The Big Leap (Le Grand Saut): An Award-Winning Animated Short About a First Crush at the Beach

This is precious.   Le Grand Saut is the French title, so that translates as The Big Leap and I think it’s a great name for this animated short, given that the girl protagonist takes one literally and metaphorically. It doesn’t tell a big story, but for our young protagonist, it’s something of a coming of age.  A simple day at the beach.  There’s the sun, the sand – and, of course, the completely annoying toddler brother that you have to look at (no doubt while the parents go an have an extended lunch at a local bar!).  Perhaps that last bit is reading too much in to it, but there is another thing – the awakening of attraction.  When our young heroine sees a cool young boy on the beach, it’s pretty much love at first sight – but how do you get him to notice you?

There are number of outstanding features to this animated short.  First and foremost, it was created without dialogue (so overcoming any possible language barrier to help achieve a bigger audience), but the animation is so subtly done that you know exactly what is going through the girl’s mind at any given time – and the body language is also expertly conveyed.  Both of these things are difficult to do with animation, so hats off to the students who created this.  The other stand out for me was how the colours so wonderfully expressed the tone and feel of a day at the beach – vibrant and saturated with the sun in charge of how everyone sees the day’s events.  It really does give this animation a lovely, almost nostalgic texture.

The award-winning animated film was directed by Martina Doll, Anaïs Dos, Coline Reverbel, Kenzo Talma, Edgard Vernier, and Lisa Vlaine during their time at École des Nouvelles Images. It received the School Jury Award at the Catch the Moon – Festival Internazionale di Cinema d'Animazione, the Jury Prize (Prix du Jury) at the Big Cartoon Festival, and the Best Animated Film Award (Prix du Meilleur Film d'Animation) at the Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival. The original score was composed by Aloïs Benoit (MAAAV), with production by Julien Deparis and sound mixing by Pierre-François Renouf.

Tanked: The Award-Winning Animated Short About Two Lobsters, Love and Karma

Have you ever had a romantic moment interrupted? It can be annoying – and it is certainly the case for the two lobsters in Tanked an award winning animated short by Duncan Rudd.  Their tango in a tank is interrupted by the chef, who has a dinner order to fulfil and a sadistic gleam in his eye.  Well, you know what karma is…

Tanked was something of a passion project for Rudd, who fitted it in around family and work commitments over a period of nine months.  Although this animation is short and sweet, the production values are very high – you feel that you know the lobsters well from almost the outset – and the chef is a great villain.  If you enjoy this, then perhaps try Paul Rudd’s The Ballad of the Pale Blue Dot which we featured on Kuriositas last year.

Fire: An Atmospheric Animated Short Capturing the Horror of Wildfire

As you (may) know, at Kuriositas we like to showcase some of the best student-created animated shorts.  Many, if not most of them, tell stories that are action-heavy, which helps show off the technical prowess of the students.  Fire is something quite difference.  While it certainly covers the elements that the students must show in order to complete their degree, this tells and altogether different story.  As such it is refreshing to see a group of collaborators take such a distinct and different pathway to the norm.  What we get initially is a beautifully rendered series of images of a languid summer’s afternoon, almost as if time has stood still.  It's a perfect summer's day. A cat is our protagonist (if it can be called that) as he meanders around the yard and inside the house. Yet even as he does so, there is a steadily increasing sense of unease that something isn’t quite right.

Of course, the house has been abandoned due to an encroaching fire.  It’s a prescient piece of filmmaking in that respect, as so much of Europe has been impacted by successive heatwaves over the last few months.  As the fire encroaches, its impact is felt. This is an impressive piece of animation, one that had me transfixed from start to finish.  Congratulations to the directors, Baptiste Fraboul, Esther Lamassoure, Julie Le Forban, Valentin Serre, Léna Gittler, and Florent Sabuco of École des Nouvelles Images for producing something so special. Fire was produced by Julien Deparis, and sound design was by Pierre-François.  I would also like to specially mention the soundtrack by Mathis Coopman which superbly catches the atmosphere of the disaster in a very Pink Floydy kinda way, combining with the animation to create something truly cinematic.  No wonder this animated short has won awards!

Watch Fire below.

Cosmic Fling: A Charming Animated Short About a Lonely Space Garbage Man

Cosmic Fling is an unexpected delight.  We don't often get to see new animated stories told with marionettes. It tells the story of an average down-to-earth garbage man. Well, not quite. Stan works in outer space – and it’s his job to clear up the mess that humans (inevitably) leave behind. If you think that’s far fetched, read our article about lunar leftovers to see how the moon became a trash can (and why the future might see jobs like this created).  Poor old Stan ekes out his existence harpooning space debris – and that’s what he uses for sustenance too.  Whether he has done something heinous to deserver this, we are never told, but I think that Stan simply thought the job seemed like a good idea at the time…

Regardless of how Stan ended up on his lonely satellite, what he really misses is company – and what he longs for is love.  So, when Beatrice turns up on a comet, he is smitten.  Yet all too soon, she is whisked away and Stan must wait until she returns to try and win her heart. Comets always come back, don’t they?  You have probably guessed the answer to that (if you didn’t already know), but this lovely animated short, directed by Jonathan Langager and written in partnership with Ali Scher, shows that if nothing else, love springs eternal.

Cosmic Fling won the Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 35th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which took place in 2020.  And here it is finally on YouTube. Watch it below.