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Ten short films are shortlisted by the Academy’s Animations and Shorts branch to vie for the final five nominations for Best Animated Short Film. The shortlist includes Pixar’s “Lou,” written and directed by Dave Mullins. The short premiered at SXSW earlier this year and was shown in theaters ahead of “Cars 3.”

Read More: 2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Animated Feature

Here are the shortlisted animated shorts; no one will be deemed a frontrunner until I have seen it.

Frontrunner:

“Lou”

Director: Dave Mullins (Pixar Animation Studios)

Contenders:

“Cradle”

Director: Devon Manney(University of Southern California)

“Dear Basketball”

Director: Glen Keane (Glen Keane Productions)

“Fox and the Whale”

Director: Robin Joseph (Robin Joseph)

“Garden Party”

Director: Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon (Mopa)

“In a Heartbeat”

Director: Esteban Bravo and Beth David (Ringling College of Art and Design)

“Life Smartphone”

Director: Chenglin Xie (China Central Academy of Fine Arts)

“Lost Property Office...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 10 short films that have been selected to advance in the voting process for the 90th Academy Awards. The 10 short films are vying for a nomination for Best Short Film. The shortlist includes the Pixar film “Lou,” written and directed by Dave Mullins. The short premiered at SXSW earlier this year and was shown in theaters ahead of “Cars 3.”

Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Animated Feature

One of the year’s highest profile short films is Don Hertzfeldt’s “World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts,” but it was left off the shortlist. IndieWire gave Hertzfeldt’s sequel an A+ review and the film already had a theatrical qualifying run. Hertzfeldt has been nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar twice: “Rejected” in 2000 and “World of Tomorrow” in 2016.

The 10 qualifying short films are listed...

This is one of those jaw-dropping stunning animated short films that you need to stop and watch right away. Fox and the Whale is animated short made by Robin Joseph about a fox that goes on an adventure to find a whale. While the plot is seemingly that simple on paper, this gorgeous film has so much more depth to it than that, and will leave your mind reeling. This film reminds me of Don Hertzfeldt's animated shorts because there's so much profoundness to it, and that's not something easy to pull off. There's nothing more to say now than please just take a moment to watch and enjoy this mesmerizing work of art. It's so worth it. Thanks to Film School Rejects for the tip on this. Originally from Vimeo. Description: "A curious fox goes searches for an elusive whale." This was an Independent, self-financed project with character animation by Kim Leow.