Meet Ray - he only wanted to retire, now he might win an Oscar

Meet Ray, the anxious, wry everyman at the heart of Retirement Plan, an animated short in which a middle‑aged Dubliner lists everything he'll do when he retires, and discovers how easily life is deferred.

Over the course of seven minutes, Ray vows to get a dog, master juggling and bring order to his files, wardrobe and cupboards.

What he did not realise was that he might also need to clear some space for a collection of film awards.

Voiced by Domhnall Gleeson and directed by John Kelly, the film is nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards, taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday.

After a remarkable run at more than 70 festivals and a string of awards, Ray and Retirement Plan are aiming for the biggest prize of all.

Billed as a touching, comedic short that unfolds like a meditative stream of possibilities - each one something Ray yearns to experience as he confronts the reality of his own mortality - Retirement Plan sits close to its maker, who said the initial idea was one that he "just couldn't shake off".

"It wouldn't let go of me," Kelly said.

"I put it in a little video presentation…just to try and make sense of it with some music and references. And then I sent that to my friend Tara [Lawall], who's a writer, and said: 'Do you think about any of these things?'

"And she said: 'I think about these things every moment of every day'. And so she was the perfect kind of person to collaborate with."

Kelly began drawing comics as a teenager and caught an early break when Hollywood producer Bruce Gilbert, known for his work with Jane Fonda, spotted his work online and acquired the rights to a comic he had created with his brother about a crime‑fighting leprechaun.

Though the project never progressed, it convinced him a career in the arts was possible.

"It was encouraging, the idea that you put your work out there and then someone will connect to it, no matter how weird it is," he said of the experience.

He went on to work in graphic design before transitioning to animation, completing a master's degree at the Royal College of Art in London.

Kelly has since built a career making short films alongside commercial, music‑video and freelance animation work.

The film received support from Screen Ireland and RTÉ.

Kelly said that backing gave the project a real sense of "legitimacy" - enough to convince him to approach Harry Potter and Star Wars actor Domhnall Gleeson.

He had heard the actor say on a podcast he was looking to take on something a little lighter, a moment Kelly decided to seize.

"Domhnall obviously brings so much to it and really helped us get the film out there as well, not just his stature but his performance as well, [he's] so good in it… I just saw my moment and swooped," Kelly said.

Retirement Plan's production moved quickly, according to the director, taking about nine months from green light to delivery, with roughly four months dedicated to the animation work by Marah Curran and Eamonn O'Neill.

That pace, Kelly said, is unusually fast for animation, with much of his previous work involving stop‑motion and puppetry, techniques that demand larger teams and time.

With animation offering limitless possibilities, Kelly felt it was important to resist the temptation to add flourishes, instead opting for a stripped‑back visual style that focused on subtle movements and lighting.

"I felt like the film would have a little bit more relatability and feel a bit more real if we just kept things grounded… There's no crazy moves," he explained.

"It's lots of little, quiet, introspective moments. There's a bit where we had one line, which is, 'I will cry more and I will cry less'.

"I thought, what if he is at the funeral of maybe his 10th friend that's died because he's getting really old and he's become deadened… emotionally numb.

"We were coming to animate that, it's literally just an open casket and he's standing beside it and…so does he lift his hand up and put his hand on the casket?

"In the end we decide, no, he's just going to stand completely still, and he's just standing there looking at it."

Setting the film in Dublin came from the same instinct and helped give it authenticity, according to the director.

Early on, Kelly considered placing the story in the United States, drawing on American films he admires, but quickly realised he couldn't justify it.

"He goes to the Forty Foot, he goes to a coffee shop I go to, he lives in a kind of standard suburban house and goes to standard pubs," he said.

"If you didn't know it, it might not scream in your face, 'Dublin', but I think if you do, if you are familiar with Ireland, you recognise things… there's just certain little touches that make it connect on a subconscious level."

After premiering in Galway, the film picked up the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award for Animated Short at SXSW, followed by Best of the Festival at Palm Springs Shortfest and Best Animated Short at Bali International Film Festival - momentum that has carried it all the way to this weekend's Oscars.

"It's very surreal," Kelly said of the nomination. "The whole thing's a bit mad… but I'm enjoying it."

And as the film has travelled, Ray has travelled with it - at least in spirit. Kelly has been "sending" the character to festivals through tongue‑in‑cheek postcards and social‑media posts.

"If the film goes to Nashville and I can't, I'll just send him instead," Kelly said.

Ray himself is less impressed by the attention.

"Sometimes he wasn't having the best time… He's a bit socially awkward and doesn't handle the heat well. If you look closely, he's not exactly having the time of his life.

"And he's getting older, that's the other thing."