Winning Selections from 2012
—Critic's Choice Award 2012— The Critic's Choice award is given to the animation that receives the highest marks from the festival judges across all categories. For the second year in a row, the winner of the prestigious title has risen from the student entries. "Defective Detective" is about a washed-up detective, whose imagination runs wild, as he tries to solve the most critical case of his career.
Avner Geller & Stevie Lewis
Defective Detective from Ringling College of Art + Design on Vimeo.
Judges Comments about "Defective Detective"
"The film was very entertaining and well conceived. The character performances were strong and the animation quality superb."
"Great animation! Interesting and creative story! The rendering, lighting, and models are beautiful! Love the mix of 2D and 3D elements in the animation."
—Student Award 2012— Blue Plum Animation Festival tradition is to award the runner up in the category from which came the Critic's Choice. Thus, the winning ticket for the Student Award is "METRO" about a young girl who must pursue a mysterious fox through a strange and fantastic world in order to get back her train ticket.
Jacob Wyatt
METRO trailer from Jacob Wyatt on Vimeo.
Judges Comments about "METRO"
"Yes! More please! Perfect!"
"So much in such a small package. Animation and story has so much emotion. My favorite film of the festival. Bravo!"
"The film's artistic styling is beautiful."
—Professional Award 2012— Narrated by Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum, Tropic Thunder, The Other Guys, Coffee and Cigarettes, I'm Alan Partridge...) with music composed by Jeff Mercel of Mercury Rev, 'Marvin' is a short, slightly twisted, animated film based on Frank Pudney's original idea. It tells the story of a young boy born with an unusual extra orifice in the middle of his forehead and the adventure he embarks upon when one day something important falls out. Marvin was produced by Tim Searle at Baby Cow Animation and funded by the UK Film Council and Screen South.
Mark Nute
Marvin Trailer from marknute on Vimeo.
Judges Comments about "Marvin"
"Like and animated storybook."
"Colors were gorgeous and the end was hilarious!"
"The visuals blended perfectly with the strong performance of the narrator."
—Independent Award 2012— The Independent Award goes to an animation with a long name and plenty of character. The story follows a day in the life of a goat herder and his flock of goats as they travel up and down the mountains of Spain. The animation feature a musical track by Andy Cabic, lead singer of the band Vetiver.
Will Rose
The Goat Herder and his Lots and Lots and Lots of Goats from Will Rose on Vimeo.
Judges Comments about "The Goat Herder..."
"Very entertaining!"
"The color palette was excellent plus the music and sound were spot on."
"I really enjoyed the bold simplistic design"
—Audience Choice Award 2012— It was a close race for the 2012 Audience Choice award with a record number of voters this year, but Sherlock Holmes nabbed the prize. When the world's greatest detective Sherlock Holmes and his long suffering companion Doctor Watson arrive at the scene of a robbery; Holmes is shocked to discover rival detective Dashwood Hunter is already on the case. Holmes doggedly follows in Dashwood's footsteps as a trail of clues lead him across London on a frantic race to solve the mystery. But when Holmes' envy of Dashwood's abilities backfires, the great detective must choose between solving the mystery and rescuing his only friend.
Red Star Animation
Find out more about the film at RedStar3D
Winning Selections from 2011
—Critic's Choice Award 2011— "Photographs" by B.Ki.Animation surpassed entries in the student category to be noted as best in the festival for 2011.
B.Ki.Animation
Photograph Trailer from B.Ki.Animation on Vimeo.
Judges Comments about "Photographs"
"It's hard to believe this is student work. Brilliant. Beautiful. And moving. It brought me to tears. Outstanding, and an inspiration."
"Beautiful, touching and well made. Bravo!"
"I absolutely loved this short! By far, my favorite of the bunch."
—Student Award 2011— Blue Plum Animation Festival tradition is to award the runner up in the category from which came the Critic's Choice. Thus, the Student Award is bequeathed to "Estudio Mendizábal" in 2011
Kiko Pérez
Estudio Mendizábal from Kiko Pérez on Vimeo.
—Professional Award 2011— The judges called 2011's professional winner, "hilarious and brilliant concept, story and characters," "clever" and "polished."
Joonki Park
Friday Night Tights from joonki park on Vimeo.
—Independent Award 2011— The Independent Animator Award goes to a "dapper" of an animation, "Deux Petits Bateaux".
Kate Raney
Deux Petits Bateaux from Kate Raney on Vimeo.
—Audience Choice Award 2011— The young folks attended the festival in droves and voted "Lava" as the audience favorite, putting it on a "hot streak."
Kimberley Palmer