Animated short films are some of the coolest videos you will ever watch. A short film is considered too short to be a feature film; they have a run time of about forty minutes or less. Animated short films can tell a story through animation in a short amount of time. They are amazing and will hopefully leave you as impressed as I am. Without further ado, let’s begin this top ten list of animated short films of 2018.

10.  First Comes Love by Daniel Ceballos

First Comes Love is a short film in which a child playing on the playground is confronted by another kid. The girl gives the boy playing with his toy truck a ring pop. The boy, not knowing the consequences that would follow, accepted the sweet treat. Soon after he takes it, the girl reveals she has one on her finger as well and gives a grin. When the boy realizes what is happening, he tries to give the ring back for her to deny him. He is now married to the girl on the playground.

9. Dear Alice by Matt Cerini

Dear Alice is an animated short by Matt Cerini. The short is about a man riding the bus home. While on the bus, he looks across from him and sees a little girl drawing a picture. When she tries to show her mother, she is brushed off because her mother is on the phone. The man looks on sadly as she continues drawing a picture that her mother ignores. He gives the little girl a smile as encouragement to continue drawing, and she does. Mid-sketch the bus halts to a stop, and she drops her crayon. Before leaving the bus, he picks the crayon up for her and gives it to her. As he leaves the bus, he turns to see her waving goodbye to him, and he slowly waves back. What I loved about this short was the fact that it tells the story of an insecure artist who must inspire a wide-eyed young girl to see the beauty in her sketch before the bus stops.

8. Her Boyfriend by Oona Avery-Jean

Her Boyfriend is about a witch who is going to meet her boyfriend at a restaurant and give him a gift. As she is about to enter the restaurant, another woman sits at the table with him, and he kisses her. In shock, she throws the gift away and stomps home. She pulls out her spell book and cauldron and begins to perform spells to hurt him. She casts spell after spell, but each ends in a bonus for her cheating boyfriend. Finally, she gets fed up and rushes back to the restaurant, and she simply shoots him with a poison dart. She runs away, and the girl he was with robs him before leaving. I really liked this one because I thought a simple spell would finish him off and I didn’t see the end coming at all.

7. Howards Drive-In Theater by Samantha Alarcon

Howards Drive-In Theater is about a little alien trying to go and see his favorite type of movie, one about a cowboy. With his action figure besides him and cash in his hand, he drives through the line to get in. When he pulls up to the window, he is denied by the owner, who is prejudiced. He points at a sign saying “No Aliens.” The little guy tries to give the owner more money but is the thrown out. The alien decides he wants to see the movie still and sneaks in but is spotted. He runs inside the shack where the projector is, and the owner begins to chase him. He accidentally knocks over the projector and sadly leaves his ship behind. Before he can leave, the owner changes his mind and allows the alien to stay. I liked this one because the owner had a change in heart when he realized not all aliens are bad.

6. Pharaoh by Derrick Forkel

Pharaoh is an animated short which begins with the newly appointed Pharaoh sitting upon her throne. The catch is that the new Pharaoh is a child who is nervous about how to give her judgment. Her adviser walks into the room with the man who has been slandering her family’s name; it is revealed that the man lost his son when he was building her father’s tomb. Her adviser suggests killing him to show the people what happens to those who disrespect royalty. Having no good answer for him, her adviser executes the man in front of her. Later that night, she tells him that from now on, she will be going against her family’s traditions and will rule her people how she sees fit. I really enjoyed this short because of how far it goes. She is willing to defy family tradition to ensure she rules her people fairly.

5. Hé Mademoiselle by ESMA

Being a prey to the males she meets in the street: that is the daily life of a young Parisian girl. What will happen to her suitors? This animated short is a bit different from the others. It is in French, and you can watch it with English subtitles. She also sings. Despite it being in French, I love it; it makes this list because of how well put together it is. She proceeds down the street, attracting the men of Paris who annoy her. By the end, she shows them who the boss is.

4. First Date by First Date Team

First Date is about a first date! Who would have guessed? A woman nervously waits in a diner for her date. He walks in holding her picture, which makes it apparent that this is a blind date. They start to chat and have a pretty good time, until the waiter walks by and trips. When he trips, the tray of water he is carrying spills all over the woman, washing off her makeup to reveal that she has acne. She gets up in distress to leave, when the man stops her and and reveals he was wearing a wig to cover up the fact that he is bald. She is surprised, and they both decide that they still like each other and want to continue their date.

3. Just Add Water by Angela Colvin

Just Add Water begins with a little girl who is excited about getting a box titled “Fun Unicorn”, where you add one drop of water that grows a unicorn; however, she grows impatient and adds the whole vial of water on her unicorn. It transforms into a unicorn in a way that she was not expecting. This unicorn isn’t majestic like on the box; it is squishy and simply lies there. The little girl isn’t impressed and grows frustrated. When she turns away, the sun dries some water from the unicorn and makes it what it is supposed to be: majestic. She gets excited, but the unicorn takes off and leaves her by herself. I liked it because if she didn’t like the unicorn at its worst, then she didn’t deserve the unicorn at its best.

2. Magical Mom by Allen Zhang, Jennifer Yang, Prinn Thongcharoen

This short has a Sailor Moon feel to it. It’s career day at Daiki’s school, and his teacher calls his mom, which embarrasses him. He is caught off guard when the teacher reveals herself to be a villain named Evil Heart Destroyer. When she attacks magical mom, she drops her wand. Daiki picks up the wand and helps his mom defeat the villain. I liked this short because it displays how the power of love can keep a family together.

1. Decaf by the Animation School

Decaf makes my number one because this short contains a cat and a dog. The dog just wants to play with the cat, but the cat only wants to sleep. The dog has a brilliant idea to give the cat a bowl of coffee to drink, which wakes the cat right up. They play and play. The downside is that the dog keeps serving coffee until the cat is completely deprived of sleep. The cat scares the dog with how it won’t go to sleep, so the dog makes the cat tea to make it sleep. I find this one absolutely hilarious, and I think everyone should see this short.