2017 Oscars: 70 Animated Shorts Contend for Shortlist of Ten

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A longlist of 70 animated short films contending for the Academy Award has been revealed by Cartoon Brew, including their top picks, synopsis, and trailers. This is a significant jump from last year’s total (60) and a continuing trend in this category. Back in 2010 only 33 films qualified. This is not the “official” list from the Academy, that comes in November. From that official list, 10 will make it to the shortlist and then ultimately five will be nominated for an Oscar on January 24, 2017.
With every year there are frontrunners, mostly in the form of Disney and/or Disney/Pixar shorts that show before a feature. This year is no different with Piper from Alan Barillaro, the short that was shown before Finding Dory this summer, and Leo Matsuda’s Inner Workings. Two Pixar artists Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, also qualified for their independent short Borrowed Time. Disney and/or Pixar have earned Oscar nominations here for the last six years in a row and have won twice (Paperman and Feast).
Other notables include Céline Devaux’s Le Repas Dominical from France, which won the César Award last February and two entries from the National Film Board of Canada: Franck Dion’s The Head Vanishes and Theo Ushev’s Blind Vaysha.
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