Piccolo Piccolo

With its collage-style animation, you feel as though you could almost reach out and touch the mountain landscapes and characters in Marta Gennari’s short film. The mice it concerns are constructed from simple shapes that make them distinctive and child friendly, their facial features all appearing on one side, Picasso style – I was reminded of one of my own childhood favourites, Fingerbobs. The way paper is used in Gennari’s animation is more traditional but still has a 3D quality thanks to the collage technique.

The mice are pals, or seem to be most of the time but when a squabble over a blanket breaks out, the littlest of them goes on quite the adventure. The dialogue-free approach makes this easily accessible to younger members of any family and its level of peril in terms of what the little mouse comes up against also has little ones in mind. The threats are concrete but mild and the situations resolved straightforwardly.

Given the lack of dialogue, the sound design from Loick! – Loïc Burkhardt – is given a chance to shine, mixing well with an upbeat score from Pierre Oberkampf. The use of speech bubbles for when the mice whistle at one another is another lovely tactile touch.#

The Italian-born director, who lives in France, previously made the enjoyable Little Red Riding Hood riff, Merlot. You can watch that and more of her shorts on her Vimeo page.

Reviewed on: 03 Nov 2026