Animation still of a knitted dinosaur and a knitted fox

Animated Shorts

From hand-drawn to stop motion and CGI animation

There are over 1,000 Australian animated short films in the NFSA collection, with the earliest here dating back to the 1920s.

Examples in this curated collection encompass analogue techniques like hand-drawn cel animation, through to 2D and stop-motion animation and purely digital works complete with 3D computer-generated imagery.

Regardless of how they were made, these shorts encapsulate the creative vision of the filmmakers and are labours of love, often taking many years to produce.

We also collect documentation for these productions, including storyboards and other materials that illustrate the work of the filmmakers from initial concept, to planning and final implementation.

Lost and found

Using stop motion and two colourful, crocheted and endearing lead characters, directors Andrew Goldsmith and Bradley Slabe and producer by Lucy Hayes spent four years making Lost and Found

Animation still of a white cat looking terrified

The Cat Piano

The Cat Piano, which you can watch here in full, is a short animation narrated by Nick Cave.

The Hunter

This is a short clip from the stop motion sand animation The Hunter by director, writer and animator Marieka Walsh.

Animation still of a wooden face wearing glasses but has no eyes.

Dad's Clock

The animated short Dad’s Clock is narrated by Barry Otto and can be seen here in full. A giant metal bird flies towards the wooden skeleton of a ship on a wooden slatted sea.

Animaton still of the rear view of a boy examining a card that has a wavy arrow on it.

The Lost Thing

This clip is from The Lost Thing, which started as a picture book written and illustrated by Shaun Tan.

Street scene at night with neon drawings of a face, bird and bat.

Lucky

Lucky is a music video created for the band All lndia Radio. It won Best Animated Music Video at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2010.

A cartoon face of a cross between a woman and a cat.

Pussy Pumps Up

In Pussy Pumps Up, which can be viewed here in full, a feline female figure assumes more masculine characteristics.

Summary by Dr Marian Quigley.

Colourful silhoettes of three animated female trapeze artists

Circles

This short film by Isobel Knowles was originally made for the Melbourne Women's Circus and later adapted for the Amazing Rolling Picture Show in Sydney where it was shown on a screen attached to a

Animation still of a young boy wearing sailing a boat

The Gallant Captain

This is a clip from The Gallant Captain, which was written and developed by Graeme Base in collaboration with Katrina Mathers and animation studio The Lampshade Collective who had previous

Animation still of a silhoetted figure against a spooky landscape.

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello: The island

Dr Claude Belgon (Helmut Bakaitis) watches from the shadows as Jasper Morello (Joel Edgerton) is attacked by the creature they discover on the island.

Animation still of a man reading The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

The Safe House: 'Don't let her go!'

Lee (voiced by Alycia Debnam-Carey) plays with her food at dinner while a radio broadcaster (Barry Eaton) describes a scene at the airport where Mrs Petrov (voiced by Inge Romantsova) is attempting

A claymation figure shovels paper into a furnace.

Leunig Animated - How Democracy Actually Works

You can watch How Democracy Actually Works here in its entirety.

Close up of an animation of an Asian boy's face wearing a hat and looking startled.

Birthday Boy: Manuk, ‘the little soldier’

Manuk (voiced by Joshua Ahn), pretending to shoot a gun, exchanges a few battle cries with his absent father, and throws a rock at a man on a bicycle, who crashes.

Animation still of a goofy looking man cooking a sausage over a camp fire.

Harvie Krumpet: From Poland to Australia

Harvie Krumpet wishes for things to change, and they certainly do. The family home burns to the ground, his parents are frozen to death, the Germans invade and he escapes to Australia.

Animation still of a young girl's face and her dog

My Little Sumo

'Hi-ro-ko, Hiroko!' In the short film My Little Sumo, which you can watch here in full, Australian girl Daisy gets a sumo name from her trainer Kenji and then nothing will stop her in the

Animation still of an overhead view of a woman floating in the water.

Small Treasures: from joy to tantrum

The film opens with Jane (voiced by Rachel Griffiths) swimming in the sea she loves, walking by its shore and telling us of her joy at being pregnant.

Drawing of a reclining figure on an orange background.

Leisure

Leisure, directed by Australian master animator Bruce Petty in 1976, won the Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated).

Animation still of cutouts of various fish.

Animal Beatbox

Animal Beatbox, which you can watch here in full, doesn’t have a story. Instead, it’s a music video with voice and paper cut-outs that relies on repetition for its humour.

Animation still of a grinning anthropomorphic pink pig.

Hot to Trot

A cartoon adventure featuring Captain Goodvibes, the pig of steel, and his sidekick Astro. You can watch Hot to Trot here in its entirety.

It's Like That

The animated short It’s Like That can be viewed here in full. Three baby-bird puppets representing actual children held in captivity talk about their experiences and their fears.

Mutt: Mutt needs a playmate

Mac trudges up the hill, followed by his loyal Mutt. The milking done, Mutt would love to play with the bovine Matilda, but must follow Mac to meet the milk truck.

Black and white still of a male puppet in a suit and hat behind a steering wheel.

The Detectives of Noir Town

The combination of live action and puppetry in The Detectives of Noir Town, which you can watch here in full, offers a playful take with the tropes of film noir.

Colourful illustration of a Tasmanian Tiger

Tiga

A Tasmanian tiger paces inside its caged enclosure, then is seen in its native environment and in suburbia. In voice-over, people recount their sightings of the animal.

Animation still of four men in an orchestra.

The Orchestra

This is a clip from the multi-award winning, hand-drawn animation The Orchestra, by Michael Hill.

Animation still of a mother and daughter.

Mother Tongue

You can view the short film Mother Tongue here in its entirety.

Animation still of a fly on an apple core.

Redback

You can view the animated short Redback here in its entirety. A man, then a boy, try to kill a redback spider. But hard as they try, the redback lives on and has its revenge.

Two anthropomorphic beans with human mouths

Has Beans

A happily napping little kidney bean (voiced by Andy Tamandl) is attacked by two scheming, bullying lima beans (voiced by Helmut Bakaitis).

Animation still of a mechanical looking female robot.

Hello: Mix Tape

The awkward hero – a boy with an analog tape recorder for a head – tries to ask his neighbour out on a date.

Summary by Kate Matthews

Animation still of a country man playing a trumpet on the steps to his house.

One Man's Instrument

Idyllic hills and a lush banana plantation are rendered in glowing watercolours. A farmer emerges from his Queenslander home and greets the day.

A child looks up a ladder resting against a tree. At the top is a simple cartoon man.

Snippy is an Artful Dodger

A young boy, Snooks, chases the animated figure of Snippy up a ladder in his back garden. Snippy teases Snooks before springing over his head and up a tree, then onto a children’s roundabout.

Animation still of a female police officer with a woman in a red top.

Revolving Door: a victimless crime

A man cruises St Kilda’s streets in his car at night, and talks about his experiences visiting prostitutes. Sex worker Gillian talks about what it’s like being a prostitute.

Animation still of three anthropomorphic rat-like creatures.

Love Song

You can watch Love Song here in its entirety.

Animation still of a man with a lightbulb head reading a book.

The Luminary

The short animation The Luminary can be viewed here in its entirety.

Simply black line drawing of a woman holding a sign that reads, 'Vote for Women'.

The Mad Century: Marconi, Marx, Pavlov and Picasso

In the early years of the 20th Century, Marconi revolutionised communication, Queen Victoria died, and Australia federated.

Claymation still of a young schoolgirl looking sad.

Tegan the Vegan

Tegan the Vegan, which you can watch here in full, is a stop motion film that draws on the experiences of director Marisa Martin who became a vegetarian at 12 after visiting an abattoir.

Animation still of a shark or whale-like model creature.

Crust

You can watch the animated short film Crust here in its entirety.

Serving Suggestion

Little Kevin (voiced by Philip Joseph) is busy licking his snotty face at the supermarket. He hides from his mother, opens a packet of lollies off the shelf and gobbles them greedily.

animation

short films

Academy Awards

Oscars

Australian filmmakers