As big an achievement as something like The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy might be, there’s an argument to be made that it’s a bigger achievement to pack the same level of excitement, pathos, and humor in such blockbuster movies into a short film, which offers far less time for filmmakers to develop character and narrative. And it’s an even bigger feat to pull this off when your movie is a mere one minute long. Yet that’s exactly what the Portland, Oregon based animation studio known as House Special has done in A Tale of Momentum & Inertia, a witty parable about a rock creature who’s just going about his day moving boulders up mountains, when he’s suddenly forced to correct an error in judgement. Expertly juggling laughs and suspense, with just the right amount of metaphor, creative director Kirk Kelley and director Kameron Gates have created a computer-animated film as entertaining in its own way as any recent big-budget feature from Disney. Check it out below.

A Tale of Momentum & Inertia from HouseSpecial on Vimeo.

A Tale of Momentum & Inertia has already won a handful of awards for its awesomeness, among them Best Minute Movie at Animation Block Party in Brooklyn, Short Film Silver at The Australian Effects and Animation Festival, and the Audience Favorite Award at the California International Animation Festival in the category 3D Animation. It’s also been nominated for Best Short Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

For more, check out the House Special website. Here’s hoping we see more from these talented folks soon!

Image: HouseSpecial