48 Of The Best Short Animated Films (Oscar winners included)

In a world where animation unlocks the door to infinite possibilities, short animated films stand as the jewels of storytelling art.

Imagine immersing yourself in the mesmerizing craft of Pixar Animation Studios or discovering hidden gems at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

These short wonders, whether rendered in 2D animation or cutting-edge CGI, captivate audiences globally.

This article delves into short animated films examples that have set the bar high, winning hearts and awards like the Academy Awards.

Through diverse techniques-from stop-motion animation to the magic of storyboarding-these films offer rich narratives packed into compact durations.

By the end of this exploration, you’ll uncover Oscar-winning short films, popular animation shorts, and more, enhancing your appreciation for this dynamic medium.

So, get ready to traverse the vibrant world of short animated films that revolutionize the way we perceive art and storytelling.

Academy Award Winners for Best Animated Short Film (2017-2000)

Dear Basketball (2017)
Piper (2016)
Bear Story (2015)
Feast (2014)
Mr Hublot (2013)
Paperman (2012)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)
The Lost Thing (2010)
Logorama (2009)
La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008)
Peter and the Wolf (2007)
The Danish Poet (2006)
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation (2005)
Ryan (2004)
Harvie Krumpet (2003)
The ChubbChubbs! (2002)
For the Birds (2001)
Father and Daughter (2000)

Now let’s look at them in detail.

Dear Basketball (2017)

Dear Basketball is a 2017 American animated short film written and narrated by Kobe Bryant and directed and animated by Glen Keane, with music by John Williams.

Piper (2016)

Piper is a 2016 computer-animated short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Written and directed by Alan Barillaro, it was theatrically released alongside Pixar’s Finding Dory on June 17, 2016.

It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 89th Academy Awards, becoming the first Pixar animated short to win the award since For the Birds in 2002.

Feast (2014)

Feast is a 2014 American 3D computer-cel animated romantic comedy short film directed by Patrick Osborne, and produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It made its world premiere on June 10, 2014, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and debuted in theaters with Big Hero 6 on November 7, 2014.

Paperman (2012)

Paperman is a 2012 American black-and-white computer-cel animated romantic comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by John Kahrs.

The short blends traditional animation and computer animation, and won both the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards and the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject at the 40th Annie Awards.

Paperman was the first animated short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios to win an Academy Award since It’s Tough to Be a Bird in 1970.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a 2011 animated short film directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, and produced by Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Described as an “allegory about the curative powers of story,” the film centers on bibliophile Lessmore and his custodianship of a magical library of flying books. It was created using computer animation, miniatures and traditional hand-drawn techniques.

The Lost Thing (2010)

The Lost Thing is a picture book written and illustrated by Shaun Tan that was also adapted into an Academy Award-winning animated short film.

La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008)

The House of Small Cubes is a 2008 Japanese animated short subject film created by Kunio Katō, with music by Kenji Kondo and produced by Robot Communications.

It won several prizes, including The Annecy Cristal at the 32nd Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 81st Academy Awards. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2008.

The Danish Poet (2006)

The Danish Poet (Norwegian: Den danske dikteren) is a 2006 animated short film written, directed, and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann.

A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Mikrofilm AS of Norway, it has won both the Academy Award and Genie Award for best animated short film.

Ryan (2004)

Ryan is a 2004 animated documentary created and directed by Chris Landreth about Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who had lived on skid row in Montreal as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. Landreth’s chance meeting with Larkin in 2000 inspired him to develop the film, which took 18 months to complete.

The ChubbChubbs! (2002)

The ChubbChubbs! is a 2002 American computer-animated comedy short film by Sony Pictures Imageworks. It was directed by Eric Armstrong, produced by Jacquie Barnbrook, and written by Jeff Wolverton.

The ChubbChubbs! won an Oscar for a Best Animated Short in 2002.

Father and Daughter (2000)

Father and Daughter is a 2000 Dutch animated short film, made by Michaël Dudok de Wit. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

A look at some of the best short animated films

Sam | The Short Animated Movie

In one of the best-animated shorts you’ll see, Sam, a shy young man, finds himself in a slow-motion world. Trying to restore time, he fails. The circumstances bring him to rescue his co-workers, and Nathalie, the girl he secretly loves.

Directed by Payetaprod Studio, a French team composed of Mickael Bonfill, Romain Protect, and Emmanuel Aurengo.

“Spellbound Short Film” by Ying Wu & Lizzia Xu

“Spell Bound” is a short animation about a lonely girl, Rene, who is jealous of her perfect sister Sunny but must save her after writing negative thoughts in her diary that unexpectedly transform into monsters.

CGI Animated Short Film “Wakan Short Film” by ISART DIGITAL

This animated short film begins at dusk. When the sun sets on a small native American village in the middle of a forest, two children, Aiyanna and her brother, Tawa, are playing hide and seek.

From the edge of the village, the young girl is lured away by a furtive blue light into the mystical forest. To save his sister, Tawa must venture deep into the heart of the spirit world.

“A Fox And A Mouse” – by ESMA

Watch this beautiful and touching award-winning 3D short animated film called “A Fox And A Mouse” as a lonesome fox hunts a mouse – and their relationship evolves as two owls begin to interfere with the hunt!

“Dustin” – by The Dustin Team

Enjoy this cute award winning CGI 3D Animated short film – “Dustin” is an animated comedy about a pug who, much to his chagrin, has to arrange with an automatic cleaning robot as his new roommate. Created by the talented hands and minds of Michael Fritzsche, Kristina Jaeger, Andreas Tetz & Nadine Utz Produced in Germany in 2014! One of the best short animated films available.

“Take Me Home” – by Nair Archawattana

Watch one of the most moving short animations about hope. In a cold, dark dog shelter, a young beagle is waiting for the right one to take him home. Time passes by, the beagle is getting desperate.

Until one day, when hope finally shines upon him. He has to do everything he can to leave the place! For more information, please see the details and links below.

“Take Me Home” is an animated short film created and directed by Nair Archawattana, with a collaboration of talented students at Academy of Arts University.

Dust Buddies Short Film” by Beth Tomashek & Sam Wade

CGI Animated Dust Buddies Short Film by Beth Tomashek & Sam Wade from Ringling college of art and design.

Dust Buddies is a story about the friendship between two dust bunnies, Fuzz and Lint, who live peacefully under a couch. When an evil maid comes to clean the house and sucks Fuzz into her vacuum, Lint must overcome his fears and set out to rescue his friend. An excellent animation short about courage.

“The Controller Short Film” by Bob Yong, Kang Yung Ho, Ian Ie

CGI Animated The Controller Short Film by Bob Yong, Kang Yung Ho, Ian Ie from Ringling college of art and design.

Roles are reversed when a controlling mom is trapped in her son’s video game. Helpless, she now has to listen to him if she hopes to escape the unfamiliar game world. A great short movie for kids.

“Last Shot Short Film” by Aemilia Widodo

CGI 3d Animated Last Shot Animated Short Film by Aemilia Widodo from Ringling College of Art and Design.

In this short animated film, a girl just discovering the joys of photography ends up breaking her camera by accident.

Presto

Presto is one 2008 American Pixar computer-animated short stories shown in theaters before their main feature-length film. This one was shown before WALL-E.

The short is about a magician trying to perform a show with his uncooperative rabbit and is a gag-filled homage to classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes. Presto was directed by veteran Pixar animator Doug Sweetland, in his directorial debut.

Oktapodi

Oktapodi is a 2007 French animated short film that won a short film, Oscar. It was created as a Graduate Student Project from Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image.

The short is about a pair of love-struck octopuses who through a series of comical events are separated and find each other. Oktapodi was directed by Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, and Emud Mokhberi. Music was composed by Kenny Wood.

Oktapodi was well received, winning a number of awards, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Short Film (Animated) for the 81st Academy Awards.

Invasions

They may steal our cows and take over our cats, but Clement Morin’s animated short film animation, Invasions, shows that alien dudes do things for the exact same reason that human dudes do.

The lady and the reaper

The Lady and the Reaper is a 3D imaging animated short film created by Javier Recio Gracia and produced by Kandor Graphics. It was one of the short animation movies nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and won the Goya Award for Best Animated Short of 2009.

Replay

In a destroyed world, the only glimpse of hope is the memory of a forgotten past. But be careful not to let your dreams control your mind. This is Replay an amazing animated short animated video.

The setting is an apocalyptic world caused by who knows what where two siblings are surviving in some underground cabin. Outside, there is doom and destruction everywhere – they even have to wear oxygen masks while going out because of the polluted air!

One day, the older of the two siblings, Lana finds something that’s going to change their lives forever! And now I shall shut up about the story – you will have to watch it yourselves :).

French Roast

French Roast is a short animation video created by Fabrice O. Joubert. It is Joubert’s first short film.

In a fancy Parisian Café c. 1960, an uptight businessman discovers he forgot to bring his wallet and bides his time by ordering more coffee. He constantly turns away a homeless man who asks him for money, but in the end, due to a curious turn of events, it is the homeless man who is unselfish enough to pay the businessman’s bill thus saving him from embarrassment.

Cathedral

The Cathedral is the title of an award-winning animation by Jacek Dukaj, winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award in 2000; and of a 2002 short animated movie by Tomasz Bagiński, based on the story.

The film was nominated in 2002 for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the 75th Academy Awards. The movie won the title of Best Animated Short at Siggraph 2002 in San Antonio as well as several other awards.

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty

In this animation, old lady Granny Grim is a storyteller of note. Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty is a six-minute-long CG/flash animated socially satirical black comedy short film, directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Darragh O’Connell of Brown Bag Films in 2008.

It was written by Kathleen O’Rourke. The plot centers on Granny O’Grimm, a seemingly sweet old lady, who loses the plotline as she tells her own version of Sleeping Beauty to her terrified granddaughter.

This Way Up

Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble.

This Oscar Nominated short is directed by Smith & Foulkes and written by Foulkes, Smith, and Christopher O’Reilly, and produced at Nexus by Charlotte Bavasso and Christopher O’Reilly, the film follows two dour unfortunates as they battle a series of misadventures while trying to deliver a coffin to the graveyard.

The animated caper is a series of emotional and literal pitfalls for the pall-bearing team, as their journey and relationship unravel on an epic scale culminating in the pair joining the old lady in a trip through the underworld.

‘This Way Up’, was nominated for an Oscar® for best animated short at the 81st annual Academy Awards.

Before its Oscar win, “This Way Up” won numerous awards at film festivals around the world, including an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival, the Public Prize for Best Short Film at the 2008 Ottawa Animation Festival, the Audience Award for Animated Short at both the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the Mundos Digitales in Spain.

This is proof that is one of the amazing Oscar animated short films of our time.

Even Pigeons Go To Heaven

Even Pigeons Go To Heaven is a short animation movie directed by Samuel Tourneux and released in 2007. It was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for the best animated short film.

Madame Tutli-Putli

Madame Tutli-Putli is a 2007 Academy Award nominated stop motion-animated short film by Montreal filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). It is available on the Cinema16: World Short Films DVD as well as from the NFB. An excellent academy awards animated short film to add to your collection.

Artificial Paradise, Inc

Artificial Paradise, Inc is an experimental animated short story anticipating a future where a major corporation has developed a unique software, based on organic virtual reality, which holds all the lost memories of humankind. A user connects to this database of the forgotten…what is he searching for?

The Monk & The Monkey

In this animation short story, a determined young boy, Ragu, is sent by his master on his final quest to become a monk. A seemingly simple task becomes an unexpected challenge for Ragu as he discovers the real value of his quest.

Created by Brendan Carroll & Francesco Giroldini
Music by Erez Koskas

Something Left, Something Taken

This short story animation is a dark comedy about a vacationing couple’s encounter with a man they believe to be the Zodiac Killer. Based on a true story. Techniques and tools: After Effects, Stop-Motion, Pixilation, Drawn on Paper, Flash, Live Action puppets

Direction/Animation/Design/Writing: Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata
Sound Design/Mix: Greg Sextro (East West Audio)
Voice recording: Erin Kilkenny

The Raven

This partly animated movie is an exception for this article. I’ve included it because it has some damn good effects.

Chris Black possesses a power that could lead to the destruction of the current regime, and they will stop at nothing to destroy him.

The chase is on as Chris runs for his life in this sci-fi thriller set in an alternate and futuristic Los Angeles.

Director: Ricardo de Montreuil
Producers: Ricardo de Montreuil & Eliz Eskeranli
Writers: Ricardo de Montreuil & Antonio Perez
Cinematographer: Andres Sanchez
Music by: Angelo Milli
Special Effects Supervisor: Aaron Burns
3D Modeling and Animation: Juan Somarriba and Francisco Concha
Visual Effects and Compositing: Ricardo de Montreuil
Editing: Ricardo de Montreuil
Color Correction: Santiago Padilla
Sound Design and Mixing: Martin Seltzer
Budget: $5k
Format: RED 1920×1080
Special thanks: Filmosonido, CO3, and Converse

Descendants

Heiko van der Scherm – Writer, Director, Design, Modeling
Bernhard Haux – Character TD Flower main actors
Goro Fujita – Supervising Animator
Felix Graf – Animator
Holger Schönberger – Pipeline, Shading, Lighting, Compositing

FAQ On Short Animated Films Examples

What makes a short animated film stand out?

An engaging short animated film captures imagination with a tight script, innovative animation techniques, and compelling characters.

Mastery in storyboarding and creative direction can transform even a brief narrative into an unforgettable experience, often showcased at events like the Sundance Film Festival or the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Where can I watch award-winning short animated films?

YouTube and Vimeo house a treasure trove of Oscar-winning short films and festival favorites from the Academy Awards to Sundance Film Festival.

For curated collections, don’t miss the Disney Short Films Collection and Pixar Animation Studios‘ shorts, which highlight both popular animation shorts and hidden gems.

How do short animated films get made?

Creating these dynamic films involves storyboarding, animation cinematography, a talented animator, and often a voice actor to bring characters to life.

From concept to final cut, the process can take months to years, especially for intricate techniques like stop-motion animation or CGI animation.

Are there any famous independent short animated films?

Absolutely. Indie studios and independent animators have produced gems like “The Present” and “Borrowed Time”.

These indie animations are often celebrated in film festivals and highlight the creative freedom and personal touch unique to independent filmmaking, using techniques ranging from 2D animation to Claymation.

How do I know if a short animated film is of high quality?

High-quality short animated films resonate through strong storytelling, artistic integrity, and technical mastery like CGI or traditional animation.

Awards from reputable organizations like the Academy Awards or screenings at prestigious events such as the Annecy International Animation Film Festival are good indicators.

What are some classic short animated films?

Classics include Pixar Animation Studios’ “Luxo Jr.”, Disney’s “The Old Mill”, and the pioneering “Gertie the Dinosaur”.

These films have set benchmarks in traditional animation and influenced generations of animators, becoming mainstays in the animation history.

Can students create impactful short animated films?

Definitely. Many innovative student animation projects gain recognition at events like Sundance Film Festival.

Schools use extensive animation development processes from scriptwriting to film editing, often resulting in impressive works that rival professional productions.

Why are short animated films important in the animation industry?

Short animated films serve as a proving ground for new animation techniques, styles, and storytelling methods.

They are often the birthplace of innovation in animation development and allow animators to experiment without the constraints of feature-length productions.

What are some recent trends in short animated films?

Recent trends show a rise in CGI animation and indie animation, with platforms like YouTube and Vimeo showcasing more diverse and experimentally-driven content.

Short films now often combine traditional 2D animation techniques with modern film editing and sound design.

How do animation film festivals impact short animated films?

Film festivals like Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Tribeca offer invaluable exposure and validation.

Films chosen for these elite showcases gain industry recognition and often find broader audiences, making these festivals a crucial platform for both emerging and established filmmakers.

Conclusion

In wrapping up our exploration of short animated films examples, it’s clear that these artistic feats go beyond mere visuals-they tell powerful stories that resonate. From the awe-inspiring works of Pixar Animation Studios to the innovative expressions showcased at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, these films speak to the versatility and creativity within animation.

Whether through stop-motion animation or traditional 2D techniques, each short offers a unique window into the art form. They’ve garnered accolades at global venues like the Academy Awards and enriched platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. It’s about more than just entertainment; it’s about the craft involving talented animators, intricate storyboarding, and masterful voice work.

Animated short films not only push the boundaries of what’s possible but also set the stage for future innovations in CGI animation, film editing, and sound design. The journey through these films underscores the impact of indie animation, traditional storytelling, and the relentless quest for creative expression.

If you liked this article with the best animated short films, you should check out these as well:

Amazing Adobe After Effects Tutorials You Need To Watch
Academy Awards Short Film Nominees
The short films that the Academy awarded over time with an Oscar
The Best Animated Movies For Adults

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