Don’t let the kid-friendly hand-drawn animation style (or GKIDS distribution) fool you; this is the stuff of nightmares for five-yr-olds, something to mark you for life. A punishingly bleak dystopian journey for a cast of mixed rodents & birds whose ‘idyllic’ past was a lost chemical/industrial wasteland. Ah, the good old days! Now, Birdboy and a trio of mousey pals search for a way out. Helped by Pigboy (and his hefty piggybank) even though he can’t come along as he might be needed to help Mom die via drug overdose. (Yikes!) Leaving this Hellhole will require a ‘Black Market’ boat and getting past a series of gangs & demons, including a shadowy inner demon germinating within Birdboy himself. (A real coup de cinéma, that. As basic as it comes technically; stunningly effective as ego/id construct.) Navigating their way past danger whenever possible, fighting as needed thru a junkyard landscape actively defended by enemy rats & diseased hoarders, sure of valuables buried under the surface. This Spanish production, a devastating blend of Cartoon Network stylings and Goya’s war atrocity sketchbooks, hooks you immediately with content, characterization & drawing mode. Visionary in capturing the banality of evil with animation; equally so in how it develops into a journey of hope and defeat, perhaps a victory thru defeat. Seen here in its very fine English-language version, but if available, try Spanish with subtitles. Or both. It’s worth a second look. (NOTE: Another Family Friendly label meant only for tweens and older.)
DOUBLE-BILL: Fans of the early/pre-digital seasons of SAMURAI JACK/’01 should definitely take a look. And those who haven’t caught up with that Cartoon Network/Adult Swim series in for a visual treat.
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