Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Animated Short

The nominees:
Feral (B)
This tale of a boy transplanted from his native wild habitat into a more urban and unfamiliar setting is most stirring because of its imagery and the subtext of the story it tells, but it’s not all that enthralling.
Get a Horse! (B+)
This is a perfectly standard and very familiar Mickey Mouse cartoon, one that conceives of a clever premise which finds Mickey trying to escape a movie screen and jump into the audience. It’s a fun ride, and certainly the one most Oscar watchers have seen since it played before “Frozen.”
Mr. Hublot (B-)
There is something appealing about this story of a lonely man and his robot dog, but it doesn’t manage to draw the audience in enough to truly care about its story. Its visuals are very technical and composed, but it doesn’t offer too much.
Possessions (C-)
This very colorful and stylized short did not win me over at all, though some reviews I’ve read have stated that it’s the best of the bunch. Its premise of inanimate objects coming alive and one man being befuddled by it may amuse some, but I found nothing enticing about it.
Room on the Broom (B+)
This narrated children’s story about a witch who keeps welcoming various animals onto her broomstick when they retrieve items important to her features a bunch of fun voices, including Gillian Anderson, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, and Simon Pegg. It’s easily the most likeable and whimsical of the pack.

Previous winners: Paperman, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, The Lost Thing, Logorama, Le Maison en Petits Cubes, Peter and the Wolf
Who should win: I’m not all that impressed with this slate this year. I enjoyed and appreciated “Room on the Broom” best, but I won’t argue with “Get a Horse” being a delight as well.
Who will win: “Get a Horse” is the obvious choice, but I think Room on the Broom will be the winner.