This short is a very nicely animated, occasionally funny and very cute cartoon-with just a bit of teeth at the end. When I first saw it on-line, it put a smile on my face, though I wasn't sure just why it was nominated for an Oscar for Animated Short. I didn't really have that big a problem with its nomination-and I really still don't much mind the nomination, but I'm even more puzzled since I got the collection of 2005 Academy Award-nominated shorts, which also included two non-nominated animated shorts, presumably to augment the disc because two of the animated nominees aren't included here (Pixar presumably declined to include One Man Band because they placed it on the Cars DVD as an extra and 9 has been optioned for expansion into a feature). Trouble is, at least in my opinion, both of the non-nominated shorts included deserved a nomination more than Badgered did. Don't misunderstand me-I like Badgered and, again, I have no problem with its nomination, but The Fan and the Flower and Imago were even better, at least to me. Now onto my comments on Badgered. As I plan on discussing some details, this is a spoiler warning:
This is a deceptively simple tale of a badger simply trying to get some sleep. That attempt is frustrated, first by a pair of rather raucous crows and then by the incursion of man into the badger's burrow, in a very disturbing manner-they turn the area around and under his burrow into a missile silo. It's a very short film and the ending is basically "gallows humor", but the badger does ultimately get his wish-he gets the world to leave him be to sleep in peace. I particularly like the final shot of the crows. A good, if rather pat, piece of work, though overshadowed by The Sun and the Moon, which deservedly won the Oscar and is on the collected 2005 Academy Award nominees disc. I highly recommend that disc to anyone who really likes shorts, as most of the live-action shorts are quite good as well. This particular short is well worth seeing and is recommended.
This is a deceptively simple tale of a badger simply trying to get some sleep. That attempt is frustrated, first by a pair of rather raucous crows and then by the incursion of man into the badger's burrow, in a very disturbing manner-they turn the area around and under his burrow into a missile silo. It's a very short film and the ending is basically "gallows humor", but the badger does ultimately get his wish-he gets the world to leave him be to sleep in peace. I particularly like the final shot of the crows. A good, if rather pat, piece of work, though overshadowed by The Sun and the Moon, which deservedly won the Oscar and is on the collected 2005 Academy Award nominees disc. I highly recommend that disc to anyone who really likes shorts, as most of the live-action shorts are quite good as well. This particular short is well worth seeing and is recommended.