MartinHafer Like last year, I went to a special showing of the Oscar-nominated animated short films. However, unlike last year, in addition to the nominees, several "commended films" were also shown. Surely there must have been quite a few better animated short films than JOHN AND KAREN made from 2007-2008. Yet, oddly, this film was a so-called "commended film" by the Oscar nominating committee. This means that while not nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar, it was close to being good enough for nomination.The film consists of a polar bear and a penguin having an awkward tea party. It seems that they were in a relationship together and the polar bear did something stupid and the entire film consists of their trying to patch things up and work through whatever had occurred.As for the quality of the film, the animation was very poor and it's rare to see animation of this quality to be so recognized. The story is also very, very slight and the only real gimmick is how stilted and awkward the conversation is--and this idea gets pretty thin pretty quickly. Why it was chosen is beyond me, as many lovely films didn't get recognized--yet this amazingly ordinary film was. Overall, it's watchable and mildly interesting--and that's all.Oh, and despite this cartoon and a Coke ad to the contrary, Polar Bears live exclusively in the Northern hemisphere and penguins in the Southern hemisphere--not that this makes or breaks the cartoon.

Polaris_DiB Aw man, I love it! I saw this short during The Animation Show 4, and it particularly stood out for its simplicity and also poignancy. John is a polar bear that goes to visit Karen, a penguin, to apologize for some comments he made the night before. Apparently the two are in a relationship and this is the scene of them redeeming each other and getting back together. It's really cute, but also really fun to watch. Visual humor is made in the difference in scale between John and Karen, and the dialog is spot-on perfect (who hasn't been there? Huh? HUH?). It's so touching, too, because despite the fact that it is a polar bear and a penguin, and it's nearly impossible to figure out how they managed to get together in the first place, still they just WORK so well for each other and obviously make each other happy! Yes, all of this from a simple, short animation. Believe me.--PolarisDiB

dbborroughs Matthew Walker short film about John, a polar bear, going to see Karen, a penguin in order to apologize for things said the night before. Amusing tale is utterly charming reflection of a moment probably anyone who's ever dated anyone has been through. The animation is spot on with the incongruity of the two leads somehow making it all the more charming (The facial expressions are a wonderful match for a wonderful voice cast). I would love to see more films with this mismatched pair, because frankly three minutes is not enough time. Worth seeing. (I saw this with Encounters at the End of the World. Having seen a very brief clip on line the ability to see the full film was one of the things that tipped me towards going to see Encounters)

bob the moo Polar bear John waits at the door of penguin Karen. After a frosty reception he is let in and offered tea and biscuits but it is clear that Karen is still upset. Will John be able to break the ice with his apology?A simple yet amusing short film this one that is mostly pleasant because of how short and unusual it is. The plot for what it is, is about an apology from John to Karen for something insensitive he said to her the night before. The fact that John is a massive bear and Karen is a tiny penguin is just an aside because, like all of us idiot men, John has insensitively criticised Karen for being different from him, rather than appreciating her for her different strengths. And that's about the size of it.It is not brilliant by any means but the juxtaposition of the two animals is immediately amusing and the frosty air of their relationship is well observed. The film doesn't make a fuss of the animals being what they are, being in a relationship or indeed living in a house and this is part of the appeal as it creates an amusing air. It doesn't really deliver much on top of this but, at three minutes length, it does do enough to bemuse and amuse, which was enough for me.