Watch Lost and Found a stop motion short film that tugs at the heartstrings.
Lost & Found is a simple story. Two crocheted stuffed animals are in love, and when Fox finds itself in danger, it’s up to Dinosaur to risk everything to save its partner.
The bulk of the 8min film is thus an extended action sequence, and in this simplicity it reminded me of the stripped down, locked-in focus of the classic French CG chase sequence shorts we enjoyed in the wake of Oktapodi.
The genuine stakes of Lost & Found though, its themes of sacrifice and loss, introduce a new, heightened emotionality to this formula however, and can ultimately prove to be quite upsetting to young kids (and us big kids too!). Honestly in reflection upon the tragic plot, there’s not much to qualify the film as a children’s entertainment aside from the cutesy choice of characters, so perhaps my entire intro should be disregarded!
Directed by Andrew Goldsmith and Bradley Slabe and produced by Lucy Hayes at Wabi Sabi Studios and pixel/melbourne, the seven-minute Lost & Found shares an adorable yet tragic love story between a fox and a bumbling knitted dinosaur which must completely unravel itself to save the love of its life.
After premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival, the stop-motion animated short went on to win the Yoram Gross Animation Award at the Sydney Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Animated Short at the Austin Film Festival. Funded by Screen Australia, Lost & Found is nominated for the upcoming Annie Awards, and was recently shortlisted for a nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the 91st Oscars. Oscar nominations will be announced January 22, 2019.
Four years in the making, the production for Lost & Found saw a full-size restaurant custom-built as a modular set for stop-motion filming, several hand-crafted puppets that were purpose-built for different animation situations, and even a working sushi train that was completely disassembled for hand animating. Every shot was planned and programmed with a custom stop-motion rig, many featuring complicated dolly or hand-held like movement.
Every single element in front of the lens including water is hand-animated by lead animator Samuel Lewis. Heat-warped acetate, bubble wrap, hair gel and “personal” lubricant made for a suitable water substitute allowing waves and splashes to remain rigid long enough to capture desired frames.
