Oscar-Nominated Short Animation

Whoa, it's been a busy week. I'm teaching a unit on anime in a third-year animation class and did my first lecture this week, on Spirited Away. To my great relief, it went well. But next week, I face the challenges of teaching television animation with Cowboy Bebop, and then the challenges of co-teaching in a tag-team lecture on Paprika. If that weren't enough, I finished a thesis chapter (3 down, 3 to go) and am determined to get another done by the end of the month, so that I can start right away on the chapter after that, which I'll be presenting part of at a conference in Scotland in late May. A grad student's work is never done!

Still, I'm hoping to take some time out this weekend to watch the Oscars. Hollywood blah blah Avatar yadda yadda, yes, but I want to see what wins in the animated short film category. I had a chance to see all the animated shorts in theatre this week, and while none are equal to last year's winner, Kunio Kato's "La Maison en Petit Cubes," there is one obvious choice and one edgy choice to keep things interesting.

( I won't make predictions, but... )

As for features, I can say it in a line: I really want to see Coraline win, but I think UP probably has it. And that's my Oscar animation report. Back to you, Ben Mulroney!