 Book cover | |
| Author | Shaun Tan |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Shaun Tan |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Lothian Books |
Publication date | 2000 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | 978-0-7344-1138-9 |
| OCLC | 61677652 |
| A823.3 | |
| Website | http://www.shauntan.net/books/lost-thing.html |
The Lost Thing is a picture book written and illustrated by Shaun Tan that was also adapted into an Academy Award-winning animated short film. [1]
Set in the near future, a dystopian Melbourne, Australia, The Lost Thing is a story about Shaun who enjoys collecting bottle tops for his bottle top collection. One day, while collecting bottle tops near a beach, he discovers a strange creature, that seems to be a combination of a crab, an octopus, and an industrial boiler. This creature is referred to as "The Lost Thing" by the narrator.
Shaun realizes the creature is lost and out of place in Jupiter. He attempts to find its owner or otherwise its source but is not able to, due to the indifference of everyone else. Pete, an opinionated friend of Shaun's, explains that it may not actually belong anywhere. When he seeks help from a government agency, he is met by a creature who warns that the department exists only to hide and forget about uncategorizable things, and gives him a business card with an arrowhead sign on it. After searching much of the city for the sign, which they find and follow numerous times, Shaun discovers a utopian land for lost things, where he parts ways with the creature, and continues on with his life - although he was unable to say whether the creature, or any of the others, really belonged there. [2] [3]
This book was adapted into a 15-minute animated short film in 2010, directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and narrated by Tim Minchin. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. [4] [5] [6] It was nominated for the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.
The film was produced by Sophie Byrne with Passion Pictures Australia [7] and animated by two primary artists; CG lead Tom Bryant and animator and editor Leo Baker. Tom Bryant was located in Scotland, whilst Leo Baker worked from Melbourne. The film was in development for some years, but took three years of full-time production to complete between 2007 and 2010. [8] [9]
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Passion Pictures is a British film production company established by Andrew Ruhemann in 1987. The company has studios in London, Melbourne, Paris, Toronto, and New York City.
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy adventure drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. It combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo, and features the voices of Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker. The film centers on a lonely young boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.
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Richard Starzak, previously known as Richard "Golly" Goleszowski, is an English animator, screenwriter, and film director.
Shaun Tan is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for The Lost Thing, a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated include The Red Tree and The Arrival.
Kangaroo is a 1987 Australian drama film directed by Tim Burstall and starring Colin Friels, Judy Davis, and John Walton. It is based on the 1923 novel of the same name by D. H. Lawrence.
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Andrew Ruhemann is a film producer, director and the founder of Passion Pictures, an independent production company.
Leo Baker is a writer and film director. Leo was the sole animator of the 2011 Oscar Award winning short animation The Lost Thing. Between 2013 and 2016 Leo co-directed a feature documentary film The Will To Fly about the life and sport career of Olympic freestyle aerial skier Lydia Lassila.
Sophie Byrne is an Australian film and TV producer, best known for the Academy Award winning animated short The Lost Thing.
Luke Jurevicius is a director, producer, composer and voice actor from Adelaide, South Australia, who is best known for his TV series The Adventures of Figaro Pho. He frequently collaborates with his brother, artist Nathan Jurevicius.
Aardman Animations is an animation studio in Bristol, England that produces stop motion and computer-animated features, shorts, TV series and adverts.
