Cringe and wince as Bob’s surprise 40th birthday party backfires. Bob’s Birthday won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 1994 and was the precursor of the legendary Bob & Margaret series. In Canada, it was the highest rated Canadian made animation series ever. More info on the Snowden Fine website.

Directed Cordell Barker and produced by fellow award-winning Winnipeg animator Richard Condie. Based on the children’s song “And the Cat Came Back”, it is about the increasingly desperate Mr. Johnson, an old man who attempts to rid himself of a small, yet extremely destructive, yellow cat. It won over 15 awards, including a Genie Award and an Academy Award nomination.

It was directed by Nick Park at the Aardman animation studio. A Matter of Loaf and Death was the big BBC TV hit of Christmas 2008 and features the voices of Geraldine McEwan, Peter Sallis and Sally Lindsay. It was nominated for best animated short film in the 2010 Academy Awards.