Feral (2012)

Just perfect...

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The acting in this movie is really good.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

"Feral" is an animated short film from 3 years ago. It runs for 12 minutes and managed an Academy Award nomination. It is probably my favorite from the nominees, but that is not because I think this is a must-see, but because it really was a weak set of nominees including the winner "Mr Hublot". Feral definitely delivers in terms of the animation style. It is certainly not for everybody, but I liked it. The way they used all these shades of gray made it look truly artistic. And I also liked the inclusion of color near the ending when the protagonist reunited with nature. What I did not like that much was the story. It's a bit of "Jungle Book" and "Nell", but there is nothing really new or refreshing about this one sadly. It's a tale of isolation and integration when a boy is picked up in the jungle by a hunter. The boy adapted to nature and basically lived like an animal. The transformation scene around minute 9 is maybe the only really good moment from this short film and that is also more due to the animation than to the story. I would have been fine with this one getting the Oscar. Beautiful to watch and I recommend it. Lets see what the next projects by Daniel Souse will look like.

'FERAL': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Another 2014 Oscar nominated animated short film is this 13 minute tale of a wild boy found in the forest by a hunter and brought back with him to civilization (for the first time). It was written and directed by Daniel Sousa and features no dialogue. I found it to be somewhat bizarrely interesting but ultimately a letdown; it doesn't seem to really go anywhere. It is one of the more mature and dark Oscar animation entries (this year) and the visuals are nice to look at but the story has been done many times before (to much better effect). I'd say it's definitely one of the weaker nominees this year.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAefz9rzS5w

This year's crop of Oscar-nominated animated shorts is unusual. In the past, normally there are 2 or 3 films which are exceptional and I would be happy seeing any of them win. This year, however, "Get a Horse!" is so superior that I would be incredibly shocked if it did not win. Now I normally prefer shorts from small film companies--as I want to encourage the non-corporate players and an Oscar is a great way to do it. But Disney simply outdid itself and the rest just pale in comparison.I'll cut right to it on this particular short--I really don't know why it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short. It's got some nice and unusual animation but to me it is by far the weakest of the nominees and I've seen a lot of other shorts (especially the Commended Shorts that were shown along with the Nominees in the theaters this weekend) that were better.Story-wise, there isn't a whole lot here and it's told without words. A feral boy is found in the wild and brought to civilization by a hunter. The child has difficulty fitting in and that's really it.The animation style is what I appreciated in this one. While there are no faces on this animation, it really isn't simple because the style and artistry is there. Nice to see once.

FERAL is a nominee for the Best Animated Short for the awards issued in 2014 and while the beauty of its bleak and spare art is certainly moving, there is an overwhelming pomposity to its construction.To tell a story about the overwhelming need to be free in a branch of movie-making which is the most nearly controlled of its genres, in a form in which, if the producer be dissatisfied with a performance, he can rip the actor up, is nothing short of bizarre. Every sequence, every frame, every jeer of a child's voice is added and modified at the insistence of the creator. It calls attention to its own artificiality even while decrying it. This short is, as I have said, quite beautiful, but it lacks that most essential craft in the composition of such a didactic story: the art that conceals art.