Watch: Brilliant New Short Film, The Scarecrow, From Moonbot

It's an advert for Chipotle Mexican Grill, it's a tie-in for an app of the same name, yet this beautiful new short film by the talented guys and gals at Moonbot Studios (the studio behind the Oscar winning short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore) is the best animated short of the year so far.

Per Moonbot's press release, The Scarecrow is directed by Brandon Oldenburg (Moonbot co-founder and Morris Lessmore co-director) and Limbert Fabian. The short also features a "re-interpretation" of "Pure Imagination," by Fiona Apple. An app has also been launched for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (which you can download here) and both "depict a scarecrow’s journey to bring wholesome food back to the people by providing an alternative to the processed food that dominates his world." Here's the website for the whole endeavour.

"“The Scarecrow” film and game are designed to help educate people about the world of industrial food production that supplies much of what they eat. The film is set in a dystopian fantasy world where all food production is controlled by fictional industrial giant Crow Foods. The Crow Foods factory is staffed by scarecrows who have been displaced from their traditional jobs on the farm andare now relegated to working for the crows by helping them maintain their unsustainable processed food system. The short film is set to a remake ofthe song “Pure Imagination” from the 1971 film classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” performed by Grammy Award® winning artist, Fiona Apple."

It's got a great message, some fantastic animation, strong music... Moonbot are most definitely two-for-two with animated short films. The studio clearly cares a lot about the moral message of their work. "Our companies are a great fit because we both care deeply about what we do and doing it right,” said Brandon Oldenburg, creative partner at Moonbot Studios. “At Moonbot, we must have meaning in what we create. ‘The Scarecrow’ story has it: imagination, heart and a sense of play."

Bravo, Moonbot!