Back in 1979, a rather smutty film called DREAM DOLL was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Well, talk about being surprised when I found out tonight that a few years later, another film (SECOND CLASS MAIL) was nominated in this same category and was also about an inflatable mate--though fortunately in this case the film was not smutty and it was actually rather charming. Instead of the sex angle, the character in this film wants an inflatable man for companionship. It's actually rather cute, as instead of being naked, when inflated he looks like a middle-aged couch potato! The ending, while not totally unexpected, is also quite funny and this is a lovely little cartoon--though I can see why it ultimately didn't win since it was up against two amazing cartoons, ANNA & BELLA (which won) and THE BIG SNIT--a wonderful comedy.
