The Oscar-Nominated Short Forevergreen Is A Wonderful Update On A Classic Children's Book

Usually, short films like Forevergreen are the least talked-about Academy Award nominees in any given year. That seems to be the case again this year, as many awards watchers concentrate on the major categories, the nominees for Best Animated Short, like Forevergreen, are largely dismissed. I’m grateful that this one is widely available on YouTube, and as I watched, I couldn’t help but be reminded of one of my favorite books when I was a kid, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein.

The Giving Tree Was My Favorite Book As A Kid

As someone determined to watch as many Oscar nominees as possible (I’ve seen 101 of the 125 thus far), I made it a point last week to watch the animated short films in this category. To be honest, my personal favorite is The Girl Who Cried Pearls, but Forevergreen is only slightly behind. I won’t spoil the details, as I encourage you to check it out yourself, but broadly, both Forevergreen and The Giving Tree have similar messages, and both are wonderful.

Silverstein’s book might have been my most-read book when I was a kid. Before I could even read, I would request it. After I learned to read, I read it myself. It’s the rare example of a book I’ve actually revisited from my childhood in adulthood. The story touches me like few other children’s books ever did. The way Silverstein counterbalances the profound sadness of the end with a hopefulness is the same trick Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears pull off in Forevergreen.

Forevergreen Is Much More Modern

To be sure, this isn’t just a ripoff of the story for a more modern audience, but it does have the same vibe, while incorporating more modern ideas. Rather than a young boy forming a relationship with his favorite tree and tending to it with love and respect, it’s a young bear cub who is protected by the tree. As in The Giving Tree, the friendship is mutual, as the tree provides for the bear.

As the bear grows older, as in the Silverstein short story, the tree continues to provide different needs for the animal. I won’t spoil the ending, but while the story is ultimately quite different (and frankly, more exciting), the message remains the same. There are overtones of environmentalism and modern life intruding on nature, but neither claps you over the head with that message. The stories in both work as simple stories, not just allegories.

I’ve now caught four of the five nominees in the Best Animated Short category (getting closer on my Oscars Death Race!), and Forevergreen is certainly the most family-friendly. Not that the others are obscene or anything (all are great for kids), but this is a story kids can really connect to, just as I did so many decades ago as a kid with The Giving Tree. So while I may be getting deep into the 2026 movie schedule already, there are still a few from 2025 worth looking back on.