250 Great Animated Short Films
Seven panelists compiled a list of 250 great animated short films headed by lee-109 and headquartered at the Classic Film Board.
Lee Price describes the project this way:
"Working with a panel of seven self-confessed admirers of animated shorts (and assisted by other regulars at the IMDb Classic Film message board), I recently led the development of a list of 250 great animated shorts.
We’re not claiming these 250 films are necessarily the “best” and we made no attempt at ranking them. Our goal was simply to select some of the greatest for celebration. As a guide for making our selections, I asked my fellow panelists to make an effort to keep the list chronologically balanced (with a representative sampling of shorts from each decade), geographically diverse, and with a reasonable proportion of female to male directors. Our definition of a short film was 40 minutes or less, and we worked without a set definition of what constitutes an animated film.
My sincere thanks to the six panelists who joined with me to create the list: (serriform), Jorge Didaco (jdidaco), Waldemar Hepstein (Rollo Treadway), Bill Kamberger (bkamberger), Robert Reynolds (Iltdesq), and Sulo Vatanen (sulinjal). The names in parentheses are our IMDb monikers (mine is lee-109)."
Lee Price describes the project this way:
"Working with a panel of seven self-confessed admirers of animated shorts (and assisted by other regulars at the IMDb Classic Film message board), I recently led the development of a list of 250 great animated shorts.
We’re not claiming these 250 films are necessarily the “best” and we made no attempt at ranking them. Our goal was simply to select some of the greatest for celebration. As a guide for making our selections, I asked my fellow panelists to make an effort to keep the list chronologically balanced (with a representative sampling of shorts from each decade), geographically diverse, and with a reasonable proportion of female to male directors. Our definition of a short film was 40 minutes or less, and we worked without a set definition of what constitutes an animated film.
My sincere thanks to the six panelists who joined with me to create the list: (serriform), Jorge Didaco (jdidaco), Waldemar Hepstein (Rollo Treadway), Bill Kamberger (bkamberger), Robert Reynolds (Iltdesq), and Sulo Vatanen (sulinjal). The names in parentheses are our IMDb monikers (mine is lee-109)."
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- 252 titles
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudPre-cinematograph colour animation of a woman and man at the beach.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsSegundo de ChomónJulienne MathieuAn enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.
- DirectorsWinsor McCayJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsWinsor McCayJohn BunnyMaurice CostelloCartoon figures announce, via comic strip balloons, that they will move - and move they do, in a wildly exaggerated style.
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczMr Beetle seeks companionship from a statuesque dragonfly dancer, unaware that her ex-boyfriend, a slender grasshopper and an industrious cameraman, watches their every move. Will Mrs Beetle forgive him? Will he get away with adultery?
- DirectorWinsor McCayStarWinsor McCayA hungry mosquito spots and follows a man on his way home. The mosquito slips into the room where the man is sleeping, and gets ready for a meal. His first attempts startle the man and wake him up, but the mosquito is very persistent.
- DirectorWinsor McCayStarsWinsor McCayGeorge McManusRoy L. McCardellThe cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.
- DirectorVictor BergdahlKapten Groggs and his companion Kalle sail to foreign shores, encountering wild animals, stormy weather, and friendly villains.
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczThe frogs are bored with their lot, and ask God to give them a king - but God, irritated with their inability to govern themselves, quickly makes them change their minds.
- DirectorOtto MessmerA starving actor, reduced to trying his luck in the movies, travels to Hollywood. His cat, Felix, poses as a travel bag and comes along.
- DirectorWalter RuttmannThird instalment in a series of short, abstract animations, featuring bright shapes moving against a dark background. The shapes move across the screen in harmony with the music.
- DirectorViking EggelingA tilted figure, consisting largely of right angles at the beginning, grows by accretion, with the addition of short straight lines and curves which sprout from the existing design. The figure vanishes and the process begins again with a new pattern, each cycle lasting one or two seconds. The complete figures are drawn in a vaguely Art Deco style and could be said to resemble any number of things, an ear, a harp, panpipes, a grand piano with trombones, and so on, only highly stylized. The tone is playful and hypnotic.
- DirectorsCharles R. BowersHarold L. MullerStarCharles R. BowersThe Liars Club is holding their contest to see who can tell the most unbelievable story, with a gold medallion waiting to be awarded to the winner. Disappointed with the other members' bland efforts, one member brings in Charley Bowers, who has an extraordinary tale to tell. Charley claims to have invented a magic potion that enables him to grow absolutely anything by a simple grafting process, and he proceeds to tell his story to the club.
- DirectorOskar FischingerExperience in animating a silhouette, with brief essays on three-dimensional dolls, charcoal drawings, cut paper. The main silhouette of the film explores the actions of two bellies in a tavern.
- DirectorsUb IwerksWalt DisneyStarWalt DisneyMickey Mouse is a mischievous deckhand on a riverboat that is under the command of the tyrannical Captain Pete.
- DirectorHans RichterStarsWerner GraeffWalter GronostayPaul HindemithHans Richter, noted for his abstract shorts, has everyday objects rebelling against their daily routine.
- DirectorUb IwerksStarWalt DisneyThe demons of hell play music for Satan, whose delight turns to wrath when an insubordinate refuses to become food for Cerberus.
- DirectorWalt DisneyStarsWalt DisneyCarl W. StallingThe clock strikes midnight, the bats fly from the belfry, a dog howls at the full moon, and two black cats fight in the cemetery: a perfect time for four skeletons to come out and dance a bit.
- DirectorsChûzô AochiYasuji MurataAn old man with a huge lump on his face encounters a band of Tengu in the mountains.
- DirectorBerthold BartoschWhen a liberal idea emerges in a tyranny ruled society, power and wealth unite to bring it down.
- DirectorsAlexander AlexeieffClaire ParkerMussorgsky's composition is the soundtrack for this pin-screen animated take on night and wild things. A scarecrow blows down, clouds move by quickly. Beings take shape; a town appears, animals flee, and a horse gallops by. A child looks on. Monsters run and float by: the phantasmagoric is everywhere. A woman's figure tumbles through space. A clash ensues. The horse falls. Goblins take control. The night and its denizens are relentless. Forms appear and become grotesque. Will dawn and calm ever come?
- DirectorsDave FleischerRoland CrandallStarsCab CallowayBilly MurrayMae QuestelTrouble starts when the queen's magic mirror says Betty Boop is fairest. Cab Calloway sings "St. James Infirmary Blues."
- DirectorBurt GillettStarsBilly BletcherPinto ColvigDorothy ComptonThe Three Little Pigs each build a house of different material. The Big Bad Wolf comes along and blows away the straw and stick homes, but is unable to destroy the house of bricks.
- DirectorsDave FleischerSeymour KneitelStarsWilliam CostelloLou FleischerWilliam PennellPopeye and Bluto each wants to save Olive as she sleepwalks onto a construction site. But most of their efforts go into preventing each other from being the hero.
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczStarWladyslaw StarewiczA stuffed animal goes on a journey through frightening streets to get its kid an orange.
