Animated Short Shortlist Predictions for the 97th Academy Awards
Last year animated short was are weakest result in our predictions where we guessed just 5/15 correctly. However, that still worked out to be the best result we saw out there with The Hollywood Reporter going 3/15 and Variety just guessing 2/15 correctly. This year we are coming back having learned lots from last year and are banking on some improvement. Feel free to listen along with our podcast (see timestamps below for each short) as we list the 15 we have chosen to make the shortlist with some Honourable Mentions that are just as likely to nab a slot!
1) Wander to Wonder, dir. Nina Gantz
Podcast Timestamp: 4:30
Wander to Wonder is a delightful stop motion animation short. The production design really stands out by tying the miniature characters and their small set together with the larger room they are trapped in. Wander to Wonder reaches its peak at the short’s conclusion as everything spirals out of control. It is chaotic in the best way possible. Wander to Wonder is qualified for the 97th Academy Awards after winning an astounding six qualifying awards at Anima Festival, Tampere Film Festival, SXSW, Hollyshorts, Nashville Film Festival and Chilemonos.
2) Beautiful Men, dir. Nicolas Keppens
Podcast Timestamp: 6:43
Beautiful Men is Keppens’ first stop motion animated project; all his previous films have been traditionally 2D animated. Drawing on his background in painting and sculpture, the characters that he creates are literally and figuratively in three dimensions; just as we see these real men walking down a real hallway, we feel and understand their histories and desires, a completely drawn picture of these beautiful men’s lives in only 19 achingly poetic minutes. Beautiful Men is qualified for the Academy Awards after winning awards at Aspen Shortfest, Hiroshima Animation Season and Kaboom Animation Festival.
3) The Miracle, dir. Nienke Deutz
Podcast Timestamp: 8:48
Whether you feel like a child is missing from your life, you have had and lost a child or just in general feel affected by the societal expectations to form a family and have children, using see through people as a narrative tool, this short hits that nerve and displays the uneasy feeling of these pressures front and center. The Miracle won more qualifying awards than any other animated short this year at 7 with wins at Animafest Zagreb, Chicago International Film Festival, Interfilm, Kaboom Animation Festival, Leuven International Film Festival, Manchester Animation Festival and Riverrun International Film Festival.
4) An Almost Christmas Story, dir. David Lowery
Podcast Timestamp: 11:20
An Almost Christmas Story is the magical stop-motion adventure of Moon, a curious young owl, who unexpectedly finds himself stuck in a Christmas tree destined for Rockefeller Plaza. In his attempts to escape the bustling city, Moon befriends a lost young girl named Luna, and together, they must find a way to reunite with their parents. The beautifully animated and heartfelt adventure is the third holiday short film in a row produced by Academy favourite Alfonso Cuarón (following nominee La Pupille in 2022 and shortlisted The Shepherd in 2023). The beautifully detailed animated bauble was made by an all-star team led by director David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon), and a cast including John C. Reilly, Natasha Lyonne surely has lots of friends in the Academy. A Disney-funded campaign will certainly help the film’s odds. Â
Watch now on Disney+
5) In the Shadow of the Cypress, dirs. Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani
Podcast Timestamp: 13:42
Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani narrate the story of a former captain suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who lives with his daughter by the seaside. Their quiet life shifts abruptly when an event suddenly changes their day-to-day lives. The film has been a strong contender all festival season, winning qualifying awards at Animayo, Tribeca, LA Shorts and Spark Animation.
6) Percebes, dirs. Laura Gonçalves, Alexandra Ramires
Podcast Timestamp: 16:28
Percebes takes place in the Algarve, a southern region in Portugal that receives plenty of tourists. The story is told parallel to the life cycle of Percebes, also known as a goose barnacle. The animation connects and flows beautifully from the seaside all the way to the hot summer streets of the city. Laura Gonçalves appeared on the animation shortlist in 2023 with ‘O Homem do Lixo’. Percebes won the Cristal for best short film at this year’s Annecy Film Festival.
7) Magic Candies, dir. Daisuke Nishio
Podcast Timestamp: 20:30
Magic Candies is the story about Dong-Dong, a kid who does not have a lot of friends and usually plays alone with his marbles. One day he decides to buy a bag of marble-shaped candies instead and after indulging on the first sweet his couch sparks up a conversation. The director Daisuke Nishio is perhaps best known for his work in Manga, specifically the Dragon Ball franchise. Based on a Picture Book by the same name from author Heena Baek, this claymation-esque animated short invites you to accept a world where reality and fantasy blends together. With its broad appeal to viewers of all ages, this short received nominations at this year's London Film Festival and AFI Fest, and it has become a bit of a hidden gem this season.
8) Maybe Elephants, dir. Torill Kove
Podcast Timestamp: 23:36
Maybe Elephants is Torill Kove’s simply animated but emotionally complex story of  three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, on their unexpected trip to Nairobi, Kenya. An Academy darling, Torill Kove has already been nominated for Best Animated Short for My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts (2000) and Me and My Moulton(2015), and won in the same category with The Danish Poet (2007). Maybe Elephants is coming to the end of a successful festival run, with appearances at major animation festivals at Annecy and Ottawa, and other festivals including tiff and AFI. Maybe Elephants is produced by the National Film Board of Canada which has received many, many nominations in the Animated Short category, resulting in seven wins.Â
9) Luki and the Lights, dir. Toby Cochran
Podcast Timestamp: 26:03
LUKi & the Lights is sure to tug at your heartstring as this robot perseveres through the darkest moments and shines his light bright. Thoughts and feelings are cleverly conveyed through facial expressions, body language and slight changes in the soundtrack. Seasonal changes and lighting align with the rapidly worsening disease and LUKi’s emotions throughout, showing the circle of life as it slowly moves on. This goes beyond dialogue, to an understating which is deeply human, even in a world without humans.Â
Award-winning producer Adrian Ochoa known for credits such as Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and Wall-E worked on the project, along with co-produced with Global Neuro YCare. The story is inspired by the true story of Sascha Groen and her husband Anjo Snijders who was diagnosed with ALS. In search of a way to explain the disease to their children, they conceptualized the story which became the basis of this short. Together they hope to better the understanding of and coping with the disease for other ALS patients and loved ones alike.
10) The Brown Dog, dirs. Jamie-James Medina, Nadia Hallgren
Podcast Timestamp: 29:37
This dark and gloomy film by directors Jamie-James Medina and (Emmy and Gotham nominee) Nadia Hallgren made a splash this season when it took home the Grand Prize for animation at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival earlier this season. In it we follow a security guard, credited as the name Nobody, voiced by the late great Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire). Nobody works as a security guard, and their security logs are used as a narrative tool as we follow along with the descent into darkness. The film is based on The Brown Dog Chronicles and it also has some heavy names attached to it as executive producers; Steve Buscemi, Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
11) A Bear Named Wojtek, dir. Iain Gardner
Podcast Timestamp: 31:42
Sketched out in 2D hand-drawn animation, this film by Iain Gardner is an animated reconstruction of the true story of Wojtek, a bear adopted by a Polish soldier in World War II. With an emotional story and detailed animation that Gardner worked on for the past 10 years, this short is sure to catch voters eyes. This short has plenty of big names attached including composer Normand Roger (who has twice composed scores for winners in this category) and rising star Richard Gadd providing voice work.
12) A Wind and the Shadow, dir. Kris Kelly
Podcast Timestamp: 34:13
A Wind and the Shadow is a strong player in this year's BAFTA race which we believe could spill over to the academy awards. Directed by previous BAFTA nominee Kris Kelly (best animated short Here to fall) and voiced by Niamh Algar (Raised by Wolves) and IFTA winner Catherine Clinch (The Quiet Girl) the short has some strong starpower behind it. So far this season it has picked up a win for Best Irish Short Film at the Fastnet Short Film Festival and a win for Best Animated Short Film at the Irish Film and Television Awards. It is a story that follows a mother and daughter in two separate scenes, one swimming by the beach and the other at what looks like a hospital setting. The two stories blend together fluently and the audience is kept in a dream-like state where memory and reality blurs together, as the mother is forced to confront her fears and uncertainty.
13) Au Revoir Mon Monde, dirs. Estelle Bonnardel, Quentin Devred, Baptiste Duchamps, Maxime Foltzer, Florian Maurice, Astrid Novais
Podcast Timestamp: 37:34
Au Revoir Mon Monde seamlessly blends genres, ranging from a world ending action packed epic complete with a majestic score down to a romantic comedy, all in the span of just a smidge over five minutes. In lieu of any real dialogue, the sound work does a lot of the heavy lifting in conveying emotions and setting tone. In terms of lighting and atmosphere the team borrowed ideas from modern day bigger studios and blockbuster VFX which gives the film a certain pulse and grittiness. Offsetting this through classic 3D animation and bright vivid colors, resulting in a story with a playful tone yet realistic sense of urgency. While naturally much smaller in budget and scope than some of the inspiration behind it the students managed to build rich surroundings and a story which is easy to get directly thrown in the middle of that still tugs at your heartstrings in the final shots. Au Revoir Mon Monde won gold at the Student Academy Awards, qualifying it for this years Oscars. The previous 2 gold winners in this category made the shortlist and we predict the same for this one as well.
14) A Crab in the Pool, dirs. Jean-Sébastien Hamel, Alexandra Myotte
Podcast Timestamp: 40:37
In this heart-tugging animated drama, Zoe and her little brother Theo are left to fend for themselves. Zoe is a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror and Theo flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children come to terms with love and loss of family in a heartbreaking way that is sure to touch Academy voters’ hearts. A Crab in the Pool has qualified for the Oscars twice over by winning the awards at Anim’est International Animation Film Festival (Romania) and Short Shorts Film Festival Asia (Japan), as well as a successful run at other festivals including AFI and South by Southwest, and Ottawa International Animation Festival, where it won Best Canadian Film.Â
15) Yuck! (Beurk!) dir. Loïc Espuche
Podcast Timestamp: 43:41
The film perfectly captures the magic, fear and excitement that many feel during the formative years of childhood. You are trying to find yourself, your place amongst your peers and your place in this world at a time where your days consist of cycling around in the sun and waterslides. The atmosphere throughout this film is truly palpable, and you are left with a warm heart and blushed cheeks.
Honourable Mentions (Podcast Timestamp: 47:05):
Quota, dirs. Joris Oprins, Marieke Blaauw, Job Roggeveen
Nate & John, dir. Jumai Yusuf
Joko, dir. Izabela Plucińska
And Granny Would Dance, dir. Maryam Mohajer
Self, dir. Searit Huluf
Other Notable Names in Contention (not mentioned in podcast):
La Perra, dir. Carla Melo Gampert
Bottle George, dir. Daisuke Tsutsumi
Tomorrow, dir. Aryasb Feiz
The Car That Came Back from the Sea, dir. Jadwiga Kowalska
Remember Us, dir. Pablo León
Tennis, Oranges, dir. Sean Pecknold
Summer 96, dir. Mathilde Bédouet
Where Rabbits Come From, dir. Colin Ludvic Racicot
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