OIAF Shorts Round 1

The Ottawa International Animation Festival was last week, and it had a typically awesome lineup in place. While I've been fortunate enough to review a lot of the features that played there (including the fest's winner, Death Does Not Exist), I'm still in the process of working through the shorts lineup. So, like with my Hollyshorts coverage, I'll plan to post some installments with brief thoughts on some of the fest's shorts as I watch them.

As someone who was raised on Homestar Runner, I think I am the exact ideal audience member for Keith Pakiz's free-wheeling space adventure, Super Pilut. It's one of those shorts that immediately had me in the palm of its hand (or maybe in the grasp of its alien tentacle). In barely over six minutes, it paints such a full world, creates memorable characters, and tells a hilarious little story, all with utter style.

Super Pilut

Pilut is a space explorer whose dad was kidnapped by aliens twenty years ago. Now, he and his trusty crew explore the universe, and Pilut promptly slaps every alien he sees. It's such a great set-up, and a perfect send-up of the weepy daddy-issue problems that can often serve as motivation for our cinematic heroes. The voice acting (including Pakiz in two roles) has that charming mumblecore vibe that reminds me of the early YouTube/Ebaum's World days. Adjacent to kitchen-sink all-in-ness, but without feeling too broad or anything. This has a strong, specific voice and vibe.

And it's funny as hell! Aside from the smart genre playfulness, there's all kinds of great one-liners, dysfunction within the team, and great visual gags. There's a barf joke, a touch of necrophilia, and a great twist that the end that make you wish our time in this world weren't so brief. This is one of the funniest things I've seen all year, and one that'll stick with me.

(And -- great news -- you can watch it on YouTube.)

Abbey Collings has crafted such a little delight with Get a Grip, and I mean little. Clocking in at a minute and a half, this is such a short and sweet charmer with a great, craft-y style. The characters are wood, and the world they inhabit is very tactile: cardboard, rope, paper. An adorable aesthetic.

Get a Grip

The story is about a puffin who has human hands instead of wings. Which means, of course, he can't fly. Instead, he plummets down onto a fishing boat, where he and the fisherman bond over the thing they have in common: hands. 

Obviously, this doesn't go super deep or anything, but it is so cute and fun. Really enjoyed it.

Kids are often taught not to play with their food, but Huayi Yu's Family Dinner might lead you to reconsider this common rule. Little Yoyo, her older sister Lolo, and their mom are having dinner together, and Yoyo is caught making artwork with her food. This leads to her sharing about her bike ride, which in turn inspires Lolo to talk about her love for tattoos, which then leads to Mom sharing a memory of a rainy car trip from years before.

Family Dinner

It's a lovely little short where the food becomes a gateway to introspection, and more importantly, to connection. This family so easily could've just eaten their food in silence, or accompanied by the typical small-talk that often comes with a routine meal. But instead, they open up to each other, rib each other a bit, and probably leave the meal feeling a little closer, and a little more understood. 

The animation is bubbly and stretchy. Yoyo and Mom both have big-old heads, and the all of the stories unfold, each dominated by a different color, makes each tiny chapter feel unique and tailored to the character who's opening up. The music is in lockstep with the visual style, boop-y and poppy and light. It's a delicious little three-course service. (This one is also available to watch on YouTube!)

The final short I'll cover here is one I just did not really "get": Patrick Doyon's Dizzy Cavalry. In it, we watch film strips of Errol Flynn western They Died With Their Boots On! whiz by, while also jumping all over the screen, accompanied by various genre-appropriate sounds like horses whinnying. It feels more like an formal exercise than anything else, and for that, it holds a little interest, at least. And it's only a minute long, so there's no big loss in giving it a look. It just didn't do much for me, unfortunately.

Dizzy Cavalry