April 25th, 2021 
Michael Lyons 
Good things, small packages. It is true for animated short subjects, especially those nominated for and who have won the Academy Award.
Like everything else globally, this Sunday’s Academy award ceremony looked much different this year. Thankfully, the tradition of celebrating animated short subjects will continue, as it has since the first year the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject (the category then known as Short Subjects, Cartoons) was awarded eighty-nine years ago in 1932 to Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony, Flowers and Trees.
Since then, as the movie-going experience changed, so did animated short subjects. However, they have remained a large part of animation, and the Academy has continued to recognize that.
To continue this celebration, what follows is a look back at just some of the Oscar-winning animated shorts that’s celebrate anniversaries this year (the years notated below are the years in which the shorts were released):
Lend a Paw, Disney (1941), 80th anniversary
Pluto becomes jealous of a kitten (looking suspiciously like Figaro from Pinocchio) who Mickey brings into the house. It may seem like a classic Disney cartoon from this era. Still, what may have got this short the Oscar could be its warmth and heart, as Pluto begins to care for the kitten, as well as some lovely moments of personality animation, as Pluto deals with the ol’ trope of the shoulder angel and shoulder devil.
Magoo’s Puddle Jumper, UPA (1956) 65th Anniversary
What could wrong when Mr. Magoo buys a car? Everything, including him driving off a pier and into the water, steering his new car along the ocean floor like a submarine.
The result is some clever sight gags, made all the more charming by the UPA Studio’s unique style. There are also some witty one-liners, delivered so well by actor Jim Backus as Magoo. Upon seeing a shipwreck, he declares, “My, Beverly Hills has gone to pot!” As a whale swims by, Magoo comments, “They’ve gone too far with the Cadillac this year!”
The intelligent humor also provides a sly, contemporary commentary, which caught the attention of the Academy.
Ersatz, Zagreb Film (1961) 60th anniversary
This Yugoslavian animated short subject (known in its home country as Surogat) is undoubtedly one-of-a-kind. With a modern style so prevalent at the time, the short tells the story of a man who goes on a beach trip, and everything he brings (including his car and the road he travels on) is inflatable.
With no dialogue and almost everything in the short designed as some sort of shape, it features some outlandish moments, particularly when the man inflates a woman as his date (!) who then goes off with another man at the beach.
Surreal, to say the least, the short is a true statement on the manufactured or the fake (i.e., Ersatz) in our world.
The Crunch Bird, Ted Petok (1971) 50th anniversary
Clocking in at just over two minutes long, this is the shortest animated short subject to win an Oscar. In it, a woman goes to a pet shop looking for a birthday gift for her husband. Against the pet shop owner’s advice, she buys a “Crunch Bird,” a bird that will eat whatever you tell it to and brings it home to her husband.
What happens next is surprisingly funny and not to be spoiled here.
Made in a style that’s reminiscent of commercial animation done at the time, The Crunch Bird is nothing more than an extended punchline and a funny one. Not only did it bring the filmmakers an Oscar, the short inspired a sequel that was released in 1975.
Crac, Frederic Bac (1981) 40th anniversary
From noted Canadian animator and director Frederic Back came this story of the life of a rocking chair, from its creation, when it was carved from a tree (“Crac!” comes from the sound of the tree falling) to its time now, left alone in a room. Through this, we see several generations and time pass as society moves from farming to our modern times.
With no dialogue (just beautiful, reel music playing on the soundtrack), this short film is exquisite with animation so lovingly created. Each scene is like a frameable work of art.
Manipulation, Daniel Greaves (1991) 30th anniversary
Stop-motion and 2D animation come together in jaw-dropping fashion in this Oscar winner from British animation director Daniel Greaves.
An animator’s hands draw a cartoon character who comes to life and interacts with a blotch of spilled ink. Throughout the short, the character shifts and changes shape and even falls in and out of the different sheets of animation paper, even when they’re crumpled up.
It’s a dizzying display of animation ingenuity that feels like a distant cousin to Chuck Jones’ brilliant 1953 Daffy Duck short Duck Amuck. Manipulation has so much detail and creativity, it begs for multiple viewings.
The Danish Poet, Torill Kove (2006) 15th anniversary
This co-production between the Norwegian Film Institute and the National Film Board of Canada combines romance, tragedy, and slapstick comedy. It tells the story of Danish poet Kaspar Jorgenson, who, seeking inspiration, travels to Norway and unleashes a series of events in his life and the lives of others in a plot that is like a nesting egg and seemingly endless.
Animated like a children’s storybook, with lovely narration from actress Liv Ullmann, The Danish poet is a delicate short subject that reminds us that nothing in life happens by chance.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg (2011) 10th anniversary
The poignant and ethereal short combined computer animation, miniatures, and traditional, hand-drawn animation to tell the tale of Morris Lessmore. While writing a book on his terrace, Lessmore is blown away by a seemingly magical storm that lands him in a world where no one exists except books.
The books seem to be sentient beings, flapping around and flying like birds. They even communicate with Lessmore, who becomes the caretaker for all of them, growing old among the books, as he continues to write his own book.
Directed by noted author and illustrator William Joyce (who penned A Day with Wilbur Robinson, which inspired Disney’s Meet the Robinsons) and Brandon Oldenburg, the short has a dreamlike quality. It’s filled with striking images (such as Lessmore’s dream girl tethered to flying books as if they’re balloons) and humbling creativity (a Humpty Dumpty drawing in a book communicates through the flipping pages).
Toward the end of the short, Lessmore hands out books to others. As he does, each of them transforms from black and white to color, underlying the short’s powerful message about the transformative spirit of books.
With the Academy continuing to recognize these smaller, creative shorts, anyone who loves animation will continue to be a winner.
- An Eye for A Classic: The 60th Anniversary of “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” - December 22, 2022
- A Very Merry Mickey: The 70th Anniversary of “Pluto’s Christmas Tree” - December 19, 2022
- A Fine French Feline Film: The 60th Anniversary of “Gay Pur-ee” - December 12, 2022
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