Saturday 13 February 2016

Banaroo


   Banaroo is 2D animation by Grace Cooke from United Kingdom. The story follows a strange creature known as the Banaroo as he is taken on a epic journey around the world during Christmas Eve to get the gift he so desires.

   Now the first thing that definitely came to mind was how incredibly traditional this animation came off in terms of every aspect, from its visual style to its storytelling, I actually feel that this might have been a loving tribute of sorts to some of Disney's classics from the Bronze Age (Such as The Aristocats, Robin Hood, and most definitely The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), especially in terms of the art style chosen for the character and background designs. And well, obviously, that had immediately won me over when it came to this beautifully animated tale.

   ... The drawback however is that the main character isn't as appealing as the creators clearly intended him to be. It is obvious that the designers wanted the audience to sympathise with him from the get go, and while he does get his sentimental happy ending, it falls short seeing as... we never truly empathised with him. This does not only include his less than appealing design, but how he is portrayed as well. The Banaroo seems like the biggest jerk from the very beginning, it doesn't matter whether he was feeling lonely or not as he sat in his fancy room full of royal luxuries and servant crabs (If my memory serves me right, sorry, I had watched this numerous months back, after all), he just never truly came across as likeable, no matter how hard they tried to write him as such.

   But overall, this is definitely one of the most impressive Graduation films featured at the festival, not simply for its duration, but also for its almost Disney-esque quality in animation.

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