Moo(n)

I saw this when I had a cold, sitting in watching the TV after the Channel 4 news. It was ironic that the character in the film also had a cold. I figure I must have given it to her.

What followed was a slick story. Amazing in it's style and animation. The voices were great - Matt Lucas is brill. the whole film is a twisted fairy tale which is not to be missed. I'm hoping Channel 4 show it again because it really cheered me up.

More of this please.

A little girl plays with her friend, a cow until she catches a cold. Her parents take her away from the cow and bring her indoors. As boredom sets in the cow decides to jump over the moon. The little girl laughed to see such fun - but not for long, as the cow gets stuck on the money with seemingly little chance of return.

The title attracted to the film as I had often wondered if there was a film called `Moo', this film wasn't but it was about as close as I have been able to find! The short is a simple plot - cow on moon tries to get back, but it is done with imagination that manifests itself in several ways. In the telling the story is a mix of manic humour and deadpan reference. The wasp character is funny but the narration is funnier. It is delivered in the style of a crime reconstruction TV show crossed with a nursery rhyme, hence the line `the little girl laughed to see such fun; but not for long'!

The animation is not what I expected but it is still very well done. It seems to be a mix of shadow puppet animation with other styles, keeping a well drawn 2-D atmosphere and using it to good effect. The humour of the film keeps it all moving along well. The punchline is good even if the conclusion is not as controlled as I'd hoped it would be.

Overall this short has flaws but it is inventive and clever with good voice work and animation. Well worth checking out.