A Year in Shorts Day 186: "Fresh Guacamole"

Happy Cinco de Mayo, fellow Oscar Baiters! Yes, today is every white American’s favorite excuse to drink margaritas and eat tacos (as if one needs an excuse to do either of those things), and as a proud Latin-American myself, I thought our Year in Shorts ought to commemorate the occasion. And what better way to enjoy your festivities than with a little side of Fresh Guacamole?


(via Wikipedia)


Released in 2012 and directed by PES (aka Adam Pesapane), Fresh Guacamole holds the unique distinction of being the shortest film nominated for an Oscar. At only one minute and forty-one seconds, this is definitely going to be one of those films where I spend far more time writing about than it takes to watch it. And as you can probably imagine, it's also one of those shorts where it's better to just see it for yourself than it is for me to spend too much time trying to describe it. So let's check it out.



As you can see, Fresh Guacamole belongs to the subgenre of animated short which mostly exists for the animator to show off their skills. And as far as those types of shorts go, this one is pretty great! Through the use of pixilation and a variety of household objects, PES has made a short that's rich in visual splendor, quirky humor and a healthy dose of punmanship. Fresh Guacamole is not the deepest short we've covered, but it's technically impressive and endlessly entertaining. And at less than two minutes long, what else could you reasonably expect? While the Academy Awards arguably exist for Hollywood to jerk itself off once a year, the shorts categories provide them with the opportunity to showcase interesting and unique films, and hopefully introduce them to a wider audience. Fresh Guacamole is the type of film that proves that the shorts are worth celebrating.


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