The 16th Annual Animation Show of Shows returned to Hall H to kick off a packed Friday schedule with an hour of the best hard-to-find animated short films from around the world. Since 1998, animation guru and founder Ron Diamond has programmed the traveling showcase with shorts that represent a wide variety of styles and topics and tones—exemplifying exactly what great animation can accomplish.
Some of my favorites this year included:
FEAST
This Disney-animated short played in front of BIG HERO 6 last year and the tale of a puppy that's equally hungry and loyal remains a fan favorite. The entire Hall H audience cheered when it started, though it's worth pointing out that this was by far the most straightforward short we saw.
MARILYN MYLLER
A black and white stop-motion short about an artist's struggles with creativity that manages to be both artistic and a little pretentious, but also tongue-in-cheek about itself.
ME AND MY MOULTON
This Oscar-nominated short from Norway features a unique children's storybook style of animation and tells an autobiographical story of a middle child who grew up with very odd parents.
DUET
Disney animator Glen Keane (THE LITTLE MERMAID, TANGLED) makes his directing debut with this single-shot chalkboard-style short chronicling the playful life and eventual romance of a boy and a girl.
365
Filmmakers The McLeod Brother animated one second of non-connected, seemingly random footage each day for a year and put it all together in to six bizarre minutes. It's broken down in to month and the subjects, styles and music change day to day. It's manic, hilarious, sometimes disturbing and by far my favorite of the shorts. You can watch it here.
WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT COSMOS
A story about two best friends training to be astronauts, this Russian film was another favorite and effortlessly bounds between being silly, heartbreaking and poignant. A true surprise and the less you know about it the better.
LOVE IN THE TIME OF MARCH MADNESS
Filmmaker and 6'5" former basketball player Melissa Johnson was on hand to present her autobiographical portrait about living life and finding love as an extremely tall woman. A very personal film made with a very fluid and unique style and Johnson had a great message for Hall H about being yourself..
THE LONELIEST STOPLIGHT
Independent animation legend Bill Plympton returned to the Animation Show of Shows with the premiere of his latest work starring fan favorite Patton Oswalt as the title character. It's a simple amusing story in the Pixar vein of "everything deserves love."
This year will also mark the first time that Animation Show of Shows will be featured in cinemas around the country and I highly encourage any fan of animation to seek it out. It represents a great variety of talent from around the globe with styles and content you typically wouldn't be exposed to. Get more information at http://www.animationshowofshows.com.