The Annies only had one Oscar nominee in their batch, so they aren’t terribly representative this year. With minimal guidance, here’s how we think things will go.

Best Animated Short Film

Winner Predictions

Letter to a Pig TL
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko WLPP

Runner-Up Predictions

Letter to a Pig WLPP
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko TL

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Wesley Lovell: The precursors were mostly unhelpful this year as too few of this year’s Oscar nominees were nominated elsewhere. One of the few is War Is Over!, which coincidentally is the film I’m predicting as the winner. Having seem them all, this is the one that resonates most of them all; however, with the Holocaust theme, Letter to a Pig seems a reasonable, if weak alternative.
Pete Patrick: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko is so much more professionally done than any of the competition that I can’t see it losing. The inventive Holocaust survivor inspired Letter to a Pig would seem to have the best chance of pulling an upset.
Thomas La Tourrette: This was not one of the stronger years for animated shorts. Letter to a Pig is listed by most people as the probable winner. It started strongly, but I got lost as it went along and did not understand it by the ending. But one should never vote against a Holocaust film, so it probably will win. I would choose WAR IS OVER! even though I doubt it will win, but I found it a more satisfying film. Ninety-five Senses was an interesting meditation on life and affecting in its way. Our Uniform was enjoyable in the way they used fabrics as the backgrounds. It was the shortest of the films, but also the most enjoyable. I found Pachyderme to be odd. None of them stand out as a total winner, though I expect Letter to a Pig to be called out at the Oscars.

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