Oscars: Kitbull and Hair Love

Forty minutes and under including credits. That’s all the time filmmakers in the short film categories have to get their point across. In a year where we needed about five hours of film to see De Niro’s character get shot, forty minutes seems like an absurdly short amount of time to tell a story. And yet, filmmakers do.

These are not typically included in my mad dash to see the Oscar movies. They would pad out my numbers, that’s for sure. But usually, I’ve already seen one or two thanks to film club. And if I haven’t, the nominees and winners can be found after the big show on a variety of different websites.

The Short Film (Animated) category is what the writers at Pixar use to sharpen their heart-wrenching skills. This year’s entry, Kitbull, manages to pull the heartstrings in none minutes. It’s not Up level sobbing, but they offer a good cry with the story of a stray cat who finds an unlikely friend.

As their subjects are animals, dialogue is almost non-existent. The emotion of the characters is displayed through body language. (Yes, yes, Ursula, you weren’t wrong.) Words are not really necessary for this particular story. The focus is very much on emotional response. If the cat could speak, what would it say in the wake of abuse? I couldn’t come up with a better line than a hug.

Kitbull uses the animated medium to boil down an incredibly complex cycle of emotions. Yes, they are targeting dogfighting as their primary censure. Any type of abuse could be substituted into this story. To accomplish that in nine minutes is storytelling at its finest. But we don’t really expect less from Pixar, now do we?

Hair Love was a surprise for me. This was shown just before Little Women during the Regal Best Picture Film Festival. I wish they would have shown other shorts in front of the other best pictures. I see enough commercials as it is.

This film is a Kickstarter success story written and directed by Matthew A. Cherry. This project came about to diversify mainstream animated movies but also to promote, well, hair love. If you thought nine minutes was a short amount of time, Cherry gets at your heartstrings in under seven. Remember, it was a Kickstarter, so those are some long credits.

Interesting that this film also has minimal dialogue. Issa Rae is the only voice we hear in the film as a guiding light for Zuri and her father. Again, we see that words are superfluous in the storytelling. Emotion becomes the driving force in this narrative.

Cherry gives us a marvelous illustration of the frustration of knowing something is possible but not being able to execute it by yourself. The terror of having to step into an unfamiliar role is a vivid picture on the screen. And love. Most importantly, love. This film does a phenomenal job of showing what we will do in the name of love.

When I was looking up who created this masterpiece, I happened to find there is also a book available. And we all know my feelings about books. Given the same title, the illustrated book is a companion to the short and continues on the message of loving your hair. I did add a link for the book above, I am getting no commission or kickbacks or other such things. Just me, making it easier to find good books.

In keeping with the subject matter’s length, I’ll wrap it up now. Both films are worth watching. And come Sunday, I will be rooting for Hair Love to take the big prize.