Oktapodi

Like last year, I went to a special showing of the Oscar-nominated animated short films. However, unlike last year, in addition to the nominees, several "commended films" were also shown. In this review I'll make my predictions, though if it's anything like last year's choices, I'll probably once again pick the wrong shorts as my favorite for the award.

OKTAPODI is a cute computer generated film about two octopi who are in love. However, when the lady octopus is taken for someone's dinner, the male responds in super-hero fashion to rescue her. So, he goes bouncing about the streets of what appears to be Greece--chasing the delivery truck that has his mate.

Oddly, while this film is lovely to look at and sweet, it also is only about three minutes long--making it incredibly short to receive the Oscar nomination. Because of this, the great similarity of the work to a typical Pixar or Dreamworks film and the slightness of the plot, this film seems very, very unlikely to win the award. I enjoyed the film but by the time I was starting to really get into the film it was over!! I would really love to see what this French studio could do given a longer format, as they are very talented and clever.

UPDATE: LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES was the winner this year. Not surprisingly, I got this one wrong but at least saw the film as a strong contender.

The French animated short "Oktapodi" tells the story of a pair of octopuses (octopi?) who refuse to get separated. It doesn't have the most sophisticated plot or animation, but I liked it. Like many cartoons, it shows that a story doesn't need words. The setting looks like a Greek village. Some of the octopus's stunts look like what we see in action flicks.

"Oktapodi" has several credited directors, including Emud Mokhberi, who spent part of his childhood in Iran and France, but is now a US citizen. It got nominated for Best Animated Short Film at he 81st Academy Awards but didn't win. It's not a great cartoon, but I think that it's worth seeing.

So this was an oscar nominee. But it's very unlike other oscar nominated shorts I know about. It is not a serious film. It's just that it is enjoyable.

I like it because it's really well made. The stunts were more realistic than full length action films. But the scenes of octopodes jumping from one pool to another, a bit too over the top.

Best thing about it is it's length. It's very short(only two minutes long). There is not a single second of time waste. Anyway, it's a good film but I doubt if I am going to remember it for a long time.

Something I notice about the comments is that people do not seam to know that Gobelins is an Art School, so for a student film to be nominated for an Oscar, and for winning the Sigraph 08 audience and best of show award, is a great achievement. And I would have loved to have seen for them to have won the award, just to see what it would bring to them in the, animated, future.

I loved the short, the animation was original, the comic strength of the octopuses was great and the overall look, tinging and feel of the move was inspiring for an animation student as myself. The best to you all.

Make it grand.

According to "L'Agence Du Court Métrage"-a professional organization which looks after everything related to short films in France, animated shorts have an average duration of 10 minutes. If one were to judge 'Oktapodi' from that yardstick, one would be able to conclude that for an animation film,2 minutes and 25 seconds is not at all an ideal run time as not much can be conveyed in such a short duration. This aspect has been taken as a challenge by a team of animation directors at 'Les Gobelins' which has made an impressive animation film about the efforts made by two Octopi to prevent their separation at the hands of a human being and a bird.They are so determined in their quest to live together that they use all means at their disposal to fight against their rivals. The result is revealed to viewers in the form of Oktapodi-a very short animation film which does not waste any time to convey its message. It does that by coming straight to the point. The action is really fast in 'Oktapodi' and it is aided by good animation.It is rather curious to know that this film does not limit itself to children-a major audience segment for animation films. Anybody who is interested in good cinema with a penchant for a good story can watch and enjoy it.