Every Best Animated Short Film nominee, reviewed — 2020 Oscars

This year’s Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short Film offer a diverse selection of animation that share a commonality in the emotional bonds of relationships

See the rest of Jane’s 2020 Oscar spotlight series here.

Whether for their artistic style or emotional narrative, each contender for Best Animated Short provides a unique blend of creativity and heart. Here’s a quick rundown of each film and their chance of winning an Oscar.

Daughter (dir by Daria Kashcheeva)

• Studio: FAMU
• Running time: 14 minutes
• Quick Summary: A young woman and her terminally ill father reflect back on their problematic relationship. 

What’s great: The film has no talking parts so the animation has to do a lot of the heavy work in portraying all the character emotions. The stop-motion animation here does this splendidly. Kashcheeva even invented a new film technology for the film. A hand-held camera movement that is able to capture intimate close-ups on the characters’ faces, capturing the pain and love between them throughout the years.

Probability of winning the Oscar: Not likely. While there is a lot to admire in Kashcheeva’s animation, innovative technology and story on a daughter-father complex relationship; the camera movement sometimes moves too fast which can look jolty in particular scenes. It is also at a disadvantage with its darker tone since other films nominated this year to tackle similar themes in lighter, uplifting narratives. 

Hair Love (dir by Matthew A. Cherry)

• Studio: Sony Animation
• Running time: 6 minutes
• Quick Summary: A black father helps his toddler daughter fix her hair for a special occasion. 

What’s great: You don’t have to wear your heart on your sleeve to be touched by this short film. It celebrates the beauty of natural hair, showcases a loving black family — which is an unfortunate rarity in animation — and debunks some common male gender tropes. It’s a potent film that represents a father-daughter relationship that barely gets attention in the media. Hopefully, this film inspires more stories like these.

Probability of winning the Oscar: Strong. It’s a likable and heartwarming story that has mass appeal. If there’s any drawback, it’s one of the few nominees not to utilize its animation in order to illustrate its overall story and themes. That being said, it’s hard not to root behind such an affecting short conveying a lot of timely cultural topics in less than 7 minutes.

Kitbull (dir by Rosana Sullivan)

• Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
• Running time: 9 minutes
• Quick Summary: A black stray kitten and a neglected pitbull forge an unlikely friendship.

What’s great: As brutal as it is rewarding, Kitbull sheds light on animal abuse while giving viewers a timeless tale of friendship and trust. It’s a simple but powerful short that enlightens viewers that connections come in all shapes and sizes.

Probability of winning an Oscar: Strong. The Academy loves Pixar shorts. Plus, the short has been a viral sensation on Youtube (garnering 39 million views). However, its subject matter of animal welfare can be a hard sit through for some.

Sister (dir by Siqi Song)

• Studio: CalArts
• Running time: 8 minutes
• Quick Summary: A man reflects back on his childhood memories of his younger sister.

What’s great: A film whose animation greatly elevates it to a higher level of storytelling. Song’s stop-motion piece creates a personal environment as the narrator contemplates growing up with a younger sibling. Its tragic twist is a poignant reminder of the wounds left behind from China’s one-child policy.

Probability of winning an Oscar: Lukewarm. While the stop-motion is jaw-dropping, it’s one of the films that hasn’t gotten the kind of exposure as other contenders in the Animated Short category. It’s a shame as Sister is a great companion piece to the outstanding Amazon Studios documentary One Child Nation which also explores the trauma of Chinese citizens who were impacted by the policy. However, the Academy has a pattern of selecting winners that are critically and publicly seen.

Memorable (dir by Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre)

• Studio: UniFrance
• Running time: 12 minutes
• Quick Summary: An aging artist begins to feel the sudden effects of dementia and starts to interpret the world from an abstract perspective.

What’s great: In my opinion, this is the only film from the selection that truly takes advantage of its medium. The stop-motion illustrates the protagonist’s shaping mind throughout the progression of his disease by blending metaphor and animation quite strongly and beautifully. It also focuses on the challenges of keeping stable relationships with others through a mind deteriorating illness. However, it concludes on an uplifting note showing even though relationships might transform throughout a lifetime, the love that they share will always stay consistent.

Probability of winning an Oscar: Lukewarm. Much like Sister it hasn’t gotten the awareness that other shorts have gotten. However, Memorable’s animation is a wonder to behold and greatly demonstrates how animation is a perfect platform for this kind of effective storytelling.

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All of these animated shorts dive deeper into all sorts of diverse relationships and use different styles of animation to present their narratives. They are all emotionally satisfying in their stories. Each film takes a complex look at the bonds that hold us together or the ones that bring us apart. They are all worth a look.