I was able to see this film thanks to a local showing of The Manhattan Short Film Festival. The sole fully animated feature of the 10 entries (matched with a stop-motion piece), this is a masterfully told story.
In a multi-layered presentation, an anamorphic bear tells the tale of his kidnap from his wife and child, to a circus where he is forced to perform ever more elaborate tricks. He eventually devises a method of escape, returning to his beloved city to tell his tale through a mechanical panorama box.
Though the themes are dense, it is a deftly mature tale that I believe would still manage to delight a child. And yet, this film manages to capture the eclipsing of love through wordless story that reaches emotional height I've only felt previously in the introduction of Pixar's Up. Seek this film out.
In a multi-layered presentation, an anamorphic bear tells the tale of his kidnap from his wife and child, to a circus where he is forced to perform ever more elaborate tricks. He eventually devises a method of escape, returning to his beloved city to tell his tale through a mechanical panorama box.
Though the themes are dense, it is a deftly mature tale that I believe would still manage to delight a child. And yet, this film manages to capture the eclipsing of love through wordless story that reaches emotional height I've only felt previously in the introduction of Pixar's Up. Seek this film out.