A Year in Shorts Day 318: "No Time for Nuts"

A long time ago, in the early months of our Year in Shorts, we looked at Gone Nutty, the first short to feature Scrat, the most beloved character from the Ice Age franchise. But while Scrat would go on to appear in three more subsequent short films (not nearly enough, if you ask me- maybe you could do something about that now that you own everything, Disney!), only one would receive another Oscar nomination. But luckily for us, it’s a damn good one, with 2006’s No Time for Nuts.


(via Wikipedia)


Directed by Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier, No Time for Nuts was released on DVD with copies of Ice Age: The Meltdown, thereby giving people a reason to own a copy of Ice Age: The Meltdown. The short starts off like a typical Scrat adventure, with everyone's favorite saber-toothed squirrel looking for a place to store his acorn. However, things take a turn when Scrat's digging causes him to stumble upon a frozen time machine (as well as the frozen corpse of its inventor), which goes off and sends his acorn into the future. Desperate to get it back, Scrat sets off on a time-hopping adventure, finding himself going through various important historical events, from the sinking of the Titanic to the release of the first Ice Age. It's all good silly fun, containing all the slapstick comedy, cartoon absurdism and thought-provoking examinations of the cost of hubris one would expect from a Scrat short. It doesn't necessarily reinvent the wheel, but why mess with a formula that's proven to work? Instead, No Time for Nuts just improves upon everything that came before. The animation is better, the jokes come quicker, and the gags on the whole are a lot more various and creative than before. That's hardly surprising of course- the premise basically requires that to be the case- but it's appreciated nevertheless.



Cartoons like this used to be a lot more common. Hell, judging by a lot of the films we've looked at, it seemed like that's what pretty much every cartoon was- fast-paced jokes, simple storylines and characters going through a great deal of pain. Animated films have certainly gotten more complex since then, and that's a good thing! But that doesn't mean there isn't a place for old-fashioned fare, especially when it's as clever and well-executed as this one. It might not be great art (and it's no surprise it didn't win the Oscar), but it's certainly great fun. If it seems like I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the short, well... really, what else is there to say? Some films are better left speaking for themselves, and No Time for Nuts is definitely one of them.


Keep up with the Oscar Baiting here on Letterboxd!


The Great Oscar Baiter is a not-for-profit work of criticism. All images herein are property of their respective owners and are protected under Fair Use.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song of the Week #15: "Take My Breath Away"

Image
I’ll put myself on a consistent schedule for these things one day, I promise. In my defense, there are a lot of movies to catch up on, and isn’t that what Oscar Baiting is all about? For instance- until recently, I’d never seen the original Top Gun! But with Top Gun: Maverick holding its spot as the biggest hit of the year (probably only to be dethroned by Black Panther or Avatar ) and even potentially soaring into the obligatory crowd pleaser Best Picture slot, I figured it was time to see where things began. Because while the Oscars Top Gun: Maverick may win have yet to be decided, the first Top Gun only went home with one- for the love theme, “Take My Breath Away.” (via Wikipedia) Love themes for films have gone a bit out of style these days, although for a long time it seemed to be a surefire way to nab a Best Song nomination. Seriously, look through the Wikipedia article and count how many times you see "Title Seemingly Chosen at Random (Love Theme from Movie You Didn...
Read more

Song of the Week #6: "The Ballad of High Noon"

Image
I was finally able to catch Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast this weekend, and I have to say it certainly lived up to the hype. There’s a lot to love about this movie, from the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, the exquisite performances from both the seasoned veterans and newcomers in the cast, to a script that’s brimming with heart and humor. But one aspect of the film I don’t see a lot of people mention is the way it incorporates footage from other films- most notably Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, using not only a scene from the movie itself but scoring two pivotal scenes with the film’s theme song, the aptly-named (and Oscar-winning) “The Ballad of High Noon.” It was a bold choice to be sure, but who could blame Branagh? It’s a great movie, and a great song- and the subject for today’s installment in Song of the Week. (via Wikipedia) For those of you haven't seen High Noon... well, you really should get on that, it's a classic! Aside from being a taut, tightly edited thril...
Read more

Song of the Week #14- "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

Image
I was watching Belfast with my friend last week, and- like all great films- it raised a lot of questions. Questions like, “Hey, remember the last time I watched Belfast and was inspired to write a blog post because of it ?” and “Hey, why haven’t I written anything Oscar Bait related in a while?” Well, luckily for all of us “The Ballad of High Noon” wasn’t the only Oscar-nominated song featured in Belfast. Unluckily for us, that other song just happens to be “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” (via Wikipedia) Readers of this blog will hopefully remember that I love a good movie musical. Sadly, those were few and far between in the 1960s. Oh sure, movie musicals certainly had a brief resurgence in those days. Many of them were big hits, both critically and commercially. Hell, Best Picture went to a musical on four separate occasions in that decade! But how many of them were actually any good? Not a lot. Oh sure, The Music Man is great fun and Mary Poppins is a classic. But far too many mu...
Read more