The Top 10 Animations of 2009

Posted on 01. Jan, 2010 by Andrew Price in Articles

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With 2009 now behind us, it’s time to look at the great shorts and animations that have inspired us throughout the year.

10. Fallen

Fallen features the most unlikely of main characters: a falling asteroid. The short follows his quick descent down to earth as he deals with the concept of life and death. The ending is executed perfectly, and more than nails home the point: Live your life to the fullest, regardless of the end.

9. French Roast

Winner of several major film festivals, French Roast focuses on a quiet restaurant patron who wants nothing more than to enjoy his coffee and read his paper. It’s a fun little short with a great ending, that manages to fit a complicated story into almost only one camera shot.

8. Ataque de Pánico!

Ataque de Pánico! plays like a 10 year old boys wet dream: Giant robots blowin’ up a city. But whilst it wins no points for it’s story, it more than makes up for it with it’s impressive special effects. The variety of locations and quick cuts means the viewer doesn’t get a chance to get bored. The amount of work that went into rotoscoping and filming all this is worth the watch on it’s own. But what blows my mind is that all this was shot on $300 budget, and yet it still manages to pack the punch of a major hollywood blockbuster.

7. Spec Ops: The Line Trailer

This beautifully crafted trailer paints the scene of a deserted Dubai after cataclysmic sandstorms have blown in, scaring away the once thriving population. The amazing visuals combined with haunting soundtrack of Bjork build an eery tension that leave you wanting more.

6. Blood Trails

(Viewer Discretion is Advised – Extremely Violent)

Blood Trails, is definately the most disturbing animation I’ve ever seen in my life, but it’s also one of the best. The trailer was produced and directed by Nathan Love who was asked by Perspective Studios to create an engaging trailer for a feature length script to help sell the concept to investors. Whether or not this will one day be made into a film is beyond me, but the sheer excitement and terror contained in this trailer makes me think it probably will. For more info on this short, check out this interview with Nathan Love.

5. Please Say Something

This isn’t your typical short, and it’s not for everyone either. Please Say Something, follows the story of a troubled relationship between a cat and a mouse. The fast paced abrupt editing can at first be hard to follow, but by the end you’ll be completely drawn in. The character building is absolutely fantastic and the old school stylized video game look is the icing on the cake.

4. Yankee Gal

Set in World War II, Yankee Gal shows a pilot’s dream-like moments between life and death. The amazing visuals combined with the superb audio effects, make for an amazing short that stays in your mind long after it’s finished.

3. Alma

Certainly a late comer to the party, Alma was released less than 2 weeks ago in time for Christmas. This amazing short was created in 2 years by an enomously talented team of artists. The ending was predictable, but with the creepy sounds, brilliant colors, and steady pacing, it didn’t matter: my eyes were peeled to the screen from start to finish.

2. Partly Cloudy

It shouldn’t surprise you that Pixar’s Partly Cloudy got a mention here. It’s comical enough to entertain children, yet wholesome enough to give the adults the warm and fuzzies. This charming tale about personal responsibility is told without a single line of dialogue, but thanks to Pixar’s knack for story telling we know exactly what’s happening.

1. Steel Life

Steel Life is a visually stunning masterpiece that takes the viewer on a journey of life’s deepest emotions. It’s not the sort of movie you’d put on to entertain your friends, this particular short is best viewed by yourself, in a dark room, with the volume up. Steel Life is a truly engaging experience, and in my opinion is the best animation of 2009.

Honourable mentions:

So there you have it, the cream of the crop of 2009. If you think I missed one, please point it out in the comment section!

If you liked this post you might also like my list of 6 more Amazing Animated Shorts.

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20 Responses to “The Top 10 Animations of 2009”

Potado

01. Jan, 2010

Wow! Some of these are just amazing!
JotaSolano

01. Jan, 2010

I have the impression that some of these movies aren’t made with blender… if any, which ones are made with blender? French Toast if i’m not mistaken?, any other?
Andrew Price

01. Jan, 2010

@JotaSolano
As far as I know, none of them are. It’s a roundup of the best 3d animations of the year – not just restricted to blender.
JotaSolano

01. Jan, 2010

@Andrew … Thanks !… Not very encouraging though lol
JotaSolano

02. Jan, 2010

OMG… Blood Trails is horrendous! yet I watched it twice lol… guess we all like dark things from time to time… but really… poor guys lol.
Haptomai

03. Jan, 2010

Very impressive !
Michae Tiemann

03. Jan, 2010

I am very surprised you didn’t include the Suzanne award-winning “Memory”, which was also fantastic.

On YouTube it’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Si5-Xjf8xE
Solineoz

03. Jan, 2010

Really nice selection here…
Loved, Blood Trails, Yankee Gal, Alma is cute n very well textured and Steel Life is a pretty impressive and beautiful way to use graphics and designs.

Thanks for sharing your top 10 animations Andrew
PS. A Blender selection could be nice.
Tomek

04. Jan, 2010

…where is The Passenger?
http://chrisj.com.au/thepassenger/
Tobey

04. Jan, 2010

Utterly impressive selection. No wonder you placed “Fallen” on the first step, it is deep. And visually very advanced, from my standpoint, that is. Appreciating the fine selection (well, in most cases…), I agree pure Blender collection would hit the spot even better on this site.
Thanks.
marijn

05. Jan, 2010

i really enjoyed pigeon: impossible => http://pigeonimpossible.com/

you have some heavy stuff here… not my style.
Andrew Price

06. Jan, 2010

@marijn
Whilst I enjoyed the podcasts the pidgeon impossible guys made, I wasn’t actually a fan of the short.

I think it was the main character. His face was awkwardly modelled and just didn’t look right. I didn’t warm to him at all.

However the scene and the lighting looked spectacular so I’ll give them that.

It was definately a huge achievement to finish, but I think they bit off a little more than they could chew.
Denis

06. Jan, 2010

Just to correct one small thing.. Ataque de Pánico! cost $300 dollars only for the live shooting, which if I remember correctly mostly went to the extras. Everything else in the short is made with professional production grade equipment by professionals from a commercial studio who donated their free time to the project.
Erik

22. Jan, 2010

not all of these r from blender but fallen, French Roast, yankee gal Ataque de Pánico! and Steel Life.
ive talked to the creators of them and the videos r from blender
nerin

22. Jan, 2010

I think you missed the point on attaque de panic, It seems the director is commenting on the media selling fear of terror for their own gains.
Andrew Price

22. Jan, 2010

@nerin
Really? I didn’t get that vibe at all. To me it was just giant robots tearing a city apart. Everyone interprets things differently though.
Titanium Pen

06. Feb, 2010

No video made with Blender? That’s sad.
But the videos are indeed impressive.
Ross

13. Mar, 2010

Personally, I didn’t like Steel Life and I did’t think it was a journey of life’s deepest emotions. It’s extremely difficult for a short to affect viewers emotionally if it’s just a montage of flashy demoscene. I loved the rest of the list, though.