Here’s my own contribution for the up and coming Academy Awards…

Harvie Krumpet is a short Australian animation narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It was created by Adam Elliot, same director of the 2009 masterpiece, Mary and Max (my review here). It tells the story of Harvek Milos Krumpetzki, a polish boy born to a wood-chopper father and a schizophrenic mother. He was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome when noticed twitching and touching people’s noses. Harvie never faced much luck in his life. It began at the school yard, where he was teased by the other kids for his peculiar behavior. He was taken out of school by his mom who decided to home-school Harvie. As she was illiterate, she taught him nothing but facts (fakts). Harvie kept collecting facts and wrote them in a little book he kept with him… and the rest is told by Mr. Rush.

Harvie is an animated character but real in so many ways. Throughout his life Harvie collects more and more misfortune and yet remains positive and optimistic. He is kind and loving.

Harvie Krumpet is a charming film in so many aspects. The characters are so humanly designed and displayed, every scene is created and shot with such accuracy to the real world, and Geoffrey Rush’s narration is told with such elegance and detailed simplicity.

I’m always so fascinated with how these films are made. I cannot imagine how much time it takes to adjust/ remake hand motions and facial expressions, clothing and locations. It’s a 22 minute work of art!

Harvie Krumpet is a 2003 Academy Award winner for Animated Short Film. It is easily found on YouTube and you can also find the video below. I love this film and highly recommend it. I ended up tearing.