I wish there was more in the first 10 minutes of this short film that could have drawn the viewer in and guided him to the above profound question. For the first two thirds, there's really not much substance to this little short movie. It thrives beautifully on the animation and effects side, especially the books flying like butterflies, but beyond that, it falls kinda short to raise any true emotions. And these days, great animation simply isn't enough anymore as there's hardly an animated movie, even when it comes to shorts, that doesn't captivate you with its craft. A fun little version of "Pop Goes the Weasel" isn't enough anymore to cut the cake.
I will raise my rating a bit though for the ending. The crew really did a good job on that one as they managed to make it sad and funny at the same time. The last bit is very frequently what makes a film rise or fall in the viewer's memory and I'm pretty certain the excellent closure they gave it was one of the main reasons behind this one winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
I will raise my rating a bit though for the ending. The crew really did a good job on that one as they managed to make it sad and funny at the same time. The last bit is very frequently what makes a film rise or fall in the viewer's memory and I'm pretty certain the excellent closure they gave it was one of the main reasons behind this one winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.