My husband and I are animation buffs, and I've always looked forward to seeing the animated shorts at the Oscars, even if all I get to see are clips.

Will it ever be possible for me to see these shorts in their entirety? How would an ordinary viewer (i.e. not a movie reviewer) get a hold of them? Will they ever be on DVD (or maybe YouTube?)

All the shorts listed sound really interesting, but I'd love to find a way to see them.

Thanks for watching all these and reporting them. There are few wide-audience publications that give good information about these "little guys" of the Academy Awards.

I only wish it were easier for the rest of us to see these films in advance.

I have also often wondered how I can see the nominated shorts in the animation category.

Also, are there still any animation festivals that tour the country?

In LA you can see a program of the nominated live action shorts and animated shorts. I saw the showing of the animated shorts.

I agree with the reviewer, "Madame Tutli-Putli" is obscure and symbol laden. The animation is top notch, but I lack the tools to decipher and appreciate this work.

My favorite is the painterly Russian romance "My Love (Moya Lyubov)". It really did transport me to a different time and place and drew me into the protaganist.

What are the odds that some of these show up on youtube?

I was able to catch all five of these last weekend at Real Art Ways in Hartford. This is a limited-run theater, with many films that only run for a few days before the next comes through - check to see if you have something similar in your area.

Be aware that, at least in the screening I saw, these are not being distributed on film (for cost reasons, no doubt) - the shorts appeared to be digital files (some variation of MPEG4, I would guess) run through a digital projector. In all honesty, they needed to be encoded at a higher resolution, as they all looked a little pixelated on screen, but I'm still glad I was able to see them in a theater.

Just checked - it appears that most of the live-action and animated shorts are available from Shorts International on iTunes, for $1.99 each. It appears that only Madame Tutli-Putli is missing from the animated group (and you can get that on YouTube), and only "The Substitute" is missing from the live-action nominees. I'm probably going to purchase "My Love", as it is simply gorgeous, and may take a look at some of the live-action nominees, as well - as Andrew mentioned, they should be great fare for viewing on my iPhone.

Hey all --

Thanks for the feedback. Magnolia Pictures has dual programs of the animated and live-action shorts showing in roughly 60 theaters around the country right now, with more to come. Follow the links at http://www.magpictures.com/ and you can probably find one near you.

As mentioned, you can stream or download some of these films for a modest fee, and a few are available on YouTube. I don't know whether the YT version of "Madame Tutli-Putli" is legit or not, but the National Film Board of Canada (its producer) seems to have done nothing to stop it.

Glad to hear that some of you enjoyed that wonderful Russian animated film, "My Love," as much as I did.

When I lived in LA and Chicago, it was possible to see it at the film school or art houses. But as I don't live in those cities any more, I now turn to YouTube.

This is a poor substitute for seeing the beautiful work on a big screen, I know.

It's too bad these links weren't included with the article; YouTube is often used here. Why not now?

Cheers.

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Even Pigeons Go To Heaven/France: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agRX7w-2xRE

I Met the Walrus/Canada: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poLVBz1iKnU

Madame Tutli-Putli/Canada:

* Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE9cTFTYTig

* Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPeRaAQ_wx0

My Love/Russian:

* Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq7nLVoaPX8

* Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PYovw6OCs

* Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Cs6hHp_Wo

Peter and The Wolf/UK:

* Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1SzWa3g0Nw

* Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anfDudtwPNo&feature=related

* Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gYD00_k0I&feature=related