# Oscar Nominated Short Films (Animated)--watch (most of) them and discuss! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494 "2010-02-26T06:04:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494/1 "2010-02-26T06:04:04Z")
[Here](http://www.shortshd.com/theoscarshorts/) is the official website. The films are: [French Roast](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iskBfH6bv3c). A diner without money, a homeless guy, a waiter, a policeman, and a nun. [The Lady And The Reaper](http://212.227.136.88/press/). Death fights an arrogant doctor for the life of an old woman who wants to be reunited with her departed husband. [Granny o’Grimms’s Sleeping Beauty](http://www.grannyogrimm.com/#/the-film). A bitter elderly Irish lady tells the bedtime story of Sleeping Beauty to a terrified youngster. [Wallace and Gromit - A Matter Of Life And Loaf](http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=49816402). Wallace and Gromit are bakers worried about a killer on the loose who targets bakers, while Gromit deals with Wallace’s new love. Logorama. A gritty drama in which the characters and background elements are portrayed by familiar advertising trademarks. I regretfully decline to provide a link to this last one, mostly because there are few available, due apparently to the creators’ wishes. If you look, you can find a few, but they are of relatively low resolution and since much of the fun of this piece is in the detail, it’s a bummer. I suspect that this apparent moratorium is because using as they do a huge number of trademarks (including pretty much all of the most iconic trademarks of the modern era), they might have to carefully control the circumstances under which the film might be exhibited. Anyway, having seen all of these in the theater, I will refrain from adding my own opinion for the time being, until the thread gets legs (or, more probably, sinks like a stone). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494/2 "2010-02-26T09:48:54Z")
I saw all 5 in the theater a couple of nights ago, and here’s my ranking: Animated 1. _Logorama_ 2. _Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty_ 3. _A Matter of Loaf and Death_ 4. _The Lady and the Reaper_ 5. _French Roast_ As much as I love Wallace & Gromit, it plays out pretty formulaicly by now. The treasure is in the details, and I liked _AMoL&D_ better than _A Close Shave_, though nothing will probably ever match the brilliance of _The Wrong Trousers_. I was ready to declare _Granny_ the winner based on the humor and alternating animation styles alone, but that was before _Logorama_, which I’ll completely admit to being a true YMMV piece. But on the big screen, and the more it continued, I realized what a wholly original, bizarre, and subversive film it was and I ended up laughing more during this one than any of the 5 (though it did get a slow start). Truly remarkable. Usually every year has one that is actually pretty awful, and while _French Roast_ is the worst of the bunch, it’s still got a few neat surprises and isn’t bad. But the only time Nick Park has lost an Oscar (he has 4) is when he lost to himself, so _AMoL&D_ will take it at the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494/3 "2010-02-28T18:45:07Z")
OK. All of these look great. I was a little disappointed that all of them (with the exception of some parts of _Granny O’Grimm_) were 3D computer animation. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I was surprised that not one featured a predominantly hand drawn approach. Yes, I know: kids, lawn, etc. _French Roast_ was perfectly good, but I felt it was the weakest entry. And once the plot became clear, the ending was obvious. _Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty_ was my favorite, but I can see that it might not win, because its charm is mainly in the voice acting (though the split style animation, as **ArchiveGuy** notes, is pretty cool). What can I say about _A Matter Of Life And Loaf_? It’s beautiful to look at, it’s finely characterized, it’s witty, it’s well plotted. It will probably win. I really wanted _The Lady And The Reaper_ to end better. It had a clever concept, great characterization, good comic timing, and an amazing look. But the ending fell very flat. _Logorama_ I did not like that much. It was beautifully executed, but the subversiveness felt very self-conscious (evil Ronald McDonald! Horny Bob’s Big Boy!) and although it seemed to be making a statement, I couldn’t say what it was, unless it was Corporations Are Bad. And again, the ending fell flat. So it looks to me that Wallace and Gromit win the day again. But dang, I laughed harder at Granny O’Grimm than I have in a long time! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494/4 "2010-03-01T12:59:18Z")
> [@Hoops](#): > > OK. All of these look great. I was a little disappointed that all of them (with the exception of some parts of _Granny O’Grimm_) were 3D computer animation. 😕 Wallace & Gromit is almost exclusively stop-motion; computer-enhanced imagery is kept to a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494/5 "2010-03-01T14:32:47Z")
Fair enough. i had been under the impression that after the [fire](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/4514306.stm), they moved to exclusively computer animation, but clearly I was wrong. Ignorance fought! Now if only someone else would join us, we’d have a thread! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-nominated-short-films-animated-watch-most-of-them-and-discuss/530494/6 "2010-03-01T17:25:32Z")
You’re probably thinking of [this](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424095/), which was Aardman’s first foray into feature film CG animation (though with still a very obvious and distinctive studio look). But this was a Peter Lord film, not a Nick Park one. I suspect the latter is always going to stick with his old-school style and medium. W&G wouldn’t be the same any other way.