Aero

Aero is a 2000 American computer-animated short film written and directed by Amy McNeill and produced by Universal Digital Images in co-production with Universal Feature Animation. It is the first short produced by Universal Feature Animation to feature computer-generated three-dimensional animation. Featuring music composed by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Aero tells the story of the eponymous alien robot who attempts to befriend a teenage girl named Luna until things have gone wrong. The short was dedicated to Amy McNeill's late grandmother Jane McNeill, who died shortly before the short was completed.

Aero won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2001; this success gave Universal Feature Animation the opportunity to produce computer-animated feature-length films starting in 2004 and abandon hand-drawn animation in favor of computer animation.

Plot
Coming soon!

Production
Aero is based on the original idea by Amy McNeill, who started working on the project in 1997. At the time, McNeill shared storyboard panels for Aero with Universal Feature Animation CEO Michael Wildshill. It was not until early 1999 when then Universal animation head John Cohen assigned McNeill to complete the Aero project. The short finished production by May 2000.

Release
Aero premiered at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California in December 2000, and was released theatrically preceding the 2000 UFA film Mistress Masham's Repose.

Home media
Aero was released by on its own extremely rare DVD in 2001 via Universal Studios Home Video, and with a running time of 7 minutes, 28 seconds is considered likely one of the shortest DVDs ever made. It was also released on its own extremely rare VHS in 2001 as well. The short got another DVD release on December 7, 2004, this time as a bonus attached to Universal's 2004 animated film Computeropolis. Aero was also released on the Universal Animation Studios Mini-Movie Collection DVD and Blu-ray on November 21, 2017.

Reception
Coming soon!

Awards

 * 2001
 * Academy Award – Best Animated Short Film

Feature-length adaptation
In 2001, a feature-length film adaptation based on the short was announced by Universal Pictures, but never got into production. It is unknown whether Universal will again start developing a feature-length film adaptation of the short.

Trivia
Coming soon!