Harmony

Oscar-nominated animated shorts

Crit

Is it just codgery old me, or did this category used to be a lot better and a lot smarter? And a lot more challenging? Yeah, it's probably just me.

• Hairlove--Dad to the rescue as young African-American girl cannot get her hair to behave properly. Tragic transition near the end.
• Daughter--More tragedy in what I read to be a treatise on the importance of empathy, and of recognizing love when it's there.
• Sister--Wow. This is about abortion as tragedy for all the would-be big brothers who never got to have little sisters.
• Mémorable--Poignant exploration of a painter's age-related dementia; maybe the most visually arresting nominee.
• Kit Bull--Achingly cute treatment of interspecies harmony.

That's all the nominees, but as usual, the program is padded out with a few also-rans:

• Henrietta Bulkowski--Interspecies harmony within a single handicapped/gifted body.
• The Bird and the Whale--Interspecies harmony both literal and metaphoric.
• Hors Piste--Brutally wacky rescue comedy.
• Maestro--Multispecies harmony.