The 12 best animations of the past 20 years

The annual FMX conference is well and truly underway, with creative professionals and hobbyists alike gathering to celebrate the latest and greatest designs in the animation, visual effects, gaming and visualisation industries.

Day one was packed with information and advice, which included a top talk from Weta's senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, covering 20 years of Weta and working on top blockbusters such as Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

But the highlight for us was Dreamworks' head of international outreach Shelley Page drawing the first day to a close with a brilliant retrospective look at her favourite animated short films of the past 20 years.

A tough choice, she likened it to being asked to choose her 'favourite child'. But she came up with the goods, choosing 12 films, each one exceptional in its own way. Here are Page's choices, in order – has she included your favourite short film?

01. Tim Tom

Created back in 2002 by former Supinfocom students Romain Segaud and Christel Pougeoise, this charming animation was the project that really put this, now infamous, animation school on the map.

02. Badgered

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing Badgered until now, then, guys, you're in for an absolute treat. A comical, beautiful example of encapsulating story telling, Badgered really is superb. The film was directed by Sharon Colman in 2005, who went on to join the Dreamworks team, working as a story artist on various feature films, including How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods.

03. 458nm

Here at Creative Bloq, we're lucky enough to see inspirational work every single day. However, sometimes, we see work that's so exceptional it stops us in our tracks and makes u go 'wow'. And 458nm does exactly that. Created by former FilmAkademie students Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck and Tom Weber, 458nm is an incredible combination of robots, sex, violence and breathtaking CG.

04. Sony Bravia

Created by one of Page's favourite studios, UK-based Passion Pictures, this colourful spot for Sony Bravia oozes with sublime CG. Clearly in favour with Page, she comented how she'd 'loved to have been in the room with the client when this concept was presented'.

05. Burning Safari

Created by former students of Paris-based animation school Gobelins, Burning Safari mixes incredible CG and humour in the most exceptional way. Unbelievably, it took just six months for Jeanne Irzenski, Vincent Aupetit, Claude-William Trébutien, Maxime Maleo and Aurélien Prédal and Florent de L Taille to create this masterpiece. Unsurprisingly, two of the team went on to work on Despicable Me and the infamous minions.

06. Loom

Created by the same team behind 458nm, there was no doubt in our minds that Loom would feature in this list. Once again, Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck and Tom Weber deliver the goods with a breathtaking example of exceptional photorealistic CG. Creating a micro-universe with jaw-dropping dynamic action, it's not hard to see how this film is a multi award-winner.

Next page: Discover Page's "all-time favourites"...