Storks

Doug Sweetland animated at Pixar on Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Cars, and his short Presto was nominated for animated short at the 2009 ceremony. Nicholas Stoller, who wrote the script and directed with him, says the idea grew out of his own struggle to have a child. Early drafts made vultures the villains, put the storks in a military setup and included a fertility clinic scene; Sweetland calls that version a fiasco, and it went. Stoller brought his live action method across, improvising with the voice cast and rewriting around what turned up in the booth, so one line keeps treading on the next. The stretch that sticks has no dialogue at all: the fight with the penguins is staged in silence so the baby will not wake. The wolves are not one gag either, but a mass that assembles itself into a bridge, a boat, a submarine, a minivan and a plane. The feeling is held back for the credits, which Stoller wanted to carry a last story beat; the photo wall was settled at the last minute. A good fit if you want gags built on timing rather than wording, and do not mind the emotional payoff waiting for the credits. Not for anyone hoping the stork legend itself gets unpacked slowly.