Where I Watched it: Apple Plus

English Audio Description?: yes

I need to make reviews like this one shorter. Having long reviews for short films is just an imbalance. I mean, this is essentially a children’s book come to life. it really felt to me like someone took Goodnight Moon or A very Hungry Caterpillar and made an animated short of it, and submitted it for Oscar consideration. Your kids will love this. it’s got a great morality tale to it, and fixed my problem with it by the end.

At first, it was one of those films where the boy was just out on his own, and I was that old man who was wondering where this kids parents were, or where his house was. I’m unfamiliar with the source material, if there is one, so I didn’t know what to expect. i just jumped in on this because it’s shortlisted for Best Animated Short at the Oscars this year.

i was wondering if this boy and the talking animals were in some hundred acre wood scenario. By the end, there’s an answer. i won’t ruin it. But, there is a boy, a mole, a fox, and a horse. And this thing is legit enough that Apple paid for a star studded voice cast, including idris Elba. There’s no way this doesn’t get nominated.

It’s hard for me to get excited about a rather patient, kids story as an animated short. It’s just a nice little film. It didn’t hit me the way If Anything Happens I Love You did a few years back, where I was ready to take to the streets to make sure that won. It’s fine. And kids will enjoy it. And, because Apple puts audio description on everything, it has audio description. So there you go.

if you are looking to check off some Oscar hopefuls from your list, it’s an almost impossibility this gets snubbed. It’ll probably win. Apple has the money to campaign, and for a streaming service that just launched their first feature length animation this year (Luck) to potentially win Animated Short right out of the gate, would be huge for them. It’s all about clout, and if there is one thing Apple is great at selling, it’s clout.

And if you have children, they’ll like this. It’s not silly like Minions or anything, but it feels like a really sweet bedtime story.

Final Grade: A-