The Lost Thing (2010 Oscar)

The Lost Thing is a 2000 picture book, written and illustrated by Shaun Tan.

 

Set in the near future, in dystopian Melbourne, Australia, The Lost Thing is a story about a boy who enjoys collecting bottle tops for his bottle top collection. One day, while collecting bottle tops near a beach, he discovers a strange creature, that seems to be a combination of an industrial boiler, a crab, and an octopus. This creature is referred to as "The Lost Thing" by the narrator.

The boy realizes the creature is lost and out of place. He attempts to find its owner but is not able to, due to the indifference of everyone else. As he is looking for the creature's owner, he is met by a creature who gives him a business card with a weird sign on it. After searching much of the city for the sign, the boy is able to find the sign and follows it to a utopian land for lost things, where he returns the creature,and continues on with his life - although he was unable to say whether the creature really belonged there.

This book was adapted into a 15-minute animated short film in 2010, directed by Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and narrated by Tim Minchin. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Short.^[2] It was nominated for the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.