Best Short Movies

#1 Night and Fog 1955
Nuit et Brouillard

Director: Alain Resnais. Cast: Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler, Julius Streicher.

Overview: The documentary film from French director Resnais set ten years after the Second World War depicts the problems of Auschwitz with shocking images from the concentration camps.

Genres: Documentary, Foreign, Indie. Country: France. Runtime: 32m.

#2 The Man Who Planted Trees 1988

The story of one shepherd's long and successful singlehanded effort to re-forest a desolate valley.

Director: Frédéric Back. Cast: Philippe Noiret, Christopher Plummer.

Overview: This film tells the story of a shepard who repairs the ruined ecosystem of a secluded valley by singlehandedly cultivating a forest over a thirty year period.

Runtime: 30m.

#3 Duck Amuck 1953

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Mel Blanc.

Overview: The short-tempered Daffy Duck must improvise madly as the backgrounds, his costumes, the soundtrack, even his physical form, shifts and changes at the whim of the animator.

Genres: Animation, Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 7m.

#4 Presto 2008

Director: Doug Sweetland. Cast: Doug Sweetland.

Overview: Dignity. Poise. Mystery. We expect nothing less from the great turn-of-the-century magician, Presto. But when Presto neglects to feed his rabbit one too many times, the magician finds he isn't the only one with a few tricks up his sleeves!

Genres: Animation, Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 5m. Rated: G.

#5 Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers 1993

Director: Nick Park. Cast: Peter Sallis.

Overview: Gromit finds himself being pushed out of his room and home by a new lodger who is actually a ruthless criminal (and a small penguin). The penguin is planning a robbery and needs to use Wallace and his mechanical remote controlled trousers to pull off the raid. However, Gromit is wise to the penguin and comes to the rescue.

Genre: Animation. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 30m. Rated: NR.

#6 One Froggy Evening 1955

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Bill Roberts.

Overview: A man futilely struggles to make his fortune with a frog that sings and dances, but only when it is alone with the owner.

Runtime: 7m.

#7 Vincent 1982

Director: Tim Burton. Cast: Vincent Price.

Overview: Young Vincent Malloy dreams of being just like Vincent Price and loses himself in macabre daydreams which annoys his mother.

Genres: Animation, Drama, Fantasy. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 6m. Rated: G.

#8 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 1966

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

Directors: Chuck Jones, Ben Washam. Cast: Boris Karloff.

Overview: Bitter and hateful, the Grinch is irritated at the thought of the nearby village having a happy time celebrating Christmas. So disguised as Santa Claus, with his dog made to look like a reindeer, he raids the village to steal all the Christmas things. The village is sure to have a sad Christmas this year.

Genres: Animation, Family, Holiday, Comedy. Runtime: 26m. Rated: NR.

#9 More 1998

Get Happy

Director: Mark Osborne.

Overview: A factory worker in a dark, gray world assembles devices that promise happiness. In his spare time he tinkers to create something better, and finally succeeds in perfecting his invention, which allows people to see life through rose-colored glasses, but he has to pay a price for his success.

Genre: Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 6m.

#10 Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave 1995

Director: Nick Park. Cast: Peter Sallis.

Overview: Wallace falls in love with wool-shop owner Wendolene, not suspecting that she (or rather, her dog) is at the head of a fiendish sheep-rustling plot. Gromit is set up and jailed, but his new-found sheepish friend is determine to give Wallace a helping hand in finding out the real truth.

Genre: Animation. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 30m. Rated: NR.

#11 A Charlie Brown Christmas 1965

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!

Director: Bill Melendez. Cast: Ann Altieri, Chris Doran, Sally Dryer, Bill Melendez, Karen Mendelson, Geoffrey Ornstein, Peter Robbins, Tracy Stratford, Kathy Steinberg, Christopher Shea.

Overview: When Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism that he sees amongst everyone during the Christmas season, Lucy suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown accepts, but is a frustrating struggle. When an attempt to restore the proper spirit with a forlorn little fir Christmas tree fails, he needs Linus' help to learn the meaning of Christmas.

Genres: Animation, Comedy, Family, Holiday, Kids, Short. Runtime: 25m. Rated: PG.

#12 Rabbit of Seville 1950

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Mel Blanc.

Overview: Behind the Hollywood Bowl stage which is playing the opera, The Barber of Seville, Bugs Bunny flees into the backstage area with Elmer Fudd in close pursuit. Seeing his opportunity to fight on his terms, Bugs raises the curtain on Elmer, trapping him on stage. As the orchestra begins playing, Bugs comes into play as the barber who is going to make sure that Elmer is going to get a grooming he will never forget.

Runtime: 7m.

#13 The house in little cubes 2008
La Maison en Petits Cubes

Director: Kunio Katô. Cast: Masami Nagasawa.

Overview: As his town is flooded by water, an old man builds his home higher and higher to stay dry. When his pipe falls through the water, he has to revisit each layer of memories to retrieve it.

Genre: Animation. Country: Japan. Runtime: 12m.

#14 Thriller 1983

Director: John Landis. Cast: Ola Ray, Vincent Price, Michael Jackson.

Overview: Thriller is the music video by Michael Jackson and director John Landis. This short horror film from 1983 is hailed as one of the greatest music videos of all times in which Michael Jackson transforms into a dancing zombie who chases after his horrified girlfriend played by Ola Ray.

Genres: Horror, Musical. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 14m.

#15 Island of Flowers 1990
Ilha das Flores

A place where there's no God.

Director: Jorge Furtado. Cast: Luciane Azevedo, Júlia Barth, Paulo José.

Overview: The ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato from the plantation.

Genre: Documentary. Country: Brazil. Runtime: 13m.

#16 La Jetée 1962

Director: Chris Marker. Cast: Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux.

Overview: The Pier / La Jetee is a masterpiece from French director Chris Marker from 1962. A post apocalyptic science fiction short film in the form of a photo collage. The film inspired the film ’12 Monkeys.’

Genres: Foreign, Romance, Science Fiction. Country: France. Runtime: 28m.

#17 Winnie Pooh 1969
Vinni-Pukh

Director: Fyodor Khitruk. Cast: Evgeni Leonov, Iya Savvina, Vladimir Osenev.

Overview: With a cheeky, down-to-earth charm that appeals to both children and adults, the series – beginning with 'Vinnie-Pukh (1969)' – has since developed something of a cult following, and are considered by many to decisively surpass their Disney counterparts, however uneasily they may fit into the official canon. The animation itself is somewhat coarse and minimalistic, but this all adds to the charm of it all, with the story and characters coming to life as though they have just stepped out of a picture-book.

Runtime: 11m.

#18 Rabbit Seasoning 1952

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Mel Blanc.

Overview: The cartoon finds a row of signs saying it's rabbit season ("If you're looking for fun, you don't need a reason. All you need is a gun, it's Rabbit Season!"). Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck again are arguing over which of them is “in season” (it is really Duck Season, as Daffy says in the beginning), while a befuddled Elmer Fudd tries to figure out which animal is telling the truth. Between using sneaky plays-on-words, and dressing himself in women's clothing (including a Lana Turner-style sweater), Bugs manages to escape unscathed, while Daffy repeatedly has his beak blown off, upside-down, and sideways by Elmer.

Genres: Animation, Family, Short, Comedy. Runtime: 7m.

#19 Trip to the Moon 1902
Le voyage dans la lune

Director: Georges Méliès. Cast: Georges Méliès, Henri Delannoy, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet, Victor André, Jeanne d'Alcy, Depierre, Farjaut, Kelm.

Overview: A Trip to The Moon is a science fiction film from the French film pioneer Georges Méliès from the year 1902 about a trip to the moon. The film was the first film with a self-contained plot and was the beginning of the Science Fiction genre.

Genre: Science Fiction. Country: France. Runtime: 8m.

#20 Hedgehog in the Fog 1975
Yozhik v tumane

Director: Yuriy Norshteyn. Cast: Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Mariya Vinogradova, Aleksey Batalov.

Overview: A little hedgehog, on the way to visit his friend the bear, gets lost in thick fog, where horses, dogs and even falling leaves take on a terrifying new aspect...

Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 11m.

#21 Signs 2008

Director: Patrick Hughes. Cast: Kestie Morassi, Nick Russell.

Overview: Where do you find love? Sometimes all you need is a sign.

Runtime: 12m.

#22 What's Opera, Doc? 1957

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Mel Blanc.

Overview: Bugs is in drag as the Valkyrie Brunhilde who sits on an overwieght horse. "She" is pursued by Elmer playing the demigod "Siegfried".

Genres: Animation, Short. Runtime: 7m.

#23 One Week 1920

Directors: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline. Cast: Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, Joe Roberts.

Overview: The story involves two newlyweds, Keaton and Seely, who receive a build-it-yourself house as a wedding gift. The house can be built, supposedly, in "one week." A rejected suitor secretly re-numbers packing crates. The movie recounts Keaton's struggle to assemble the house according to this new "arrangement".

Genres: Comedy, Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 19m.

#24 The Cat Concerto 1947

Directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera.

Overview: Tom enters from stage left in white tie and tails, sits at the piano, gets his focus as the orchestra in the pit beneath him warms up, and begins to play Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody." Unbeknownst to Tom and the audience, Jerry is asleep across several of the high-note keys inside the instrument, so Tom's playing eventually wakes him. Jerry is pummeled by hammers, bounced by wires, and squeezed by Tom as the cat tries to play the concerto while dispensing with Jerry. Jerry's defensive antics add to the brio of the program and answer Tom with Jerry's own skillful musical attack. By the concerto's end, the duet leaves only one animal standing for the audience's applause.

Genre: Animation. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 8m.

#25 Validation 2007

A fable about the magic of free parking.

Director: Kurt Kuenne. Cast: T.J. Thyne, Vicki Davis.

Overview: A fable about a parking attendant who gives his customers REAL validation -- dispensing both free parking and free compliments.

Genres: Short, Comedy, Romance. Runtime: 16m.

#26 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 1962
La rivière du hibou

Director: Robert Enrico. Cast: Roger Jacquet, Anne Cornaly, Anker Larsen.

Overview: During the Civil War, a Southern civilian is about to be hanged for attempting to sabotage a railway bridge. When the execution takes place from the bridge, the rope breaks and he begins his escape toward home.

Genre: Drama. Runtime: 28m.

#27 Balance 1989

Directors: Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein.

Overview: The setting is on a floating platform where a group of evenly and carefully placed men live. Each man is aware that the platform is not stable and in order not to fall to their deaths, they maintain a careful balance of weight to prevent the platform from tipping too far and cause them all to fall.

Genre: Animation. Country: Germany. Runtime: 7m.

#28 For the Birds 2000

Director: Ralph Eggleston. Cast: Ralph Eggleston.

Overview: One by one, a flock of small birds perches on a telephone wire. Sitting close together has problems enough, and then comes along a large dopey bird that tries to join them. The birds of a feather can't help but make fun of him - and their clique mentality proves embarrassing in the end.

Genres: Animation, Short. Runtime: 3m.

#29 Kiwi! 2006

Director: Dony Permedi.

Overview: The story of a Kiwi who spends his whole life working towards achieving his dream.

Runtime: 3m.

#30 Partly Cloudy 2009

Director: Peter Sohn. Cast: Tony Fucile, Lori Richardson.

Overview: Partly Cloudy is a Pixar CGI animated short film shown in theaters before Up.

Genres: Animation, Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 5m.

#31 Day & Night 2010

Director: Teddy Newton. Cast: Wayne Dyer.

Overview: When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other's unique qualities--and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world-the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.

Genres: Animation, Family, Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 6m. Rated: G.

#32 Winnie the Pooh and a Busy Day 1972
Vinni-Pukh i den zabot

Directors: Fyodor Khitruk, Gennadiy Sokolskiy. Cast: Vladimir Osenev, Evgeni Leonov, Iya Savvina.

Overview: Another Russian Pooh story. This time the donkey, known from the Pooh stories as Eyeore, is sad because he has no tail. Pooh goes in search of one and finds it attached to a bell that hangs from the treehouse of one Owl.

Runtime: 21m.

#33 Rabbit Fire 1951

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Mel Blanc.

Overview: Daffy Duck and Bugs argue back and forth whether it is duck season or rabbit season. The object of their arguments is hunter Elmer Fudd.

Runtime: 7m.

#34 The Snowman 1982

Director: Dianne Jackson. Cast: David Bowie.

Overview: Delightfully animated story describing how a young boy's snowman comes to life at midnight. Introduction by David Bowie. Based on the book by Raymond Briggs.

Genres: Animation, Family. Runtime: 26m.

#35 Skhizein 2008

Director: Jérémy Clapin. Cast: Julien Boisselier.

Overview: Having been struck by a 150-ton meteorite, Henry has to adapt to living precisely ninety-one centimeters from himself.

Runtime: 13m.

#36 The Red Balloon 1957
Le ballon rouge

Director: Albert Lamorisse. Cast: Pascal Lamorisse, Georges Sellier.

Overview: In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere. With its glorious palette and allegorical purity, the Academy Award–winning The Red Balloon has enchanted movie lovers, young and old, for generations.

Genres: Family, Fantasy, Foreign, Science Fiction. Country: France. Runtime: 34m. Rated: NR.

#37 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century 1953

Director: Chuck Jones. Cast: Mel Blanc.

Overview: Space hero Daffy battles Marvin the Martian for control of Planet X.

Runtime: 7m.

#38 The Music Box 1932

Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy decided to reorganize and resupervise their entire financial structure- so they took the $3.80 and went into business.

Director: James Parrott. Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy.

Overview: The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. have a challenging job on their hands (and backs): hauling a player piano up a monumental flight of stairs to Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen's house. Their task is complicated by a sassy nursemaid and, unbeknownst to them, the impatient Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen himself. But the biggest problem is the force of gravity, which repeatedly pulls the piano back down to the bottom of the stairs. Finally, the irate Professor explodes in fury to discover the "mechanical blunderbuss" in his home, not knowing it was a surprise birthday present from his wife.

Genres: Comedy, Short. Runtime: 29m.

#39 Rejected 2000

Director: Don Hertzfeldt. Cast: Don Hertzfeldt, Don Hertzfeldt, Don Hertzfeldt, Robert May, Robert May, Robert May, Robert May, Robert May, Jennifer Nyholm.

Overview: An animator's commissioned works, rejected because of their increasingly absurd and violent tone (reflecting the animator's own progressive breakdown)

Genres: Animation, Short. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 9m. Rated: NC-17.

#40 Mickey's Trailer 1938

Director: Ben Sharpsteen. Cast: Pinto Colvig, Walt Disney, Clarence Nash.

Overview: Goofy's in the driver's seat, Mickey's in the kitchen, and Donald's in bed in Mickey's high-tech house trailer. When Goofy comes back to eat breakfast, leaving the car on autopilot, it takes them onto a dangerous closed mountain road. When Goofy realizes this, he accidentally unhooks the trailer, sending it on a perilous route. They come very close to disaster several times, while the oblivious Goofy drives on and hooks back up to them.

Runtime: 7m.

#41 Winnie the Pooh Goes Visiting 1971
Vinni-Pukh idyot v gosti

Director: Fyodor Khitruk. Cast: Evgeni Leonov, Iya Savvina, Anatoliy Shchukin, Vladimir Osenev.

Overview: This was the second of the Russian Winnie the Pooh series. This one had Pooh and Piglet visiting Rabbit for a meal with honey.

Runtime: 10m.

#42 Darkness Light Darkness 1990
Tma/Svetlo/Tma

Director: Jan Svankmajer.

Overview: A human body gradually reconstructs itself as its various component parts crowd themselves into a small room and eventually, after much experimentation, sort out which part goes where.

Runtime: 6m.

#43 Beastie Boys: Sabotage 1994

Director: Spike Jonze. Cast: Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz, Mike D.

Overview: Set to the song, Sabotage, the Beastie Boys appear in a condensed parody of a 1970s cop show.

Runtime: 3m.

#44 Powers of Ten 1977

Directors: Charles Eames, Ray Eames. Cast: Philip Morrison.

Overview: A scientific film essay, narrated by Phil Morrison. A set of pictures of two picnickers in a park, with the area of each frame one-tenth the size of the one before. Starting from a view of the entire known universe, the camera gradually zooms in until we are viewing the subatomic particles on a man's hand.

Genre: Documentary. Runtime: 9m.

#45 Partie de campagne 1936

Director: Jean Renoir. Cast: Sylvia Bataille, Jane Marken, Georges D'Arnoux.

Overview: The family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love to a man at the inn, where they spend the day.

Country: France. Runtime: 40m.

#46 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 1966

Every year he rises from the pumpkin patch...

Director: Bill Melendez. Cast: Christopher Shea, Sally Dryer, Kathy Steinberg, Ann Altieri, Gail DeFaria, Lisa DeFaria, Glenn Mendelson, Bill Melendez, Peter Robbins.

Overview: This classic "Peanuts" tale focuses on the thumb-sucking, blanket-holding Linus, and his touching faith in the "Great Pumpkin." When Linus discovers that no one else believes in the creature, he sets out to prove that the Pumpkin's no myth -- by spending the night alone in a pumpkin patch.

Genres: Animation, Family, Kids. Runtime: 25m. Rated: NR.

#47 Dimensions of Dialogue 1982
Možnosti dialogu

Director: Jan Svankmajer.

Overview: A three-part depiction of various forms of communication.

Genre: Animation. Country: Czech Republic. Runtime: 12m.

#48 The Heart of the World 2000

Director: Guy Maddin. Cast: Leslie Bais.

Overview: Pure fantasia, a race to save the world from a fatal heart attack, juxtaposed against a love rivalry between two brothers - a mortician and an actor playing Christ - for the heart of a scientist studying the earth's core.

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Short. Country: Canada. Runtime: 6m.

#49 Der 90. Geburtstag oder Dinner for One 1963

Director: Heinz Dunkhase. Cast: Freddie Frinton, May Warden, Heinz Piper.

Overview: A very old woman wants to have dinner with her friends. As they are all dead, the butler has to play the role of every guest.

Genre: Comedy. Countries: Germany, United Kingdom. Runtime: 18m.