^{Credit: Versa, Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)}

Versa, an animated short from director Malcon Pierce, is currently streaming on Disney+. You probably didn’t know that Versa was eligible for Oscar consideration last year. It ultimately didn’t make the shortlist. Even if Versa wasn’t nominated for Best Animated Short, Pierce still made a vibrant film with cosmic imagery, a sweeping musical score, and characters who move with such elegance that this is one Disney production I’d like to see adapted to an ice show. At the center is a powerful story about a couple working through grief. The film was inspired by a personal tragedy that Pierce and his wife suffered, losing their son Cooper amid pregnancy complications almost a decade ago. Versa seems to be finding an audience on streaming, but why wasn’t it given the full theatrical treatment?

Technically, Versa played at the El Capitan Theatre for a week last April, according to Pixar Post. This helped qualify it for Oscar consideration. With Zootopia 2 releasing later that year, though, why didn’t Disney pair Versa alongside their animated feature tentpole? Maybe it’s because Versa deals with heavy subject matter, as the star-crossed couple endures a miscarriage. Disney executives might’ve thought it’d be jarring going from an emotional gut-punch to a buddy cop comedy. Then again, Zootopia 2 also deals with difficult subjects like corruption, prejudice, and the erasure of cultures. In Pixar’s Up, we went from Ellie miscarrying in the first act to talking dogs flying little planes during the climax. Audiences would’ve accepted the tonal whiplash.

Disney isn’t the only studio that recently decided against pairing one of their Oscar-eligible shorts with a feature. DreamWorks could’ve released Wednesdays with Gramps alongside The Bad Guys 2, Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie, or the How to Train Your Dragon remake. Yet, most audiences didn’t get to see this short until Universal posted it on YouTube in January. DreamWorks did pair Dog Man with the short The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis, but that only makes it more curious why Gramps wasn’t given the same treatment. Although Pixar still produces shorts, they haven’t paired one with a feature since Carl’s Date accompanied Element. Before that, their last theatrical pairing was the Oscar-winning Boa and Incredibles 2. It didn’t help that three of Pixar’s recent features (Soul, Luca, Turning Red) went straight to Disney+. Yet, Toy Story 4, Onward, Lightyear, Inside Out 2, Elio, and Hoppers were all released theatrically without a short.

Since 2011’s The Ballad of Nessie, almost every Disney Animation Studios short has accompanied a feature. Paperman, which played with Wreck-It Ralph, and Feast, which played with Big Hero 6, even won Oscars. Disney considered releasing the crossover event Once Upon a Studio with Wish, but opted to air it on ABC to coincide with the company’s 100th anniversary. Once Upon a Studio still received an Oscar-qualifying run in the States and played with Wish in Japan. The last Disney short to receive a wide theatrical release in the U.S. was Far from the Tree, which played with Encanto. Versa could’ve ended a four-year dry spell, but even though Zootopia 2 was right there, it leap-frogged to streaming.

Major studios like Disney don’t have much incentive to make short subjects. Shorts can serve as a testing ground for new technology, such as the Meander Animation Tool used in Paperman and Feast. Shorts also provide an opportunity for up-and-comers to get their feet wet before directing a feature. Domee Shi went from directing Boa to Turning Red. From a financial standpoint, though, shorts bring in little if any revenue. Most people aren’t going to pay $10 to watch a seven-minute film. Still, if you’re going to produce shorts like Versa, why not get them in front of as many eyes as possible? Versa may be easily accessible to everyone with a Disney+ account. Considering that Zootopia 2 made over a billion dollars, though, Versa could’ve found a much wider audience.

Maybe studios are receiving pushback from theaters. AMC patrons are already frustrated that they have to sit through over twenty minutes of trailers, not to mention that insufferable Nicole Kidman promo (apologies to Nicole). A short film is just another hurdle to the feature presentation. Of course, many people would rather watch a seven-minute short than almost half an hour of ads. That’s not to say a short film can’t overstay its welcome. There was significant backlash when Olaf's Frozen Adventure preceded Pixar’s Coco. Olaf's Frozen Adventure wasn’t truly a short, however. It was a 21-minute special that should’ve debuted on TV as planned, but Disney underestimated the possibility of Frozen fatigue. Coco was still an enormous hit.

In most cases, a short is a nice bonus. When GKIDS distributed Little Amélie or the Character of Rain last year, they screened it with the Cartoon Saloon short, Éiru. This gives me hope that the practice of packaging shorts with features isn’t going out of style. It was recently announced that Daffy Duck would be appearing in a new theatrical Looney Tunes short, Daffy Season. While Daffy Season will debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, it’s unclear where Warner Bros. will take the short next. Ideally, Daffy Season will play before The Cat in the Hat, which Warner Bros. is releasing in November. If so, it’ll be the duck’s first short to play before a movie since 2012’s Daffy’s Rhapsody preceded Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

Then again, Warner Bros. could always pull a Versa, sending Daffy Season straight to a streaming service like HBO Max… or Paramount+. Feathers-crossed that they give the duck the theatrical treatment he deserves. As for Versa, it’s a charming and heartfelt short. You should check it out on Disney+. While I'm grateful that Disney is still investing in shorts when they don't necessarily have to, I wish more people had the opportunity to see them on the big screen. Hopefully, we’ll get a short before Toy Story 5 or Disney’s Hexed later this year.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!