the balance on his own, keeping the box out of reach. One step back and he falls, one step forward and the box falls. He can only watch as the box slowly winds down and plays its music, which 23 is unable to hear. Legacy Balance was commissioned by German group Alphaville as part of their Songlines project for their 1989 album The Breathtaking Blue. For Songlines, the video was set to the song "Middle of the Riddle" from that album. Lauenstein said of the video, "its visualization is not a literal illustration [of the song], which would be impossible in any case, but comprises a complete, autonomous story on its own." Set to different music, Balance won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1989. Further reading Olivier Cotte (2007) Secrets of Oscar-winning animation: Behind the scenes of 13 classic short animations. (Making of '"Balance"'') Focal Press. External links The Lauenstein Brothers' website References 1989 films 1989 animated films 1980s animated short films Alphaville (band) video albums Best Animated Short Academy Award winners German animated short films West German films 1980s German films