Forevergreen

The premise of the short film Forevergreen is simple: a pine tree adopts a baby bear. Yes, there's a lot more to it, but that synopsis was all I needed. The tree makes a surprisingly good parent, but things go sideways when the bear reaches adolescence and is lured off by the temptations of the outside world. Then you start to see that it's a version of Yogi Bear. No, it's Smokey Bear. No, really, it's The Giving Tree. Or maybe it's the story of Groot. It's a bit of every story about trees or bears, but mainly it's about love. 

Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears spent five years making Forevergreen in their free time with no budget, and now it's nominated for an Academy Award. We'll find out who wins on March 15th. (via Kuriositas)