……………………………………………………….

1939 Animated Short Oscar Analysis

1939 was a pretty good year when it comes to the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film category at the Oscars. For some reason, four instead of three or five films were nominated. But thankfully two and not more of those were Disney films with one being a Silly Symphony and the other one being a Mickey Mouse entry. The other two shorts come from MGM and Warner Bros. Most of these shorts are actually very good and although rarely great, I was still mostly satisfied with their choices.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

4. Detouring America

Detouring America is a Merry Melody which focuses on basically marketing the United States to tourists. It is one of those travelogue entries which back then must have been awesome, but are now quite dated and simply not as interesting. The human fly climbing the Empire State Building is the comedic highlight here for sure and both the narration and the animation are pretty good, but the movie is otherwise pretty flat. Some scenes work, but most honestly do not and the movie is simply too forgettable and easily the worst nominee this year.

3. The Pointer

This Mickey Mouse short is actually terrific, even if still not entirely deserving of its Oscar nomination. Yes, the first half is slow and I definitely found the bear to have been underutilized, but the film is still quite charming and phenomenally animated with gorgeous backgrounds and a fantastic looking forest. The highlight is still the relationship between Pluto and Mickey, a couple of sweet moments here and there and a strong emphasis on Mickey who is so well characterized here and phenomenally acted by Walt.

2. Peace on Earth

In a post-apocalyptic world, humans have gone extinct and the animals entirely populate the planet. They have adopted human laws, but go by them strongly and thus a peaceful era came. The film needed more details and it’s actually pretty badly paced, but other than that, this is one of the rare serious and sophisticated animated shorts from the thirties which sets it apart from the competition superbly. The dignified approach and tone are great along with the terrific animation and score.

1. The Ugly Duckling

Although not as dark as its original source material, The Ugly Duckling is still one of the best and most emotional Silly Symphonies and that says a lot. The animation is simply gorgeous, the score is very good and the film is not only technically polished, but also rather funny at times and of course being highly moving thanks in no small part to a terrific, so lovable central character. As far as Disney and Silly Symphonies go, this is one of their shining examples and a deserved Oscar winner in my book.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

The Practical Pig – This is easily Disney’s finest sequel from the thirties. It’s a fantastic ‘Three Little Pigs’ successor which is actually incredibly funny and again the wolf is fantastic. The message about the dangers of lying is well executed and the contraption itself steals the show as such a well constructed machine.

Ghosks Is the Bunk – Easily the best Popeye the Sailor entry from this period, Ghosks Is the Bunk is rather authentic as the rare entry where Bluto doesn’t fight, but rather mocks Popeye and Olive. Those scenes are highly comedic and so well executed and it’s a great example of how smart this villain can be.

Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp – Although definitely rushed, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp is still a gorgeously animated, well scored and polished Popeye short with a good villain, a great adventurous tone to it, solid storytelling and particularly strong humor with Popeye’s Technicolor line being incredibly funny and mature.

The Little Lion Hunter – The Little Lion Hunter is the first Merry Melody to introduce us to glorious Inki and Mynah bird. The short is expectedly slow, but highly effective in creating its mysterious atmosphere and an otherworldly feel to it. The bird is so intriguing and funny and the boy is quite endearing.

Pied Piper Porky – The mix of Tom Jerry and the Looney Tunes’ crazy antics worked in this short’s favor, even if the misuse of Porky himself bothered me which is usual from this period. But the cat and mouse are quite funny, the movie is pretty dark and times and the plot is rather original.