Roses Sing on New Snow

Mei Lin cooks in her father's restaurant, but her father tells everyone the dishes are prepared by his lazy sons. When an emissary from the Emperor arrives and all the cooks in Chinatown are to prepare a feast for him, Mei Lin cooks a new dish for him in this cartoon directed by Yuan Zhang for the National Film Board of Canada.

Although this is a limited-animation short, the exquisite background and character design more than make up for that. It celebrates both Chinese culture and women, and so hits all the right notes for a 21st-century work, and it's about food, which means it pleases me. Definitely a pleasure to look at.

A beautiful story, inspired use of nuances and great portrait of truth. It reminds old fairy tales about the young daughter and her hidden talent. The animation is just beautiful, from the colors to moral and delicacy in fair doses.