Pearls are created by animals and are both precious and beautiful. They have been called mermaid's tears--the myths that surround them are the start of this short animated film from Canada that won the Academy Award in 2026 in that category.
This story is told by an old man to his granddaughter, who has an eye for shiny things and who we suppose has pocketed a precious pearl herself. The story begins in his youth in Montreal, when he was a hungry orphan scavenging for food by the docks and sleeping in abandoned buildings. If one could find such a residence adjacent to one that was occupied, he explains, one might feel the heat of the fire through the wall. Naturally, sitting against the wall meant one might also hear what was going on in a house, and he talks about the time when he heard a stepmother repeatedly abusing a lonely girl. At night the girl would cry, and peering through a hole, he saw her tears, made of the purest sorrow, turn to pearls. Acquiring some of these, he took them to a pawnbroker and was paid better than he had ever been before. To get more, however, he was faced with a terrible dilemma--her unhappiness led to wealth for him, and what should he hope for? It is a classic tale of greed, the power of poverty to drive poor decisions, and a surprise ending.
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