Erick Oh on the Personal Story Behind ‘Namoo,’ His Shortlisted Animated Short With Baobab Studios
variety.comTerry Flores Last year, filmmaker Erick Oh was nominated for an Oscar for his expansive and thought-provoking animated short “Opera,” which contemplated the contemporary world by exploring a huge pyramid where hundreds of little figures were born, lived, loved, went to war and died in a continuous loop.He’s back in Oscar’s sights this year with a film that again looks at the cycle of life, but this time with an intensely personal, yet still universal, lens. “Namoo,” which was created in both 2D and VR with Baobab Studios, follows a man from birth to death.
The short is on the Academy’s shortlist for consideration in best animated short film.“’Namoo,’ which means tree in Korean, was inspired by the loss of my grandfather a long time ago,” Oh explains. “At the time, it was a sudden goodbye and we weren’t prepared for it, so during my grieving process I made up this little story of a man who hangs his memories and belongings to a tree.” After putting aside the story for a while, Oh thought of it again while talking with the creatives at Baobab Studios, including co-founder and CEO Maureen Fan.“About two or three years ago, I was hanging out with Maureen and the amazing people at Baobab.
I don’t know why but I decided it was about time to take this little story I had tucked in my mental drawer and share it with the world,” he recalls.“I’ve been a fan of Erick Oh’s for a while,” Fan says.
She was particularly drawn to work he’d done for fellow Bay Area animation studio Tonko House with “The Dam Keeper Poems.” “The animation is so subtle and so moving and said so much with no words.
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