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1932 Animated Short Oscar Analysis

The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film was introduced in 1932 and it was then called Best Short Subject, Cartoon. They awarded films that came out in the second half of 1931 and the first half of 1932. It is unfortunate that it hadn’t been introduced earlier and thus such classics such as ‘The Skeleton Dance’ and ‘Steamboat Willie’ were left empty-handed, but still 1932 is pretty early and certainly a lot sooner than 2001 which is how long we’ve had to wait for the feature equivalent to become established.

It is obvious that Disney’s success with ‘Flowers and Trees’ prompted the whole industry to sit down and take notice and that’s why the Academy chose to create this whole new category. In its first year and most of the decade, there were only three nominees and throughout the entire thirties Silly Symphonies would clearly dominate the category. But other series did get nominated and this year we also got one Merry Melody and one Mickey Mouse entry in the nominations slate. It isn’t the strongest slate, but it could have been much worse.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

3. Mickey’s Orphans

Mickey’s Orphans is definitely a solid film, but far from the best Mickey Mouse entries. Here Mickey and Minnie adopt a bunch of kittens, but they eventually prove to be a nuisance and start wrecking the house. Yes, we’ve had quite a lot of these “babies making chaos” entries in this series and thus this one is pretty uninspired. It is definitely highly charming and its use of Christmas music accompanied its holiday tone remarkably well, but the story is lacking and the gags should have been stronger. That’s why it is easily the weakest nominee this year.

2. It’s Got Me Again!

It is interesting how Warner Bros. got nominated in the very first year when it is a known fact that their films were quite weak throughout the early thirties. That being said, It’s Got Me Again! is one of the best Merry Melodies from this particular period that, although far from great, definitely makes use of its premise stupendously well. A cat attacks a bunch of mice and one mouse begs for his life. That second half with that begging part is pretty funny and so well executed that it led to one pretty memorable early entry in this series and a worthy nominee.

1. Flowers and Trees

And the big winner of the year was also the best nominee. It isn’t the best cartoon of 1932 as its story is pretty standard and too archetypal, but there is no denying the power of this early Silly Symphony and particularly its groundbreaking use of color. The color animation here is gorgeous and already quite advanced with terrific character design in particular. The short is well made and very well scored. Although it leaves a lot to be desired in the storytelling department, the sheer power of its technical aspects led to one very admirable film.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

The Barnyard Olympics – This Mickey Mouse entry is incredibly entertaining with a bunch of memorable and superbly executed action sequences. The Barnyard Olympics revolves around the Olympics and its various games are great with the highlight being cycling. Mickey is excellent here as is Pete who is delightfully villainous. Such a hugely entertaining cartoon.

Just Dogs – Just Dogs is such a terrific early Silly Symphony that is perfect for dog lovers such as myself. Pluto attracts a bunch of dogs who are on his tail after the bone and they give him fleas. The fleas are memorable and funny, all of the dogs are so well animated and diverse in breed and the overall movie is a lot of fun and highly endearing.

Egyptian Melodies – A spider wanders into an Egyptian tomb and encounters some creepy imagery. This is the Silly Symphony that should have been nominated over ‘Flowers and Trees’ as it is easily the better and even more important one. This film achieves the thriller tone in the end so well, but its 3D effect and stunning animation techniques made this one entry look remarkably modern even today.