Awesome Animated

Slightly NSFW: The voice acting is hammy and it starts off slow, but The Seafarer redeems itself in the second half: think giant robots with laser beams, machine guns and cannons.

As if taking a cement block elevator to the ocean floor weren’t enough: Down to Earth is a funny short film about a pinstriped mobster who can’t catch a break even in his final moments.

Move over, Chuck Norris, Charles Nelson Reilly is in town: Weird Al and JibJab team up for CNR, a White Stripes spoof that paints the actor as the badass to end all badasses.

It’s complete nonsense, but what beautiful nonsense it is: Birdy Nam Nam puts Daft Punk and Heavy Metal in a blender and spits out robots, sneakers, sugar cubes and sarcophagi.

Men have pined and puzzled over women since time immemorial, a plight made all the more poignant by Virgile: it’s a retro-styled animated short film about being out of your league.

Slightly NSFW: created as the prologue for a documentary, the simply-titled Video Games is an eccentric (but awesome) mashup of classic games that borders on being raunchy.

The humor in Donatello Gets Screwed is pretty crude (particularly from an ornery Splinter), but we couldn’t help laughing at (and pitying) the forgotten fourth Ninja Turtle’s plight.

Monkey doctors, octopus sushi chefs, brain-eating anteaters: you might have to get therapy after Musicotherapie; it’s a ridiculously weird short film which is both hypnotic and neurotic.

Evangelion 1.0 finally makes it to the US July 17th at 77 theaters; it’s part of a four-movie arc that rebuilds the original anime with notably improved animation and faster-pacing.

Created by Korea-based animation team MESAI, Alarm is a beautifully rendered hi-def short film on the misery of waking up and the perils of the snooze button; thanks, Daniel!

Ben Harper and Sean Mullen’s short animated 3D film, Blip, has a relatively simple story: peace for two laser-toting warmongers just means twice the war for everyone else.

Trailer #2 for Planet 51 isn’t earth-shattering, but improves on the first trailer by squeezing in more character exposition, examples of 50s-style Americana and cutesy robot sequences.

Inspired by Nike, Carl Erik Rinsch’s Exploit Yourself is 3D short film that blends Mirror’s Edge with Terminator; one thing’s for sure: we are SO screwed if the robots learn to Parkour.

If you liked Fallout 3’s cheeky retropocalyptic videos, Rob Moffett’s Wagglemax shorts hype similar products for nuclear wars, zombie infestations and even Gears of War players.

It’s technically about a future archaeologist who discovers the remains of Hollywood, but StopMo is in reality an homage to movie special effects artists wrapped in a sci-fi story.

Created by Guangzhou student Johann Pu, Water Brain is a gorgeous 15 minute short film remarkable not only for its surprisingly moving story, but for its Chinese take on steampunk.

We had a rabbit once. It dug holes and crapped everywhere. Red Rabbit isn’t too different, but it does show that the secrets we hide may not be as big as we think they are.

Created by SVA student Jake Armstrong for his thesis, The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9 is a fantastically illustrated sci-fi short about a misunderstood (and ultimately harmless) monster.

No, it’s not from J.J. Abram’s Star Trek–it’s FedCon 2009’s opening video which depicts a “what if” battle with the USS Kelvin, Romulan fighters and a surprise guest. Thanks Luke!

Another animated short film by Supinfocom Arles students, Oceansize remixes the sci-fi/underwater plot of The Abyss, the alien black oil of The X-Files and Resident Evil’s monstrous bosses.

Created by students at Supinfocom Arles (a French computer graphics school), Machu Picchu is an expertly animated short about the hazards (and drug-like highs) of Incan airspace.

It’s no secret that eating dirt is a BMX rider’s worst nightmare, but this animated Watch the Ground short by Ludovic Habas literally brings the earth to life as a horrifying arch nemesis.

Created in only 4 weeks, Scoop Volante is a fast-paced and funny animated film about an alien and an overzealous photographer; kudos to the 4-person team for a Pixar-quality short.