Watch these Oscar-shortlisted animated short films to boost your day
Update (Dec. 27): Although Pixar’s Bao is no longer available to watch online, Weekends is now available, so you can still watch eight of the ten shorts for free.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its shortlists for several Oscar categories last week, including best documentary, best foreign language film, and best original song. The academy also revealed the 10 animated short films still in the running, and eight of them are available to watch online for free.
The overwhelming frontrunner is Disney-Pixar’s Bao, an eight-minute short that played before Incredibles II in June and is about an empty-nester who’s overjoyed when her aggressively cute dumpling magically comes to life. Written and directed by Chinese-Canadian storyboard artist Domee Shi, Bao is the first Pixar short directed by a woman in the company’s 32-year history. Pixar last won the award in 2016 with the short film Piper.
Act quickly, because Pixar is making Bao available only through tonight (Dec. 23). You can watch Bao and eight other wonderful animated shorts below. The last shortlisted films, Animal Behaviour, is not yet available.