With the 91st Oscars airing on February 24th, I’ll be going over the trio of short film topics and their nominees leading up to the premiere. With short films often getting overlooked (Live Action Shorts was cut from this year’s broadcast and then re-inserted after big protests) I was interested in checking out the Oscar caliber shorts making the list. It should be noted that most of the animated shorts are directed by women this year, which is refreshing. Here is the list and the short I hope wins.
Tag Archives: Animation
Shorts Round Up of the Week: 2/12/2019
Most of the time we get such a backlog of short films and feature length indie films that we work hard to take them all on and review them before the year is up. In “Shorts Round Up of the Week” we review a round up of short films of varying quality.
If you’d like to submit your short film for review consideration, submissions are always opened to filmmakers and producers.
This week we have a trio of shorts from Chris McInroy, a psychotic tattoo artist, and the tale of a walking baby.
Winsor McCay: The Artist as a Young Man
Winsor McCay was one of the most important pioneers in the development of animated films, and his creations Gertie the Dinosaur and Little Nemo are still celebrated for their wit and artistry. In this episode, we learn about McCay’s formative years and the influences that helped to shape his creative genius. Our guest on this episode of “The Online Movie Show” is Kevin Scott Collier, author of “Winsor McCay: Boyhood Dreams: Growing Up In Spring Lake, Michigan 1867-1885.”
Panic Attack! (2016) [Final Girls Berlin Film Festival]
“A Real Scream” Shorts Block
Eileen O’Meara’s “Panic Attack” is a very short but sweet look at the chaos that is the panic attack and how horrific it can be. Animated and painted by Eileen O’Meara herself, “Panic Attack” is centered on a young woman waiting at a stop light while driving. When she ponders if she shut off her coffee machine, suddenly her imagination begins to take on a life of its own and a mole hill is transformed in to a gigantic mountain before our very eyes.
The Animated Wizard of Oz Films
Everyone knows the 1939 film version of “The Wizard of Oz,” but there were also a large number of animated film and television adaptations of the L. Frank Baum books. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” Kevin Scott Collier, author of “The Wonderful Animated World of The Wizard of Oz,” discusses how Dorothy and her friends occupied the animation genre.
Tito and the Birds (Tito e os Pássaros) (2019)
It’s a very good element of animation that it is so accessible and can be fit to work in any story no matter how extraordinary it may be. Animation allows the creator to be as unique and individual as possible, while also conveying an important message that deserves to be heard now more than ever. I can’t say that I loved “Tito and the Birds” but I very much enjoyed it is an imaginative and entertaining adventure with an important message to give its audience about prejudice, xenophobia, the value of animals, and the irrational hysterical fear of the impoverished that’s become so common.
Remembering the Excellence of “Superman: The Animated Series”
With the success of his iconic adaptation, “Batman: The Animated Series” behind him, creator Bruce Timm was asked by Warner Bros. in 1996 to produce a companion series to the darker crime drama. The natural jumping off point from Batman was, of course, Superman, the equally recognizable and ever immortal character from DC Comics. With “Batman: The Animated Series” ensuring the success of DC translating in to the animated medium, Superman was a welcome change of pace for the medium Timm had helped innovate for the decade. It was also a welcome reboot for Superman fans who wanted the Man of Steel brought in to the decade.