The Lost Thing - and other animated shorts

Cecil says: We went to see this collection of Oscar-nominated short animated films really because we had already seen the other films on at the Cine in Athens, Georgia. It was actually a pleasure. But first a quick word on the cinema itself.

We always like to visit the local independent cinema when we travel to different places and this was no exception. A Swiss woman called Birgit set this Indy cinema up a few years ago by converting an old tyre factory in a 1950s shed. And she's done a great job. They now have three screens and a pretty good audience through the door, though with an arty town like Athens, it would be a scandal NOT to have an arty cinema. Only thing is: how come when we searched 'Movie theaters in Athens, Georgia', the listings for Cine did not come up???

So to the short films themselves. My overall feeling on leaving the cinema was that you somehow have to be a misfit, a bohemian, a troubled soul or someone in search of themselves to star in an animated film these days: there was no Mickey Mouse or Deputy Dawg here.

I think I liked 'Let's Pollute' best. A rare piece of real irony from an American director, and a lovely spoof on those 1950s public service cartoons about waste and crossing the road. But it was all about pollution, of course!

The Gruffalo was lovely. The longest of the pieces (27 minutes) and a star cast of voices, from Helena Bonham-Carter, through John Hurt, to Robbie Coltrane (though he hid his Scottish accent well).

I didn't much care for the Cow that wanted to be a Burger - a little too much taken from 'Chicken Run' for my liking, and not as good. Nor did I care much for 'Day and Night', which left me a bit bored.

But I'll let Bea talk about the winning film, which was also her favourite...

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Bea says: Animated short films, even those that are Oscar nominated would not have usually enticed me - my liking of animation is generally too unreliable for me to willingly part with time and money to watch it. But, as I've said before in this blog, sometimes trying film experiences you don't think you'll like is a good exercise. This one was for me.

Of the short films, my favourite was 'The Lost Thing', and not just because it hails from my home country, Australia. A whimisical story, it tells of a child/young person who comes across a Thing on the beach one day. Initially scared, the child soon discovers the Thing is friendly - and, unfortunately, lost. A search for the Thing's home ensues, to no avail, and the child eventually takes the Thing home to disapproving parents, ultimately hiding it in the shed. After seeing an advert on TV, the child attempts to get government help but hearts sink at the grey, forbidding building and multiple forms required to leave the Thing in their hands. A tip off results in finding a whole playground of Things - and the Thing is left very happily there. Fast forward to the child's adulthood, and his reminiscences about the Thing, and about how he doesn't really see Things anymore - perhaps he's stopped looking? Food for thought.... Overall a lovely story and old-style-seeming animation which reminded me of the old Dr Suess book 'The Lorax'.

My least favourite short animation was the Disney entry, 'Night and Day', which involved the cartoon violence and sexism I remember from my childhood, and irritatingly failed to credit the newsreel speech used within it. I guess this, and indeed some of the other Oscar winners in different categories, just shows that big budgets don't always win out!
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