Forevergreen (2025)

An orphaned bear cub finds a home with a fatherly evergreen tree, until his taste for human trash starts leading him into danger. Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears made it as an after-hours passion project with a crew of more than 200 volunteer artists over five years, and the handmade care shows in every frame of its 13 minutes. It is a gentle pick for families, with a real sense of peril along the way. It was nominated for Best Animated Short at the 2026 Oscars, and the filmmakers are streaming it free on the film's own YouTube channel for a limited time, so watch it while it is up.