The Lost Thing

A lad is combing the beach for additions to his bottle top collection when he encounters a great big red metallic object - with tentacles. It looks something akin to an octopus stuck in a diving bell! He says hello and suddenly it comes alive. Armed with two great pincers up front, it just wants to play ball and build sandcastles with it's new human friend. As the day comes to a close, the boy realises that his pal has nowhere to go. No home, no friends, no nothing! He goes to his boffin mate to try and identify his tin friend, but in the end they have to conclude it's lost and so he will just have to take it home to his sceptical parents - dirty feet or not! Then he sees an advert on the telly for the "Federal Dept. For Odds and Ends". That became his plan - surely they'd know? Well they might have done had he not been weighed down by a ton of form-filling and red tape and then been warned off by the cleaner! Maybe the best chance is that it will actually remember where it's supposed to go by itself? Well, let's give that strategy a go... Tim Minchin's understated narration works wonders with this engaging mystery and as the pair spend the day exploring potential homes for "thing" the producers have a free rein to create a range of colourful and vivid scenarios using various styles of animation to create a myriad of creatures - human and otherwise, to enhance this simple story. I did enjoy this, even if it's a bit sad at the end.

Perth Comedy Muso Tim Minchin narrates this charming, if somewhat bizarre animated short. It's only about 30 minutes long and it's based on a children's book by Shaun Tan, also from Perth.

A boy discovers a large and rather strange contraption on the beach. The only way to describe it would be like a 12ft crab-like industrial boiler... with tentacles. It doesn't say much, but it seems to love playing fetch. The boy can't understand why everyone around him is totally oblivious to it. They must have more important things to pay attention to. The boy spends a bit of time with it, they form an instant bond and it soon becomes clear that this inexplicable thing... is lost. The boy tries taking it home with him but his parents are none too pleased to have a large unidentified lodger. What is a boy to do? Surely this thing... belongs somewhere.

The Lost Thing is a cool little toon for all ages. The animation is a bit like Pixar meets Aardman. You can view a low budget, subtitled, Minchin-less version on YouTube, but if I were you, I'd hold out for the real deal. I must admit that I'm from Perth and I'm a huge fan of Tim Minchin so my review is a bit biased, but now I've discovered a new homegrown talent. Shaun Tan has a uniquely brilliant imagination. Let's hope that he makes a full-length feature or at least a collection of shorts soon, because the only problem with Lost Thing... is that it's too short. The DVD contains a few extra features that make up for the short running time and there's also a bonus sketch book that's definitely worth thumbing through. Just consider it to be a preview of things to come. Watch this space!

This Australian film is about a young man who finds a very bizarre looking 'thing' at the beach. He has no idea WHAT it is and no one else seems to care or notice. He makes it his job to try to find out where it goes. In the end, he finds a strange land filled with LOTS of strange creatures.

While far from my favorite of the 2011 nominees for Best Animated Short, this is still a very nice film and I enjoyed seeing it. I went to the theater with a friend to see this and we both agreed it was not very likely to win the award--mostly because the story is its weakest aspect. But, I should say that it DID have amazingly wonderful animation. The computer animation is truly wonderful--high quality, unique and impressive. So, in my case, while I didn't love the story (it was a tad weak), the film looked so great that I didn't mind too much. My advice is that it you see it, turn off your brain and enjoy.

UPDATE: I was surprised, but just moments ago I saw that "The Lost Thing" won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. To me, this was a surprise!

The lost thing rises as a breath of fresh air against an ever rising tide of wise cracking or sickly cute fur balls and violent comic animation fueled by the American market. At around 15 minutes in length "The lost thing" had a production time line sprawled over nearly ten years with the bulk of work done over three years. The required creative control in adapting and complementing a very popular book have clearly been kept in check buy the directorial hand of the original illustrator and author Shaun Tan and very small production team principally Leo Baker, the main animator and computer graphics artist Tom Bryant.

It is a simple story which reflects on human natures diminishing observation and appreciation of a world out side the day to day pathway we are all forced to travel by both greater authority and selfish ambition. Childlike observations laced with surrealistic circumstance create the distinctly dream like world of "The Lost Thing"

"The lost thing" is short but so visually rich with Shaun Tans remarkable eye for detail it feels complete and invites repeated viewing. If your a little over street wise dudes with stand up comic sarcasm, over blown CGI action coupled with misfiring plots take a medicinal shot of "The Lost Thing". You can not go wrong.

'THE LOST THING': Four Stars (Out of Five)

One of the best animated short films nominated for an Oscar last year (2010), this one tells the story of a boy (voiced by Tim Minchin) who finds an odd and mysterious creature on a beach, which no one else seemed to notice. He takes it home with him and attempts to find it a place of it's own to live but finds little help as he discovers no one else seems to care. The film focuses on our modern civilization and how busy and self centered we are to notice amazing thing right in front of us. It of course delivers the message that as a child we still have awe and wonder for such things but eventually grow out of it. It's directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and written by Tan. The film is quirky, nostalgic and cleverly animated. It's got that classic monster befriends child charm to it. One definitely worth the recognition it's received.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqNUf10kuk