The Logan Theatre*](http://www.thelogantheatre.com/index.php/component/shows/?view=showdetail&id=453&ref=hyperallergic.com) *(2646 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago),* [*Embarcadero Center Cinema*](http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/SanFrancisco/SanFrancisco%5FFrameset.htm?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco), the* [*Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston*](http://www.icaboston.org/programs/film/Oscar-Nominated-Short-Films-2013/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(100 Northern Avenue, Boston), and more locations nationwide.*