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1934 Animated Short Oscar Analysis

1934 is the third year for the category of Best Animated Short Film at the Academy and it is probably the weakest slate so far. Yes, one movie is excellent, one is pretty good but one is also pretty weak. But it is the most diverse slate so far with only one nominee coming from Disney. The other two are from Walter Lantz and Screen Gems, Color Rhapsodies to be exact. But even though I admire that diversity, they could have gone with much better films which I am going to illustrate later down the line. And this is finally when they introduced the full year calendar rule.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

3. Jolly Little Elves

Jolly Little Elves definitely has some strengths such as the animation and score which are both admittedly pretty good. But that’s about it, the rest is pretty uninspired. The story is non-existent even or at least quite weak and the characters are forgettable or even annoying. The whole middle section is very dull honestly, but the beginning and ending aren’t too great either. It’s just a pretty bland and uninspired flick and in my opinion the first mediocre nominee in this particular category.

2. Holiday Land

Now Holiday Land is another story. This Screen Gems short comes from the Color Rhapsodies series and they manage to rival Silly Symphonies with this pretty accomplished entry. Yes, the voice acting is not great and the film is too slow to be enjoyed more, but the animation is terrific with good backgrounds and character design and the holiday soundtrack is wonderful. It is a very sweet, endearing entry above anything else, but I personally would pick ‘Funny Little Bunnies’ as the better holiday entry from 1934. At least I prefer it more.

1. The Tortoise and the Hare

And the Academy once again chose to honor the best nominee from this slate and even though The Tortoise and the Hare actually came out in 1935 and not 1934, I am still happy that it won and it’s very much deserved as it’s one of the very best Silly Symphonies which says a lot. It teaches children about the values of hard work and the dangers of arrogance while consistently being superbly edited, so well voice acted and gorgeously animated with a great color palette to it. A classic by all means.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

The Wise Little Hen – There are a bunch of truly terrific shorts released throughout this year, so I chose five films in this section instead of just three and it just goes to show how the Academy screwed this year up. With a fantastic message and a great early use of Donald Duck, The Wise Little Hen is a great Silly Symphony which is also gorgeously animated and so well scored.

The Grasshopper and the Ants – The attention to detail and a great style led to one of the better animations from the Silly Symphonies in The Grasshopper and the Ants, a film which was shamefully snubbed by the Academy. It features a great lesson about hard work once again and although the ending is too happy, everything else here is truly amazing.

The Flying Mouse – Along with some cool backgrounds and terrific character designs, The Flying Mouse is consistently entertaining despite its long runtime too. But the reason why it’s a great film lies in its message – respect who you are and realize that you can’t fight your nature. Such an important message and yet another great Silly Symphony in a terrific year for them.

Axe Me Another – This Popeye the Sailor entry focuses on action more than on humor which is somewhat problematic, but because the action is so phenomenally executed and in an innovative manner even, I didn’t mind. The sequence where Popeye chops trees is particularly inventive. It’s just such an incredibly entertaining flick.

Honeymoon Hotel – This Merry Melody is by far the best one from the early thirties. The premise where the two bugs enter a “love hotel” but can’t get privacy is not only very original, but it also provides us with a bunch of very funny moments with the ending being particularly memorable. The animation here is also superb.