Short Films

Many animated films are released with a short film beforehand. Short films can also come from students studying animation, and sometimes the short films are released individually. According to the Oscars Academy Awards, in order to be considered a short film eligible for an award, the entire film, with credits included, can't exceed 40 minutes in length. Therefore, I will be using those standards, even if the film has not been nominated.

Easily the best-known source of short films is Pixar, with a short released before each of their movies, as well as many others that are released either as bonus features (these often include characters from the movies they are released with), on one of their short films DVDs, or individually. The majority of their short films are silent, with only sound effects and music. These are the most popular as well as the best they have to offer. In my opinion, the best of the best for Pixar short films would be "Lifted", "Presto", "For the Birds", "Knick Knack", or "Partly Cloudy" (I know that's a lot, but they're all amazing!). Those aforementioned shorts are good for many reasons. To start, they are either completely original and unique, or interesting twists on a preexisting idea. For example, "Lifted", "Partly Cloudy", and "Presto" all take well-known situations, events, or ideas: an alien abduction, storks carrying babies to mothers, and a rabbit being pulled out of a magician's hat respectively, and show it in a way we have never seen before. "For the Birds" and "Knick Knack" are entirely original ideas, featuring competition between birds sitting on a telephone wire and a snowman trying to break out of his snow globe for a hot girl. If there is anything I have to say about Pixar shorts, it's that 95% of the time, they are really, really funny. Also, the short film "Luxo, Jr." is particularly well-known; similarly to "Steamboat Willie" and Disney, "Luxo, Jr," serves as Pixar's logo.

Disney has also released some decent shorts of their own, especially two of their most recent ones, "Paperman" and "Feast". These two shorts are absolutely amazing, with both being nominated and winning the Academy Award for best animated short. They have stunning animation, a vector-based combination of 2D and 3D animation, that makes them unique and beautiful, as well as well-done soundtracks that are light-hearted, warm, and immersing. The plots are also simplistic, yet enchanting, with the first telling a simple love story through paper airplanes that is, in one word, magical, and the latter narrating the life of the relationship between a dog and his owner through food that is heartwarming and adorable.   

To see "Paperman" http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzt3vb_paperman_shortfilms

Of course, Disney was also responsible for one of the most memorable, influential, and milestone shorts of all time; "Steamboat Willie." Featured in their logo, this short was responsible for introducing the world to Mickey Mouse, and it was the first to include a full soundtrack. 

Let's not forget the plethora of student short films. Students enrolled in animation courses often have to do an animation for final projects, and nearly every single one of them is posted on Youtube. These films display a great range in skill and acclaim, with some being animated beautifully and creative, and others being downright creepy and poorly done (nothing against the students, it's just my personal opinion). The video shown, "Oktapodi" is by a student in France, who actually got nominated for an Oscar for this film.

Also, other countries often have shorts that are very noteworthy, but I will touch on their animation more in a different post.

videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ARYCDna3E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgghnQF6E4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badHUNl2HXU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3057osZPdZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FI9Gw58MdA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYfYtV_2ezs