Best Animated Short Oscar 2012 Prediction: Paperman

I've watched all five animated shorts nominated for Oscar this year.  Have you?  You can scavenge for them on the internet.  I also highlighted each respective title with a link that will take you to each one to save you the trouble.  Of course, it would be better if we paid to see these in the theater, so I feel kind of guilty doing this.  If you don't want to bother yourself, you can read on to my thoughts.  But, it would only take about a half hour or so of your time.  They are all different in enough ways and interesting to watch.  I have to say, though, with the exception of Maggie Simpson and Fresh Guacamole, the more ambitious stories are all very male-focused.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Just an observation.


Adam and Dog
Won the Annie.
[IMDb: 7.1; 511 users; 5 reviews averaging 8.6]
Minkyu Lee's wild-life short bursts of painterly water color with a quasi-Asian influence and concerns the friendship between a nude man in the wild and a young pup.  Apparently, on further reading, it's also an origins story set in the Garden of Eden.  Probably the one that you have to do the most work on.  I'm pretty sure the nudity will be too much for the weary AMPAS.  Lee worked on Wreck-It Ralph.

Fresh Guacamole
No previous awards.
Five GD predicting (Geler, Horgan, Lodge, Simanton, Thompson)
[IMDb: 7.2; 737 users; 5 reviews averaging 7.0]
Abstract claymated lesson directed by PES about making the delicious snack with board game references as ingredients.  PES has been honored by festivals before for his Western Spaghetti and Roof Sex.  Have you seen Roof Sex?  YOU MUST WATCH ROOF SEX!  It's brilliant and only takes but a minute.  Guacamole is also much shorter than the other four, and, though clever, may lack a scope Oscar may want to honor.  Who knows.

Head Over Heels 
Nominated for multiple awards, including the Annie, winning some festivals.
Three GD predicting (Hammond, Kahn, Pond)
[IMDb: 7.2; 460 users; 2 reviews averaging 7.5]
Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reillys' super-sweet claymated commentary on the evolution of relationships about a couple living in a house flying through the air, then landing upside down.  Style of storytelling reminiscent of Up.  Perhaps it will get the Amour vote?  Though, I do wonder ... LOL ... if the female protagonist is a magic pixie dream lady.  Sorry, have that term on my brain lately.  Did I say that it was really sweet?

Paperman [sorry the link takes you to Perez Hilton]
Won the Annie.
Twelve Gold Derby pundits predicting (All the rest)
[IMDb: 8.2; 4,660 users; 15 reviews averaging 8.8]
John Kahrs black and white Disney short about a guy with a big nose in the big city who flirts with an attractive, slim woman by constructing paper airplanes.  Well-edited, whimsical, and sweet, it's a bit of an homage to The Red Balloon with some kismet thrown in.  This is the clear favorite on IMDb and Gold Derby.  It's simple, clean, and swiftly executed.  It's also safe.  Perhaps it will get the Silver Linings Playbook vote?   Kahrs has a history with Pixar.

The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare
Nominated for the Annie.
[IMDb: 7.2; 998 users; 5 reviewing averaging 7.6]
Maggie Simpson, who is just as precocious as her sister Lisa, stars in David Silverman's short of one of the world's most famous animated families as a tot in a daycare designed for the gifted.  She finds her calling as a butterfly whisperer, while up against an angst-ridden nemesis her own age with cold, detached artistic sensibilities.  The short introduces possible new cartoons for the long-running series (if they didn't exist already).  Silverman has an extensive history with the franchise.