Le château de sable

Over the last several decades, the National Film Board of Canada has sponsored many short films--many of which have received Oscars or nominations for Best Animated Short. This film is yet another of these excellent films.

While the story itself is pretty simple, the way it was handled it indeed exceptional. It's all about an odd looking creature and his odd friends who all appear to be made from sand and come up from beneath the sandy surface of their world. For 1977, the stop motion animation in this film is of exceptional quality. It's cute, fun to watch and a good choice for the Academy Award.

If building something is this much fun, is it really a tragedy if you have to do it all again?

Sand as an artistic medium must be incredibly difficult to work with. It must be especially hard to create a stop-motion animation with, since its fragile and ever-shifting nature runs counter to the absolute control required to create such fare. It's all the more impressive, then, that this short film is as fluid, believable and energetic as it is. 'The Sand Castle (1977)' truly is a delight. It's a whimsical and warm-hearted affair about a group of sand creatures who first create each other out of the very environment they call home and then set about building the eponymous abode seemingly because it is enjoyable to do so. The short is about teamwork and finding joy in your vocation, with some subtler themes of the harshness of the environment and the way in which the earth reclaims us all in the end. It's a charming and effective experience right the way through, even if it is a tad long and ends on a perhaps counter-intuitive note of melancholy. It's wonderful. 8/10.

I see there are people who gave this one star. Is this just out of meanness. Seldom have I seen such an original, captivating piece that involves so much choreography and creativity, using a vehicle not used before. The creatures here are from the sand and come up, do their dance, and fade back into their being. Did some expect a sophisticated plot of some kind.

You're really going to like this one. It sounds very strange, and it is, a creature crawls out of the sand, fashions other creatures, and they make a castle out of the sand for themselves. But for me it is a parable of diversity, inclusivity, and working together. It is also about the transitory nature of existence. It's incredibly fun, and it made me smile even though I'm sad at the moment. The soundtrack is well done too. The wry, humoured look on the first creature's face makes me giggle a bit, and I'm very serious.

Oh yeah, it won an Oscar for Best Animated Short, and I'm sure the team behind it were richly deserving.

This is an absolutely marvellous animated short, with the most unusual cast of characters that I've seen in quite some time. It's also about as apt an example of the old line by Robert Burns, "The best laid plans of mice and men..." . The short is quite bittersweet in its ending. Very much worth more than one viewing. Most highly recommended.