{"id":5407,"date":"2013-02-08T17:36:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-09T01:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=5407"},"modified":"2013-02-08T17:36:16","modified_gmt":"2013-02-09T01:36:16","slug":"the-oscar-nominated-story-of-mans-first-best-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2013\/02\/the-oscar-nominated-story-of-mans-first-best-friend.html","title":{"rendered":"The Oscar-nominated story of man’s first best friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>It turns out one of the five nominees for this year\u2019s Oscar for Best Animated Short is a version of the story of Adam and Eve, as told from the point of view of a dog. Adam and Dog<\/i> actually won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short<\/a> one year ago \u2014 beating such better-known films as Pixar\u2019s La Luna<\/i>, Disney\u2019s The Ballad of Nessie<\/i> and Warner\u2019s I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat<\/i> \u2014 but it somehow didn\u2019t get much exposure or qualify for the Oscars until this<\/i> year. And now that the Academy is casting its final votes, the entire short film has been released online:
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hq0-i8GQbgw<\/p>\n

One of the things I like about this film is the way it resolutely sticks to the dog\u2019s point of view. God\u2019s interactions with Adam and Eve are kept entirely off-screen, which allows for a certain mystery but also, in a way, affirms the fact that humans and animals are different from one another and relate to things differently.<\/p>\n

Seeing things from the dog\u2019s point of view also challenges some of our natural sympathies. When we first see Adam with Eve, she no longer comes across to us<\/i> as the fulfillment of Adam\u2019s wishes but, in a sense, as some sort of interloper who comes between the first man and the first man\u2019s-best-friend. And then, at the end, after God has cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, the dog tags along \u2014 and it is kind of striking to ponder the possibility that one of God\u2019s creations might seem more loving to these humans, for lack of a better word, than the Creator himself.<\/p>\n

The film was directed by Minkyu Lee<\/a>, a Disney visual development artist who made the film in his spare time with help from artists at other studios, including DreamWorks and Pixar. I don\u2019t know much about the religious background, if any, of these artists, but I do note that Lee told my friend Darrel Manson, in an interview for Hollywood Jesus, that the idea for the film was partly motivated by \u201cmy faith<\/a>\u201d; plus, one of the consultants on the film, who also did some visual development on it, was Disney legend Glen Keane, who is a practising Christian<\/a> in his own right.<\/p>\n

The Oscar winners won\u2019t be announced until February 24, so until then, here\u2019s hoping more people see Lee\u2019s film and give it their vote.<\/p>\n

In addition to seeing it online, you can also catch it as part of the traveling collection of Oscar-nominated short films<\/a> that is currently touring the planet. (Here in Vancouver, they\u2019re playing at the VanCity Theatre<\/a> until February 21.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It turns out one of the five nominees for this year\u2019s Oscar for Best Animated Short is a version of the story of Adam and Eve, as told from the point of view of a dog. Adam and Dog actually won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short one year ago \u2014 beating such better-known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[637,639,642,638,641,640,347],"class_list":["post-5407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-adam","tag-adam-and-dog","tag-annie-awards","tag-eve","tag-glen-keane","tag-minkyu-lee","tag-oscars"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Oscar-nominated story of man's first best friend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It turns out one of the five nominees for this year's Oscar for Best Animated Short is a version of the story of Adam and Eve, as told from the point of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2013\/02\/the-oscar-nominated-story-of-mans-first-best-friend.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Oscar-nominated story of man's first best friend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It turns out one of the five nominees for this year's Oscar for Best Animated Short is a version of the story of Adam and Eve, as told from the point of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2013\/02\/the-oscar-nominated-story-of-mans-first-best-friend.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-09T01:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2013\/02\/adamanddog-300x209.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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