Shortlisted: Maybe Elephants (short)

Fortunately for the narrator, her parents did not quite go to Mosquito Coast lengths. However, their decision, not particularly well thought out, to spend several years in Kenya was certainly disruptive. However, their three daughters had much more fun than the children in Paul Theroux’s novel. During their Kenyan interlude, they shared an experience that became the stuff of family legend. Yet, they apparently remember it very differently. Director-screenwriter Torril Kove tells her version of the tale in the 16-minute animated short film Maybe Elephants, supported by the National Film Board of Canada, which has been shortlisted by the Academy.

Hopefully, the Academy does not mind sequels in this category, because Maybe Elephants is a loose follow-up to Kove’s Me and My Moulton. The prior nominated short looked back at Kove childhood in 1960s Norway, living with two very hippy-dippy parents. They seem a bit more grounded when Maybe Elephants starts in the 1970s. Her father has comfortably settled into life as a middle-class architect. However, the narrator’s mother shows signs of discontent that perhaps even hint at a relatively mild but persistent form of depression.

Then one day, the narrator’s mother (also a trained but under-employed architect) announces she wants to move to somewhre, anywhere in Africa, to help plan and build public works. Rather archly, her daughters ask how she knows the Africans even want her help. Nevertheless, the family moves to Kenya, but it is their father who secures the three-year posting with an NGO. Arguably, the change of scenery still does them good. There is also an incident with elephants—maybe.

Kove’s animation is evocative of the clean, colorful line drawings of vintage 1970s and 1980s children’s books, which suits the Seventies setting of Maybe Elephants even better than the previous film. It is a nostalgic and gently ironic story, which features a groovy African-influenced soundtrack (and a licensed Miriam Makeba tune, “Pata Pata”).

Both of Kove’s related shorts lovingly capture the craziness of families. She also previously won the Oscar in this category for The Danish Poet, so Maybe Elephants should be considered a leading contender. It is also an appealingly bittersweet film, recommended for animation fans.