Forevergreen

Bluesky

An orphaned bear cub is rescued by a sympathetic pine tree in this, the weakest of this year’s Best Animated Short Oscar nominees. Beautiful, innovative animation may explain the attention it has received, but it can’t rescue a dull story with underdeveloped characters.

It has been argued that the religious background of some of this film’s producers points to a religious dimension in the plot, but if that’s the case, it’s barely discernible, and it doesn’t add any depth. Sure, the tree is gracious in its treatment of the bear as it grows and misbehaves, but no more so than any parent has to be – that’s part of the price paid for all the joy. The bear is cute (there were Disney animators involved with this) and its antics can be endearing, but at 13 minutes, the film already feels too long. The real challenge for the tree is to cope with its role as the bear begins to look for teenage kicks in the promising world of abandoned plastic items. There is danger there, the tree knows – but how far is it prepared to go to protect its young charge?

What makes the film stand out is the way that the animated forms have been designed to resemble woodcuts, giving it an old fashion quality which can only now be rendered this way. It’s nicely done, with the plastic items found by the bear the only things animated differently, making them feel like intrusions from an alien world. One cannot fault the environmental message, and sentimentality aside, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this film – it’s just that there’s not much to recommend it either.

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