The Lost Thing

A well-made, layered animation short which asks questions about the things we elect to see (or not to see) in our lives. There's quite a vivid and fertile visual imagination at work here, but the work also seems rooted in a certain artistic tradition. I would not be wholly surprised to discover that the various makers of the movie were great admirers of the work of Hiëronymus Bosch.

The first scenes on the beach gave me a certain chill, because they reminded me of a real-life anecdote. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was spending the weekend in a Belgian seaside city, together with his wife. The pair were spending a lazy midday demolishing a vast plate of seafood, when they suddenly noticed a tiny girl of four or five roaming the street all on her lonesome. My friend and his wife ran out of the restaurant in order to intercept the little girl, who was dressed only in sandals and a swimsuit. They immediately warned the various authorities guarding the beach. The child was soon reunited with her parents. So far this is an unremarkable little tale, but what makes the story so strange is that the girl had wandered off at least an hour earlier, without the parents noticing. How can two normal adults fail to supervise their offspring playing next to a vast body of water ? And, especially, how can they fail to notice one of their offspring getting lost for at least an hour ?

Questions to ponder...

Shaun Tan, is quite well known among Australian children and teacher/librarians for his contributions to the field of children's books and art work.

The Lost Thing was originally published as a children's book in 1999. The story revolves around a young man who finds a... well... Thing. Nobody else seems to notice the Thing, and the young man decides to find out where it is meant to be.

The film is set in a drab, dystopian world that is akin to Dali's impressionistic artistry.

For people that enjoy not only animation, but also art, this is a fantastic choice. The visuals and Thing are quite astounding to watch and the story is very well executed.

For people wishing to buy this film. It is purchasable from here http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/13969/the-lost-thing

A lad is combing the beach for additions to his bottle top collection when he encounters a great big red metallic object - with tentacles. It looks something akin to an octopus stuck in a diving bell! He says hello and suddenly it comes alive. Armed with two great pincers up front, it just wants to play ball and build sandcastles with it's new human friend. As the day comes to a close, the boy realises that his pal has nowhere to go. No home, no friends, no nothing! He goes to his boffin mate to try and identify his tin friend, but in the end they have to conclude it's lost and so he will just have to take it home to his sceptical parents - dirty feet or not! Then he sees an advert on the telly for the "Federal Dept. For Odds and Ends". That became his plan - surely they'd know? Well they might have done had he not been weighed down by a ton of form-filling and red tape and then been warned off by the cleaner! Maybe the best chance is that it will actually remember where it's supposed to go by itself? Well, let's give that strategy a go... Tim Minchin's understated narration works wonders with this engaging mystery and as the pair spend the day exploring potential homes for "thing" the producers have a free rein to create a range of colourful and vivid scenarios using various styles of animation to create a myriad of creatures - human and otherwise, to enhance this simple story. I did enjoy this, even if it's a bit sad at the end.

Perth Comedy Muso Tim Minchin narrates this charming, if somewhat bizarre animated short. It's only about 30 minutes long and it's based on a children's book by Shaun Tan, also from Perth.

A boy discovers a large and rather strange contraption on the beach. The only way to describe it would be like a 12ft crab-like industrial boiler... with tentacles. It doesn't say much, but it seems to love playing fetch. The boy can't understand why everyone around him is totally oblivious to it. They must have more important things to pay attention to. The boy spends a bit of time with it, they form an instant bond and it soon becomes clear that this inexplicable thing... is lost. The boy tries taking it home with him but his parents are none too pleased to have a large unidentified lodger. What is a boy to do? Surely this thing... belongs somewhere.

The Lost Thing is a cool little toon for all ages. The animation is a bit like Pixar meets Aardman. You can view a low budget, subtitled, Minchin-less version on YouTube, but if I were you, I'd hold out for the real deal. I must admit that I'm from Perth and I'm a huge fan of Tim Minchin so my review is a bit biased, but now I've discovered a new homegrown talent. Shaun Tan has a uniquely brilliant imagination. Let's hope that he makes a full-length feature or at least a collection of shorts soon, because the only problem with Lost Thing... is that it's too short. The DVD contains a few extra features that make up for the short running time and there's also a bonus sketch book that's definitely worth thumbing through. Just consider it to be a preview of things to come. Watch this space!

The lost thing rises as a breath of fresh air against an ever rising tide of wise cracking or sickly cute fur balls and violent comic animation fueled by the American market. At around 15 minutes in length "The lost thing" had a production time line sprawled over nearly ten years with the bulk of work done over three years. The required creative control in adapting and complementing a very popular book have clearly been kept in check buy the directorial hand of the original illustrator and author Shaun Tan and very small production team principally Leo Baker, the main animator and computer graphics artist Tom Bryant.

It is a simple story which reflects on human natures diminishing observation and appreciation of a world out side the day to day pathway we are all forced to travel by both greater authority and selfish ambition. Childlike observations laced with surrealistic circumstance create the distinctly dream like world of "The Lost Thing"

"The lost thing" is short but so visually rich with Shaun Tans remarkable eye for detail it feels complete and invites repeated viewing. If your a little over street wise dudes with stand up comic sarcasm, over blown CGI action coupled with misfiring plots take a medicinal shot of "The Lost Thing". You can not go wrong.