The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed the ten animated short films that are shortlisted to advance in the voting process for the 90th annual Academy Awards. Sixty-three films qualified for consideration this year, and five finalists will be selected to compete at the Oscars in March. The chosen group is a beautiful collection of films, ranging widely in both style and origin. 

This category is especially interesting (and encouraging to aspiring pros) because it’s one of the few where student films are on equal footing with those coming from high-end, big-money studios, Yes, last year’s winner was Pixar’s Piper, and Pixar has another film, Lou, in the mix this year. However, on the same short list, no less than three out of the ten films list schools as their production companies: Cradle from University of Southern California, In a Heartbeat from Ringling College of Art and Design, and Life Smartphone from China Central Academy of Fine Arts.

What the category often lacks is the celebrity star-power of other nominees, but not this year. Dear Basketball, about the career of court legend Kobe Bryant, is written and produced by the baller himself.

So, time to fire up some popcorn and enjoy the best short animations of the year (or excerpts from them), below:

In a Heartbeat, dir. Esteban Bravo and Beth David

Life Smartphone, dir. Chenglin Xie

Dear Basketball*, dir. Glen Keane 

Garden Party*, dir. Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon 

Lost Property Office*, dir. Daniel Agdag

Lou*, dir. Dave Mullins

Negative Space*, dir. Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata

Revolting Rhymes*, dir. Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer

Cradle, dir. Devon Manney

Fox and the Whale, dir. Robin Joseph

*Starred titles only have trailers or clips available online on publish date.