What is an animated short? According to the 91st Academy Awards “Special Rules for the Short Film Awards,” “[a] short film is defined as an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits.” Animated shorts, in particular, must be constructed using a frame-by-frame format but can make use of any animation style they dream of. These mini movies are submitted to the academy from all around the world and are judged on their originality, entertainment and production quality. These loose requirements make for a pretty mixed bag of shorts, and 2021’s selection didn’t disappoint.

“Robin Robin”

Available to stream on Netflix

“Robin Robin,” the first short in the soiree of shorts I saw, was the longest of them all. The Netflix-produced short film was 32 minutes of felted feel-good scenes about a robin who was raised by a family of mice. Robin meets a charming cast of characters on her misadventures, including a Magpie with a broken wing and a scheming cat that wants to gobble her up. The cat, voiced by “Sex Education”’s Gillian Anderson, was a true highlight of the film. “Robin Robin” is a musical as well as a short film, weaving songs sweetly and seamlessly throughout its runtime. It’s the easiest to watch of the Oscar-nominated shorts: innocent, heartfelt and the felted stop-motion is beautiful to watch. I think “Robin Robin” is a strong contender for the Oscar because of its voice acting and polished look, but it lacked the emotional depth and funk that other short films had.

“Boxballet”

Not available to stream

Russian-made “Boxballet” is a hand-drawn work, juxtaposing the lives of a ballerina and a boxer. When the two meet and fall in love, their worlds collide and throw their usual rhythms into wack. For 15 minutes, viewers watch the lives of two opposites meet in a uniquely drawn style. While the unique drawing style of Anton Dyakov was fun to watch, this short ultimately didn’t stand out to me. There was nothing inherently special about it, and although the abstract plotline could be deeply interpreted, I didn’t think there was much to “Boxballet” below surface level.

“Affairs of the Art”

Available on stream YouTube

Weird. There’s no other way to describe “Affairs of the Art.” This ranked the lowest of all the shorts on Letterboxd with a whopping 2.7 stars out of five; viewers just didn’t seem to like it. “I know art can be therapy,” user James said about the short film, “but sometimes therapy is the better therapy.” The main character Beryl reminisces on her life in the film and the role art has played in it. Director Joanna Quinn also voices Beverly, Beryl’s obsessive sister. Although “Affairs of the Art” was disturbing and gruesome, I really liked it. I found the animation hypnotic, and it represented the chaos of the story really well. The New Yorker screening room is showing affairs of the art, which means you can watch the 16 minute British short film for free on YouTube.

“Bestia”

Not available to stream

I went into “Bestia” without any historical context and didn’t understand it, but knowing what I know now, I think it’s one of the best films in the bunch. Hugo Covarrubias, a self-taught Chilean filmmaker, tells the story of a particularly cruel secret police agent and her torture tactics under the dictatorship of Agusto Pinochet. Ingrid Olderöck was tasked with psychologically torturing women using dogs during the first years of the military dictatorship in Chile.
Covarrubias tells her story, using porcelain dolls in his stop-motion short that give the work the eerie tone it deserves. The lack of dialogue in “Bestia” also adds to the unsettling tone. “At some point, we considered using a narrator, but we decided not to approach it like a documentary,” Covarrubias said in an interview with Cartoon Brew, “[‘Bestia’ is] a journey to the darkest corners of a human being’s mind.” Expertly filmed and truly moving, “Bestia” is a strong contender for the Oscar. My viewing experience of the short would have been exponentially better if there was a slide of historical context at the beginning or the end, but I understand Covarrubias’s choice not to include it.

“The Windshield Wiper”

Available to stream on YouTube

I have a bone to pick with “The Windshield Wiper.” Alberto Mielgo, who was a visual consultant on “Into the Spiderverse,” released a stunning short called “The Windshield Wiper” in 2021. The short, available on Youtube, details the struggles of dating in the 21st century through vignettes from Mielgos’ personal life. Although the animation is stunning, the whole story felt a little on the nose for me.

There’s a scene where two young people match with each other on a Tinder-like dating app, right next to each other in the grocery store, and don’t notice because they’re too engrossed in their screens. While Mielgo might think he’s peddling a groundbreaking and important message, I think society has progressed past the need for “iPhone bad; the internet is driving us apart; dating apps are bad” media. “The Windshield Wiper” earned a place at the table for its beautiful visuals but pales in comparison to the other shorts nominated in terms of depth and storytelling.

“Robin Robin,” “Affairs of the Art” and “Bestia” are the shorts that stood out to me from the Oscar selections. If the academy knows what they’re doing, “Bestia” will take home the Oscar. Its stunning visuals combined with such a haunting backstory make it the clear front runner. These are the three shorts I would recommend watching out of the bunch; it’s an eclectic conglomeration of media, but each brings a different and unique story to the table.