I found it emotionally exhausting to watch last year's bunch of Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts (I'll remind you why.). This year's bunch, which I saw through the annual ShortsTv theatrical package, is a lot more emotionally bearable. I'm particularly pleased with this year's selection because of one name in particular; it just so happens his short comes up first in the package:
Magic Candies (from Japan): That name would be its director, Daisuke Nishio, a longtime series director for the Dragon Ball anime. I was looking forward to watching this short when I looked it up after December's shortlists. It's a good thing it was nominated, for this year's package lacked some of this year's runners-up.
Based on a pair of picture books by Baek Hee-na, this short follows Dong-Dong (Haruto Shima), a boy who prefers marbles rather than human friends. One day, he buys a set of "magic candies" that happen to look like marbles. Each one that he pops in his mouth lets him converse with something new, like his sofa (Hiroshi Iwasaki) or his elderly dog Gusuri (Kazuhiro Yamaji). These new perspectives gradually help him open up to the world around him.
At 22-minutes, it's the longest of the bunch, but its story is simple and sweet. Its interesting concept is made memorable by what Dong-Dong learns from his "new" friends. A lost remote hidden in the sofa is tantamount to an itch, while Gusuri's perspective as an old dog is quite memorable (thankfully, he's still alive at the end). One of its most profound episodes lets Dong-Dong hear the thoughts of his comically strict father (Ikkei Watanabe). It's also quite memorable when a later candy gives voice to falling leaves. All of this is animated with excellent clay-shaded CGI that looks so much like real claymation.
This might be my choice for the winner, but the next two other shorts in the package are viable alternates.
In the Shadow of the Cypress (from Iran. Director: Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani): An elderly man, a sea captain long suffering from PTSD, has a tense relationship with his adult daughter. His prized ship is anchored close to their beachside home. They get their chance to reconcile when his daughter tries to rescue a beached whale.
The character designs are nice and simple, but it really stands out when it visualizes the old man's PTSD. At his worse, his skin turns gray, and he even shatters into a million pieces at one point. It doesn't take much effort to sympathize with him, even when he threatens to kill the "inconvenient" whale. It all leads to a heroic sacrifice that involves his ship. Overall, its storyline and visuals make this another worthy winner.
Yuck! (from France. Director: Loïc Espuche): A group of kids at a campsite observe the adults around them kissing and are grossed out by what they see. Two of them, Leo (Noé Chabbat) and Lucie (Katell Varvat), decide to try it for themselves.
This is easily the most adorable story of the bunch, with two likable lead kids and a very memorable visual metaphor: peoples' lips glow the hottest shade of pink imaginable when they want to kiss. They may be young, but Leo and Lucie have started to understand the need for human connection. They get mocked for it, and you'll be rooting for them to reconcile, which they do in a memorable finale. How memorable? The whole campsite glows pink! I wouldn't be surprised if this ultimately won.
Wander to Wonder (mostly from the U.K. Director: Nina Gantz): Meanwhile, this is the short a few critics have gravitated towards. Let's see what I think of it.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Uncle Gilly (a live-action character played by Neil Salvage) who had a public access kid's show called Wander to Wonder. Nowadays, he lies dead in his decrepit flat, and his three "puppet" stars - Mary, Billybud and Fumbleton (Amanda Lawrence, Terence Dunn and Toby Jones) - try to carry on in his absence. They try their best, even as food and sanity begin to run scarce.
Needless to say, its story isn't for everyone, even if I don't think it's the most unsettling nominee I've ever seen in this category (that would be Bestia, from a few years ago). Our three leads, who are apparently doll-sized humans instead of living toys, aren't the most visually appealing stop-motion characters. The state of Gilly's flat is even less appealing, though both aspects are done well by design. Mary's attempt to keep the show going are decently amusing as her optimism wears thin. It still ends on a profound image when an unexpected event frees them from squalor.
Beautiful Men (mostly from the Netherlands. Director: Nicolas Keppens): Three middle-aged brothers - Bart, Koen and Steven (Peter Van de Begin, Peter De Graef and Tom Dewispelaere) - travel to Istanbul for a hair-transplant. Note that I said, "a hair-transplant," for there's only room for one of the balding brothers in the hospital's schedule. Who will get the transplant? How will their relationship survive?
All it takes to understand the brothers is to look at their stop-motion models. These puppet characters wear their melancholy on their faces; Bart, in particular, essentially has a cancer scare on top of his hair loss. He also deals with the possibility of being denied his transplant. The brothers' relationship is compelling, while their ultimate reconciliation one foggy night is rather nice, even with some oddness. It kind of falters at the end, which solves their hair trouble with a wild deus-ex-machina. Maybe that narrative issues will work better in a feature-length expansion; I'm kind of interested in seeing one.
That's it for this year's animated short nominees. Now, if you excuse me, I have to figure out how to watch the Documentary and Live-Action Short contenders. I think I can do that in a few weeks' time.
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