The Exciting Life of a Tree

Exciting Life of a Tree, The (1999)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Clever and mildly entertaining short from Plympton shows us the point of view of a tree throughout its life. The film gives us various vignettes dealing mostly with sex and violence. Those expecting anything too graphic will probably be disappointed as everything here is pretty mild and especially when you compare it to other films by the cult director. For the most part the short kept me entertained but at the same time I felt we had seen this stuff too many times before and with better results. The entire thing is pretty clever and we get some great moments including the stuff with the moles but overall I just didn't laugh as much as with other films from the director. It's certainly worth viewing at least once but I'd check out some of the classics first.

This short animated film by Bill Plympton is very cute--with lots of laughs as well. It's all about the life of some trees and is broken into lots of little vignettes--most of which are pretty funny and involve sex or violence ("yay sex and violence!!"). I really don't want to talk about these little episodes, as it would spoil the cartoon.

Speaking of "spoil the cartoon", the ending really didn't work for me, though I still recommend you see the film. That's because although Plympton is known for his outrageous and often sick humor, the ending is amazingly schmaltzy and comes out of the blue. I don't want sentimentality from Plympton--I want his usual edge.

As far as the animation goes, it's the usual you'd find in one of Plympton's shorts--lots of nice colored pencil drawings and a very pleasing and distinct look.

Being a fan, and having seen a considerable amount of Bill Plympton's delightful output, I have to say that this apparently lesser-known work is one of my favourites. The vignettes that narrate a tree's long life through centuries contain a perfect mix of delicate and naughty humour, also elaborating on each other and adding layers to the story, and reaching a magnificent ending, the only one that it could have had, really.

From all the works of the Portland genius, it is this short gem that I find myself coming back to most often, and the experience is always a rewarding one. Highly recommended.