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2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Whale 52’ Director Daniel Neiden (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)
Renowned animator Bill Plympton brings his signature hand-drawn style to ‘Whale 52,’ elevating this tender, magically real tale of connection.
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2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Pow!’ Director Joey Clift
‘Pow!’ blends three animation styles: 16-bit pixel art, hand-drawn 2D digital watercolor, and a unique sequence inspired by Plains ledger art.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Black Man, Black Man’ Director Frank Abney
Pixar, DreamWorks, Sony vet Frank Abney’s ‘Black Man, Black Man’ transforms a personal poem into a powerful visual meditation on identity and healing.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘The Girl Who Cried Pearls’ Directors Chris Lavis And Maciek Szczerbowski
The hauntingly beautiful stop-motion short follows a poor boy who discovers a mysterious girl whose tears transform into luminous pearls.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘On Weary Wings Go By’ Director Anu-Laura Tuttelberg
DOK Leipzig winner ‘On Weary Wings Go By’ is a 16mm stop-motion poem about the Nordic winter, where porcelain beings wander through fading light.
The Animation Showcase Launches Best Of 2025 Animated Shorts Program For Awards Season
The Animation Showcase spotlights 2025’s top award-contending animated shorts, now streaming for free for industry professionals worldwide.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘The Night Boots’ Director Pierre-Luc Granjon
Annecy Cristal winner ‘The Night Boots’ features expressive monochromatic pinscreen animation that makes it one of the year’s most unforgettable shorts.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Wednesdays With Gramps’ Directors Chris And Justin Copeland (EXCLUSIVE TRAILER)
‘Wednesdays with Gramps,’ is a vibrant DreamWorks short that celebrates gaming, family bonds, and finding connection across generations.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Trash’s’ Team Of ESMA Student Filmmakers
ESMA’s sharp CG short ‘Trash’ follows a rat and pigeon through a decaying city, blending dystopian tension with striking artistry and sometimes hopeful beauty.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Autokar’ Director Sylwia Szkiłądź
Szkiłądź’s ‘Autokar’ turns a child’s unaccompanied 1990s migration by bus from Poland to Belgium into a magical-realist journey of self-discovery.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Versa’ Director Malcon Pierce
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ artistic director Malcon Pierce channels personal tragedy into a touching, dialogue-free story of loss and recovery.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘As If Swallowed By Earth’ Director Natalia León
This haunting 2D short sees its protagonist return to her childhood home in Mexico, where she unearths buried memories and the lingering ghosts of violence and loss.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Hurikán’ Director Jan Saska
This darkly comic black-and-white short is set in Prague, where a reckless romantic races through chaos to win his crush’s heart.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Cardboard’ Director J.P. Vine
Vine’s ‘Cardboard,’ produced by Locksmith Animation, follows a single dad and his piglet kids who turn hardship into adventure using pure imagination.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Transferable’ Directors Jacob Gardner And David Hubert
The dialogue-free short, produced by Agora Studio, explores love, sacrifice, and identity in a hauntingly familiar dystopian world.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Two Ships’ Director McKinley Benson
‘Two Ships’ is a hand-drawn short that explores distance and connection as experienced by a couple occupying the same space, but with opposing schedules.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘No Vacancy’ Director Miguel Rodrick
Miguel Rodrick’s neon-drenched short ‘No Vacancy’ delves into a man’s unraveling mind in a decaying motel and earns 2026 Oscar qualification.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Ovary-Acting’ Director Ida Melum
Ida Melum’s stop-motion short ‘Ovary-Acting’ blends humor and heart as a woman literally confronts her uterus while debating motherhood.
2026 Oscars Short Film Contenders: ‘Éiru’ Director Giovanna Ferrari, Producer Nora Twomey
Cartoon Saloon’s ‘Éiru’ is a visually lush Celtic myth about courage, nature, and divine balance, brought to life with a breathtaking color palette.
Can Anything Stop ‘KPop Demon Hunters’? And Other Burning 2026 Oscars Questions
From anime upstarts to international indies and the absence of stop-motion, the 2026 Animated Feature race looks anything but predictable.
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