It took Roger Allers over 10 years after "The Lion King" to come up with his next animated masterpiece. "The Little Matchgirl", however, was very much worth the wait and delivers emotion from start to finish in its short seven minutes running time. You all know the Hans Christian Andersen story of course. It's as relevant as ever, so pointless to say a lot more about it other than in its center is a little girl who tries to sell matches to make some money in order have a warm Christmas. Will she succeed? In her very own way, she does. I won't go any further into detail as you should experience the heart(break) put in this one as well.
This is a definite contender for my favorite short film of the 21st century so far. The animation is excellent. The girl looks as convincing as the snowy environment she's in and all the people she meets until the hearty lady who finally leads her to salvation. The ending (and also everything before including the freezing, the little girl's longing for happiness and beloved ones) never fails to make my eyes wet. It's a wonderful piece of art and one of the main reasons why I love animation that much. Everybody should see it and the Academy has rarely been more wrong in refusing Allers and the film their well-deserved Oscar, but that shouldn't keep you from watching "The Little Matchgirl"
This is a definite contender for my favorite short film of the 21st century so far. The animation is excellent. The girl looks as convincing as the snowy environment she's in and all the people she meets until the hearty lady who finally leads her to salvation. The ending (and also everything before including the freezing, the little girl's longing for happiness and beloved ones) never fails to make my eyes wet. It's a wonderful piece of art and one of the main reasons why I love animation that much. Everybody should see it and the Academy has rarely been more wrong in refusing Allers and the film their well-deserved Oscar, but that shouldn't keep you from watching "The Little Matchgirl"