Maybe it’s because I read slowly, or just don’t have to the patience for novels, but I like reading short stories. I also like movie shorts. That’s why every year I look forward to seeing the Oscar-nominated shorts at the Michigan Theater. Yesterday, I went to see the animated shorts.

It was a real grab bag this year. Some were really great. I especially liked the first one, “Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage.” Some of the animation was just stunning, and the story was exactly what the title promised, a travel diary of the filmmaker’s trip to Madagascar.

In their own way, “Let’s Pollute” and “The Gruffalo” were also great. The former is a satirical at our consumption habits, the latter a children’s tale told by a mother squirrel to her two baby squirrels.

Some were kind of dopey. “The Cow That Wanted to Be a Hamburger,” a tale of a cow who changed his mind about wanting to be a hamburger quickly changed his mind when it was his turn to go into the meat grinder. “URS” also fit into that category. It was too moralistic and predictable for me. “Day & Night,” a Disney/Pixar production, was a little too “Disney” for me.

One, “The Lost Thing,” was just kind of bizarre. I liked this one, too.