A young girl dreams of becoming an astronaut and landing on the moon. Her father, a cobbler, makes her boots that look like part of an astronaut's space suit, and over the years, silently fixes her footwear as she struggles to make the grade.
With this nominee for the Best Short Animated Film Oscar, I am caught by the obvious disqualification if animation is to mean anything; there is no reason this could not have been a live-action film. Animation has always been a tremendously expensive form of cinema, and even if megaflops are cheaper than manhours, this is quite obviously one that could have been done in a studio.
On the other hand, it appeals to that other nostalgic art, that of pantomime, of silent cinema, in which actions speak louder than words, and so many things need not be said; they must be done. In this department, this is a perfect movie.
With this nominee for the Best Short Animated Film Oscar, I am caught by the obvious disqualification if animation is to mean anything; there is no reason this could not have been a live-action film. Animation has always been a tremendously expensive form of cinema, and even if megaflops are cheaper than manhours, this is quite obviously one that could have been done in a studio.
On the other hand, it appeals to that other nostalgic art, that of pantomime, of silent cinema, in which actions speak louder than words, and so many things need not be said; they must be done. In this department, this is a perfect movie.
