2026 Oscar Picks Deep Dive: Animated Short Film
A delightful deck of 5 films under 40 minutes each!
I watched all 15 short films nominated for an Academy Award this year. In 2025, I watched them all back to back at the amazing Row House Cinemas in Pittsburgh, PA, and enjoyed the Live Action Short Film nominees with James Patrick of the Cinema Shame podcast. This year, I caught the Live Action Short Films and the Documentary Short Films solo and the Animated Short Films with our kids, splitting up viewings on three days at two local theaters, the lovely Mann Edina 4 and The Main Cinema in Minneapolis.
I’ll cross-post with deep dives on all three. But right now, let’s get to the Live Action Short Film nominees in my ranked order, fifth to first:
And the Best Live Action Short Film nominees are…
The Girl Who Cried Pearls | Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, 17 min. Country, Canada
This is a tough watch. The subject matter involves intense danger for children in poverty. Not only is that theme clear through the story, it’s also through the animation style, where the children appear green and sickly. The ending was a little abrupt and confusing, which isn’t a bad thing but it was enough to put this at the bottom of the list for me. The kids thought it was okay.
How to Watch: YouTube.
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The Three Sisters | Konstantin Bronzit, 14 min. Spain, No Dialogue
The screening began with this bittersweet comedy. Fun animation, good story beats. It’s not just animation that does it, but animation does dialogue-free stories so well. I enjoyed watching these three sisters grow as people and siblings, even in moments of rivalry. Worth watching, if you can find it out there.
How to Watch: Nowhere I see, as of this writing.
Butterfly | Florence Miailhe, 15 min. France, French
This is the one our oldest daughter thinks will win. The animation is gorgeous and the story is compelling. The Olympics frames this story of overcoming racism through perseverance and teammates. A character looks back on his life and considers where his next steps (next swim strokes) will take him. Bonus: based on a true story.
How to Watch: YouTube.
Forevergreen | Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears, 13 min. USA, No Dialogue
This was another favorite for our kids. As a parent, I appreciated the themes of adoption, growing up, outgrowing your caregivers, sacrificing for your children, and the circle of life. Animation is superb, looking both like it’s from the computer as much as it looks like it’s from the model table. I think this could be expanded into a full-length feature film and I’d have a lot of fun seeing that.
How to Watch: YouTube.
Retirement Plan | John Kelly, 7 min. Ireland, English
“Are you crying?!” my youngest asked me. Yes. Yes, I am. This one made me laugh, cry, recognize my past, feel my present, and wonder about my future. The animation is simple and works for this story, too. As someone whom is quite certain I’m past my half life, this great reflection on what one is “going to do” in retirement gives me great pause. This is brief, so I won’t spoil it, just enjoy it for free on YouTube.
How to Watch: YouTube.
Will Win: Forevergreen
I think the push-pull of parenting, adoption, growing up, responsibility, etc. all add up to something special. While my kids said Butterfly will win, it’s Forevergreen that they’ve spoken about the most. And if it wins, I’m good with that. Like I said, turn it into a movie already!
Should Win: Retirement Plan
I think the expert mixing of comedy and tragedy will grip the Academy voters and clinch the win. I’ve already revisited this one twice more since the screening, and that’s in a week when I’m busy with plenty of work and a few last films to catch up on before the Oscars. Love this short film. I hope this creative team does more in this vein.
Oh, and the screening also showed Éiru and we liked it. Here it is on YouTube:
Your turn!
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Glad you’re here today, Dear Reader. God’s peace and good movies to you!