This Animated Short Is As Wholesome As Can Be
Validation As Strong As a Child's Will (Which is Pretty Strong)
If I could convince you to do anything in the world right at this moment.
I’d want you to watch this film.
It is not life-changing.
It is not reinventing cinema or pushing the envelope for storytelling on the silver screen.
But it does make you feel good.
Of all the things I’ve seen and all the things this movie is about. This movie makes you feel warm and fuzzy, like the first time you read a “Winnie the Pooh” book or the hug you get from your mom after a long while apart.
There is love in the animation and there is love in the way the characters speak to each other.
Heck, there is love in the very fabric of the story.
The boy is asked what he wants to be when he grows up and he says “Kind.”
They speak about compassion and love and found families.
The deep timber of the animals protecting the soft sentences of The Boy (Jude Coward Nicoll). Their worldly wisdom layering over his naivety and gentle thoughts.
I could talk about the animation style (and how a short I animated recently was inspired by the Fox’s design) and its ephemeral beauty.
I could talk about the subtle acting in the spatial design and character interactions that make up the majority of the 34 minute short.
But I want to talk about how it made me feel.
And it made me feel like a kid again.
It made me feel hopeful and inspired and loved.
For a film so short and a medium so unappreciated, it made me feel seen.
