Oscars 2019 Category Breakdown: Best Animated Short
Here’s how this works: every day leading up to the Oscars, I break down each of the 24 categories. The goal is to both familiarize everyone with the category itself (how it works, what its history is and how you go about figuring out what’s gonna win) while also making it easier to reference when I write my giant article with picks and everything. A lot of the leg work is already here. But really, the goal is to see if there’s anything to look for leading into Oscar night that could be a shortcut to me picking the category.
What we do is — I give you all the winners of the category throughout history, go over all the recent trends if there are any, discuss the precursors and whether or not they matter, and then we talk about this year’s category and how we got to it, and then just look at where we are and rank the nominees in terms of their likelihood of winning (at the current moment in time. Of course, things can and will change going into the ceremony). It’s all pretty simple. I’ve done this every year. Everyone should know the drill.
Today is Best Animated Short. AKA, “It’s probably Pixar or Disney again, isn’t it?
Year | Best Animated Film Winners | Other Nominees |
1931-1932 | Flowers and Trees | Mickey’s Orphans
It’s Got Me Again! |
1932-1933 | Three Little Pigs | Building a Building
The Merry Old Soul |
1934 | The Tortoise and the Hare | Holiday Land
Jolly Little Elves |
1935 | Three Orphan Kittens | The Calico Dragon
Who Killed Cock Robin? |
1936 | The Country Cousin | Old Mill Pond
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor |
1937 | The Old Mill | Educated Fish
The Little Match Girl |
1938 | Ferdinand the Bull | Brave Little Tailor
Mother Goose Goes Hollywood Good Scots Hunky and Spunky |
1939 | The Ugly Duckling | Detouring America
Peace on Earth The Pointer |
1940 | The Milky Way | Puss Gets the Boot
A Wild Hare |
1941 | Lend a Paw | Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B
Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt How War Came The Night Before Christmas Rhapsody in Rivets The Rookie Bear Rhythm in the Ranks Superman Truant Officer Donald |
1942 | Der Fuehrer’s Face | All Out for “V”
Blitz Wolf Juke Box Jamboree Pigs in a Polka Tulips Shall Grow |
1943 | The Yankee Doodle Mouse | The Dizzy Acrobat
Five Hundred Hats of Batholomew Cubbins Greetings Bait Imagination Reason and Emotion |
1944 | Mouse Trouble | And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street
Dog, Cat and Canary Fish Fry How to Play Football My Boy, Johnny Swooner Crooner |
1945 | Quiet Please! | Donald’s Crime
Jasper and the Beanstalk Life with Feathers Mighty Mouse in Gypsy Life The Poet and Peasant Rippling Romance |
1946 | The Cat Concerto | Musical Moments from Chopin
John Henry and the Inky-Poo Squatter’s Rights Walky Talky Hawky |
1947 | Tweetie Pie | Chip an’ Dale
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse Pluto’s Blue Note Tubby the Tuba |
1948 | The Little Orphan | Mickey and the Seal
Mouse Wreckers Robin Hoodlum Tea for Two Hundred |
1949 | For Scent-imental Reasons | Hatch Up Your Troubles
Magic Fluke Toy Tinkers |
1950 | Gerald McBoing-Boing | Jerry’s Cousin
Trouble Indemnity |
1951 | The Two Mouseketeers | Lambert the Sheepish Lion
Rooty Toot Toot |
1952 | Johann Mouse | Little Johnny Jet
Madeline Pink and Blue Blues The Romance of Transportation in Canada |
1953 | Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom | Christopher Crumpet
From A to Z-Z-Z-Z Fugged Bear The Tell-Tale Heart |
1954 | When Magoo Flew | Crazy Mixed Up Pup
Pigs Is Pigs Sandy Claws Touché, Pussy Cat! |
1955 | Speedy Gonzales | Good Will to Men
The Legend of Rockabye Point No Hunting |
1956 | Magoo’s Puddle Jumper | Gerald McBoing-Boing on Planet Moo
The Jaywalker |
1957 | Birds Anonymous | One Droopy Knight
Tabasco Road Trees and Jamaica Daddy The Truth About Mother Goose |
1958 | Knighty Knight Bugs | Paul Bunyan
Sidney’s Family Tree |
1959 | Moonbird | Mexicali Shmoes
Noah’s Ark The Violinist |
1960 | Munro | Goliath II
High Note Mouse and Garden A Place in the Sun |
1961 | Ersatz (The Substitute) | Aquamania
Beep Prepared Nelly’s Folly The Pied Piper of Guadalupe |
1962 | The Hole | Icarus Montgolfier Wright
Now Hear This Self Defense… for Cowards Symposium on Popular Songs |
1963 | The Critic | Automania 2000
The Game My Financial Career Pianissimo |
1964 | The Pink Phink | Christmas Cracker
How to Avoid Friendship Nudnik No. 2 |
1965 | The Dot and the Line | Clay or the Origin of Species
The Thieving Magpie |
1966 | A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature | The Drag
The Pink Blueprint |
1967 | The Box | Hypothese Beta
What on Earth! |
1968 | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day | The House that Jack Built
The Magic Pear Tree Windy Day |
1969 | It’s Tough to Be a Bird | Of Men and Demons
Walking |
1970 | Is It Always Right to Be Right? | The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam: Part Two
The Shepherd |
1971 | The Crunch Bird | Evolution
The Selfish Giant |
1972 | A Christmas Carol | Kama Sutra Rides Again
Tup Tup |
1973 | Frank Film | The Legend of John Henry
Pulcinella |
1974 | Closed Mondays | The Family That Dwelt Apart
Hunger Voyage to Next Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! |
1975 | Great | Kick Me
Monsieur Pointu Sisyphus |
1976 | Leisure | Dedalo
The Street |
1977 | The Sand Castle | Bead Game
A Doonesbury Special Jimmy the C |
1978 | Special Delivery | Oh My Darling
Rip Van Winkle |
1979 | Every Child | Dream Doll
It’s so Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House |
1980 | The Fly | All or Nothing
History of the World in Three Minutes Flat |
1981 | Crac | The Creation
The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin |
1982 | Tango | The Great Cognito
The Snowman |
1983 | Sundae in New York | Mickey’s Christmas Carol
Sound of Sunshine – Sound of Rain |
1984 | Charade | Doctor DeSoto
Paradise |
1985 | Anna & Bella | The Big Snit
Second Class Mail |
1986 | A Greek Tragedy | The Frog, The Dog and The Devil
Luxo, Jr. |
1987 | The Man Who Planted Trees | George and Rosemary
Your Face |
1988 | Tin Toy | The Cat Came Back
Technological Threat |
1989 | Balance | The Cow
The Hill Farm |
1990 | Creature Comforts | A Grand Day Out
Grasshoppers |
1991 | Manipulation | Blackfly
Strings |
1992 | Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase | Adam
Reci, Reci Reci… The Sandman Screen Play |
1993 | The Wrong Trousers | Blindscape
The Mighty River Small Talk The Village |
1994 | Bob’s Birthday | The Big Story
The Janitor The Monk and the Fish Triangle |
1995 | A Close Shave | The Chicken from Outer Space
The End Gagarian Runaway Brain |
1996 | Quest | Canhead
La Salla Wat’s Pig |
1997 | Geri’s Game | Famous Fred
Mermaid Redux Riding Hood La Vieille dame et les pigeons |
1998 | Bunny | The Canterbury Tales
Jolly Roger More When Life Departs |
1999 | The Old Man and the Sea | 3 Misses
Humdrum My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts When the Day Breaks |
2000 | Father and Daughter | Periwig Maker
Rejected |
2001 | For the Birds | Fifty Percent Grey
Give Up Yer Aul Sins Strange Invadors Stubble Trouble |
2002 | The ChubbChubbs! | Katedra
Mike’s New Car Mt. Head Das Rad |
2003 | Harvie Krumpet | Boundin’
Gone Nutty Nibbles Destino |
2004 | Ryan | Birthday Boy
Gopher Broke Guard Dog Lorenzo |
2005 | The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation | Badgered
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jaspar Morello 9 One Man Band |
2006 | The Danish Poet | Lifted
The Little Matchgirl Maestro No Time for Nuts |
2007 | Peter & the Wolf | Even Pigeons Go To Heaven
I Met the Walrus Madame Tutli-Putli My Love |
2008 | La Maison en petits cubes | Lavatory – Lovestory
Oktapodi – Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image Presto This Way Up |
2009 | Logorama | Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
French Roast The Lady and the Reaper A Matter of Loaf and Death |
2010 | The Lost Thing | Day & Night
The Gruffalo Let’s Pollute Madagascar, A Journey Diary |
2011 | The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore | Dimanche
La Luna A Morning Stroll Wild Life |
2012 | Paperman | Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole Head Over Heels The Longest Daycare |
2013 | Mr. Hublot | Feral
Get a Horse! Possessions Room on the Broom |
2014 | Feast | The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper Me and My Moulton A Single Life |
2015 | Bear Story | Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team We Can’t Live Without Cosmos World of Tomorrow |
2016 | Piper | Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time Pear Cider and Cigarettes Pearl |
2017 | Dear Basketball | Garden Party
Lou Negative Space Revolting Rhymes |
2018 | Bao | Animal Behaviour
Late Afternoon One Small Step Weekends |
Good news, bad news. Bad news — no real precursors here, so we go in cold and just have to guess. Good news… you can usually do it pretty easily and know what the probably winner is.
What’s funny to me is that most people assume Pixar or Disney is gonna win this category. And for a lot of years, that wasn’t true. Pixar won in 2001 and then neither they nor Disney won again since 2012. And either Disney or Pixar, admittedly has won 4 times since 2012, but it’s on average of every other year. Paperman in 2012, Feast in 2014, Piper in 2016, Bao in 2018. So we’re on pace for a non-Pixar year this year. Which seems like it’s gonna check out.
But let’s first get into our category:
Best Animated Short
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Mémorable
Sister
The shortlist wasn’t overly strong this year. Of the ones that didn’t make it: Hors Piste was a very comic short that felt like it could have gotten on. He Can’t Live Without Cosmos is a sequel (I guess) to the previously nominated astronaut short from a few years ago. Mind My Mind is a short about autism, I believe. The Physics of Sorrow is a similar short to the director’s previously nominated effort Blind Vaysha, and Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days is a girl reminiscing about her uncle, who was essentially nobody but meant a lot to her. I was only able to see Hors Piste and Uncle Thomas, and I liked them both quite a bit, specifically Uncle Thomas.
Only two of these shorts are available to watch in full, so here you go:
Hair Love:
Kitbull:
Dcera and Sister were online at one point but were taken down. And Mémorable has never been available.
Sister is a short about a Chinese man thinking back to his relationship with his sister (done in gorgeous stop-motion) and then revealing that he never had a sister, because of China’s One Child Policy. Dcera is a gorgeously directed short about the relationship between a father and a daughter. And Memorable is about a painter who is starting to get dementia and the effects it has on him and his wife.
Rankings:
5. Dcera — It’s sutuningly animated. There’s no denying that. And in a similar way to Memorable, too. However, it’s a very personal, dramatic and serious kind of short. And those never win. They’ll get nominated, but they never win in an open vote. Hard to see this as more than a third choice at best.
4. Sister — It’s gorgeous and stop-motion, but it feels of a sort to other shorts that didn’t win in recent years. They generally like colorful, cute and uplifting. And this is none of those things. Maybe the emotional gut punch of the ending will get it some votes, but I’m not thinking this is more than a third choice in the end. And even then, if people see them all, I can’t see how they vote for this one.
3. Mémorable — It’s absolutely stunning. Dcera does a similar stop-motion thing, but goes for a very hardcore vérité kind of feel with a camera that moves and makes everything really… Paul Greengrass. This one doesn’t do that but does more magical things with the elements within the frame, distorting reality to put you in the mind of this man with dementia. In the trailer, there’s a cellphone that becomes a blob of paint that starts to float in the air as he watches it. And at the end, when his wife becomes an almost invisible being except for some splashes of paint… it’s just stunning. Honestly, I can see them possibly even voting for this. I’m keeping it the third choice just because of what the other two are, but this can win. This really can win. If people watch all five of these, this will get some votes because it’s so well done. It doesn’t feel like something that wins, but it’s something that will sway a few people in an otherwise weak/forgettable category.
2. Kitbull — It’s Pixar. BUT…. it’s Pixar light. It’s part of their SparkShorts program, which is them giving people an unlimited budget and six months to make whatever they want. This is a short directed and produced by women, which is nice, but the short doesn’t have that pop that you’d expect out of a Pixar short (at least for me). I’m not sure people would know this is Pixar necessarily in an open vote by just looking at the nominees. Plus, it’s not like they win every single year they’re nominated. This feels like a time when they’re not the automatic favorite or presumed winner. I think in the end I’ll probably make this the third choice and let it beat me. But you can’t ignore Pixar in this category. You can’t ever do that. But because they do have a fairly weak history in this category historically. They didn’t win at all between 2001 and 2016. Piper was their first winner. And then Bao last year. And it’s not like they weren’t nominated — Sanjay’s Super Team, Lou, La Luna, Day & Night… people either just wouldn’t vote for them in the early years and didn’t vote for their weaker efforts in recent years. And this feels like a weaker effort most people wouldn’t know or care about. So I’ll respect it and keep it second here, but in the end, I don’t know if this actually contends.
1. Hair Love — I think people are aware of what this one is. I think awareness is out there, and I think it’s a lovely short with a great message. Not that anyone really pays attention to this category while they vote, but this does feel like the feel-good short that would lose to a Pixar nominee like Piper (which is cute and looks stunning but is ultimately just okay) in most years. But, in the absence of one of those shorts in this category, I feel like this is the favorite and the choice that’s most likely to win. Usually you need a modicum of notoriety or the clear emotional advantage (and you can see a short, like The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore or Bear Story, to know it’s going to win). I think this has that notoriety. Maybe Kitbull or Memorable ends up winning instead, but I feel like this is currently the top choice, with a slight edge over everything else in terms of likelihood of winning.
– – – – – – – – – –
Leave a Reply