It’s hard to believe, but sometimes things don’t go Disney’s way. Take last year, when Luxembourg and France’s upstart Mr. Hublot took the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, over Disney’s miraculous Mickey Mouse comeback cartoon Get a Horse!, one of the most dazzling examples of 3D showmanship in memory.
人们很难相信，迪士尼有时候也会有失算的时候。比如去年，卢森堡与法国两国共同创造的暴发户哈布洛先生（《哈布洛先生》）摘得了奥斯卡最佳动画短片的桂冠，击败了迪士尼出品的米老鼠复出之作《马儿快跑》，尽管这部作品精彩绝伦，堪称3D动画技术史上最令人啧啧称赞的典范之一。

This year, it will be another injustice if Disney’s Feast (paired on movie screens last fall with Big Hero 6) doesn’t win the Oscar. It’s the clear standout in a field that includes other shorts of merit, but nothing as delightful and crowd-pleasing. Conceptually, it’s just about perfect: the story of a stray dog, the bachelor who adopts him, and the man’s rocky romance, all told from the point of view of that irresistible canine and focused nearly exclusively on the food said canine eagerly devours.
今年， 如果迪士尼的《盛宴》（和《超能陆战队》一样是在去年秋天上映）不能赢得奥斯卡奖，那将是第二次对迪士尼的不公。它在同类的动画短片中脱颖而出，虽然其他的动画短片也很精彩，却不及它这样令人欢欣，受观众青睐。从概念上说，它可说近乎完美：这个故事是关于一只流浪狗、一位收养了它的屠夫，以及屠夫一波三折的爱情故事，故事是从那只惹人怜爱的小狗的角度来讲述的，几乎完全集中在小狗饕餮美餐的镜头上。

In a brisk six minutes, Feast tells a funny and relatable story with masterful economy, and all within the restrictions noted above. Debuting director Patrick Osborne, who was head of animation on Disney’s Oscar-winning (and equally romantic) Paperman, captures the behavior and movements of a dog with an observant deftness that will charm any canine lover, with just a soupçon of anthropomorphism. This instant classic is yet another sign that Disney Animation under John Lasseter’s leadership has reached the same level of excellence as the fabled Pixar.
在这段节奏紧凑的六分钟视频里，《盛宴》用大师级的剪裁技巧讲述了一个风趣幽默又与每个人息息相关的故事，而且篇幅严格限制在上述的时间限制之内。该片的导演、新锐导演帕特里克·奥斯本是迪士尼出品的奥斯卡获奖动画片《纸人》制作团队中的主要角色，他细致而熟练的捕捉了小狗行为动作的娇憨之态，让所有爱犬人士为之倾倒，甚至传达出几分自然万物同形同性的味道。这部已然跻身经典的作品再次证明了，在约翰·雷斯特的领导下，迪士尼的动画团队的杰出程度已然可以媲美著名的皮克斯动画公司。

Feast’s closest competition in the Oscar race is the very inventive The Bigger Picture from Britain. Director Daisy Jacobs mixes media and techniques in a way I haven’t seen before, with two-dimensional characters painted onto flat surfaces interacting with real miniature sets and props. The story itself centers on a very adult dilemma, as two brothers bicker over the care of their elderly, dying mother. The decision to have the faces and torsos of the siblings immobilized on various walls was perhaps intended to underline how wearying such situations can be on a family. Surreal touches like a vacuum cleaner sucking up all the people and objects in a room help enliven this morose but creatively intriguing short.
在这次奥斯卡奖的角逐中，《盛宴》最强的竞争对手是英国出品的别出心裁之作《更大的图片》。该片导演黛西·雅各布斯在影片中把平面上的二维人物形象与写实的迷你布景和道具相互关联，这种将不同媒介杂糅，将不同的动画技法并用的创作手法我从未见过。故事本身是围绕着一个颇为成人化的悖谬主题展开的，两个兄弟为了谁应该去照顾他们年迈濒死的母亲而争执不休。导演决意让两兄弟的面部和四肢都固定在若干个平面上，这也许是为了突出这种家庭境况会让家庭成员如何倦怠不堪。超现实的氛围像吸尘器一样攫取了影片中所有的人和事物，让这部格调阴郁却独出机杼，引人入胜的作品更加富有灵气。

Other nominated Animated Short Films:
其他提名影片为如下几个：

“A Single Life” (Netherlands, 2 min., directed by Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen): Upon discovering a mysterious old 45 rpm single record, Pia plays it and finds herself able to travel back and forth through her life, depending on where she drops the needle. This hilariously black comedy says it all — in two minutes!
《独身生活》（制片国家/地区: 尼德兰；时长：2分钟；导演：Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins , Job Roggeveen)皮娅发现了一卷神秘的老式唱片，单面、每分钟转数45转，皮娅播放了这张唱片，发现她把唱针摆放在什么地方，就会穿越到某个时间段，由此可以在她的过去和未来之间不停穿梭。这个搞笑的黑色幽默故事将所有剧情张力囊括其中——时长仅为两分钟时间！

“The Dam Keeper” (USA, 18 min., Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi): Pity the poor piggy — charged with keeping up the old windmill that keeps up the old dam that protects the old town from disaster. And enduring the scorn and torment of his fellow animals at school, until a foxy new classmate shows up.
《守坝员》（制片国家/地区: 美国；时长：18分钟；导演：Robert Kondo，Dice Tsutsumi)可怜的小猪Pity担负着保护古老风车的责任，这部风车支持着古老的水坝，而正是这座水坝让这个古老的小镇免受自然灾害。在学校里，小猪受到其他小动物同学的嘲讽和虐待，直到一个新同学、一只小狐狸出现了。

“Me and My Moulton” (Canada, 14 min., Torill Kove): A Scandinavian girl asks her parents if she and her sisters can have a bicycle while struggling with the fact that they are embarrassingly out of sync with “Norway normal.”
《我和我的莫顿自行车》（制片国家/地区: 加拿大；时长：14分钟；导演：Torill Kove)：一个斯堪的纳维亚血统的小女孩问她的父母，她和姐姐们能不能有一辆自行车。一家人为此为难，因为这与“挪威的习俗”非常不符。

In all, not a vintage year for the Academy’s chosen animated shorts. Anyway, congratulations to Feast!
总体来说，从奥斯卡提名的这些动画作品来看，今年不算是一个丰收之年。不管怎么说，恭喜《盛宴》！