Director: Kunio Katō
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Rating: ★★★★★ ♕
Review:
In ‘The House of Small Cubes’ (better known by its french title ‘La maison en petits cubes’) an old man lives in an almost abandoned town, flooded by an ever rising sea level.
Each time the level reaches his doorstep, he builds another level on top of the former one. One day his pipe falls down into a former home. The man dives to retrieve his pipe, but also into his own memories. By diving into ever deeper levels the old man remembers his deceased wife, his former family, and even the times before the flood began.
‘The House of Small Cubes’ is a gentle and sweet little movie on memory and loss. Despite being made in Japan, nothing in the film looks Japanese, and the short’s surreal but moving story is by all means universal. The film thus rightfully won the 2008 Academy Award for best animated short film.
Watch ‘The House of Small Cubes’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘The House of Small Cubes’ is available on the DVD Box ‘The Animation Show of Shows Box Set 9’ and on the French DVD box set ‘Annecy – Le coffret du 50e anniversaire’
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 
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April 19, 2021 at 16:16
ospreyshire
Yes! This is such a powerful short film. I’m glad there are others who have reviewed it on here. Did you know that it actually won an Oscar for Best Animated Short and beat out what Disney and Pixar did that same year? While I think the Academy is questionable at best, if there was one animated work that deserved that award it’s The House of Small Cubes.
April 19, 2021 at 16:20
Gijs Grob
Yes, I was aware of that, and I agree with you that the Academy Award was well-deserved.
April 19, 2021 at 16:24
ospreyshire
Nice! I just didn’t know if you knew, but good on Robot Communications for getting that recognition from the Academy. The works I’ve seen from them have been wonderful like Golden Time (not the TV series) and Tortov Roddle.