The Missing Key

In a gloriously imagined 1920s world inhabited by people who have gramophones for heads, young composer Hero Wasabi has left Japan to study musical composition in Venice, accompanied by his oboe-playing cat Jacuzzi.

Hero is a student of the terrifying Madame Zero at the Scuola di Musica, where his fellow students include the aristocratic Count Telefino, an unscrupulous telephone-head who is planning a campaign of dirty tricks to help him win the school's graduation prize, the Abacus Scroll.

As Hero struggles to compose his graduation piece, Count Telefino employs the villainous Morso Codo to steal the music and destroy the instruments of potential rivals, but he doesn't bother with Hero Wasabi, thinking him no competition.

Shortly before the Abacus Scroll concert, Count Telefino hears Hero's latest piece and realizes that he must be dealt with. Morso Codo breaks into Hero's studio, steals his music and breaks his piano.

Despondent at the loss of his score, Hero decides to return to Japan without competing for the Abacus Cup. As Count Telefino goes on stage to play his bombastic composition complete with choir and triangle-playing elephant, Hero and Jacuzzi trudge to the docks.

There, Hero experiences a vision from his home which gives him the heart to go on. He and Jacuzzi race to the concert hall and are just in time to play, preventing Count Telefino being declared the winner.

Hero's simple piano and oboe piece deeply affects the audience. Hero wins the Abacus Scroll, triumphing over the furious Count Telefino.

Hero Wasabi, Jacuzzi, Count Telefino, Morso Codo

Screened as a work-in-progress at the 2010 Melbourne International Animation Festival.

Director's statement: "The intrinsic power of a good melody has fascinated me since I was a child. I believe the quest to find one is no frivolous task, but a serious adventure.

"'The Missing Key' is about an artist seeking to create something of beauty and resonance. It is often the case that inspiration arrives only when things begin to go wrong, and we are freed from the expectations we build even before we begin."

Audience Vote, Program #9: Long Shorts, Melbourne International Animation Festival, 2012.
Nominee, AACTA Award, Best Short Animation, Australian Film Institute, Jonathan Nix, Garth Nix and Anna McFarlane, 2012.
Australian Screen Sound Guild Award, Best Achievement in Sound for an Animation Short Film or Program, Andy Wright, Miles Nicholas, Brent Heber and Jonathan Nix, 2011.
IF Award, Best Short Animation, Garth Nix (Producer), Anna McFarlane (Producer) and Jonathan Nix (Director), 2011.
Best Animated Short Award, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 2012.
Best Animation, St. Kilda Film Festival, 2012.
Best Original Score, St. Kilda Film Festival, 2012.
BAF Award, Best Professional Animated Short, FICCI FRAMES, Mumbai, India, 2012.
Best Animation, Byron Bay Film Festival, 2012.
Grand Prix, Animafest, Greece, 2012.
Royal Reel Award, Canada International Film Festival, Vancouver, 2012.
Best Music for a Short Film, Screen Music Awards, 2011.
Best Original Song Composed for the Screen, Miles Nicholas, For “Dream On,” Screen Music Awards, 2011.
Best Australian Short, International Animation Day, 2011.
ATOM Award, Best Animation, 2011.
Nominee, Best Short Animation, Samsung AACTA Awards, 2011.
Nominee, Australian Production Design Guild Award, Design on a Short Film, 2011