Episode 2: Oscar Shorts In the Spotlight

Short Animated Films:

Director Brad Bird is no stranger to the spotlight as a director and 2 time Oscar winner himself. The latest film he directed, Mission Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol, starring Tom Cruise, reignited Mission Impossible fever. Brad is also an animation genius. He fell in love with animation at the age of 11 on a tour of the Disney studios and won a Disney Scholarship after high school.  He met his life long friend and founder of Pixar, John Lasseter through Disney. Brad Bird was the genius behind turning The Simpsons into a series of half-hour programs from one-minute shorts. Brad was also pitched the movie “The Incredibles” to his friend John at Pixar, which is how it got made.

The wonderful thing about Brad Bird’s animated movies is that he has proved that it is a viable story telling art form that cuts across many demographics. The first evening of the Set Up Week to the Oscars celebrates Short film and is hosted by Brad, a man who you can see believes passionately in the power of animation. Oscar nominees for the Animated Short film and Live Action categories are honored by the Academy for Motion Picture Arts & Sciences symposium at the Academy Grand Lobby on Wilshire Avenue in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Brad Bird is considered a genius and listed as one of the 50 smartest people in Hollywood (he was #23).

The Short films are so completely fabulous with a wide range of style. They are totally worth watching. The short film and short documentary are a very current media form as this has become the story telling/news reporting format of today.

The Animated Short Film Nominees 2011:

“Academy”  by Patrick Doyon and is one of two National Film Board of Canada submissions.   Patrick has taken a very graphic approach with this animated feature which can be tricky but this movie manages to create its own world for the viewer with a realism that is very charming, NFB

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg.This film is a totally creative and poetic, imaginative story using beautifully animation techniques.