Hamilton animator gets an Oscar nomination for his short film

A pair of Canadians have been nominated for Oscars in the best animated short category. One of them, Hamilton-native Trevor Jimenez for his short film ‘Weekends’.

The film about a young boy’s experience splitting time between his divorced parents was pulled directly from Jimenez’s childhood memories travelling between his mother’s home in Hamilton and father’s in Toronto.

The 35-year old has worked at Pixar for six years and has helped bring movies like Coco and Finding Dory to life. But the groundwork for Weekends started when he was a freshly-minted graduate from Sheridan’s acclaimed animation program.

“That was the starting point, I did that drawing and it created discussion with friends and I started opening up about my memories of going between homes and that kinda made me realize how resonate it can be.”

The film ramped up production over the past five years and while it was difficult delving into his past, Jimenez says it helped gain perspective.

Not to be outdone, Toronto-native and fellow Pixar animator Domee Shi joins Jimenez in the “Best Animated Short” category for her film ‘Bao’. Shi’s the first woman to direct a short for Pixar.

Shi is now helming an unnamed feature film for Pixar. Jimenez is also working on a Pixar project set for a 2020 release.