Astro Kid (Terra Willy: Planète inconnue) is an animation to entertain children and adults, evoking positive messages about family, friendship and, above all, showing that there is a beautiful world beyond technological gadgets, with many colors and fun in outdoor activities. The animation style does not owe anything to Sony Pictures Animation (from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), Blue Sky (Ice Age) and even Pixar (with The Good Dinosaur as the main reference). The air is innocent and pleasant, closing the beautiful set of the feature film.
Ernest & Celestine is a beautiful French animated comedy, based on the book series by Belgian illustrator and author Gabrielle Vincent. The story follows the unlikely friendship between Celestine the mouse and the misunderstood bear Ernest, who rebel against what is believed and expected of them, even starting a life of crime. Through stunning watercolor-style art direction, the film tells a story about acceptance and transcending prejudices, with much more originality and heart than many other contemporary offerings.
Flow is, in simple terms, one of the most beautiful films of 2024 both visually and narratively, and one of the most interesting – and awarded – animations of the year for several reasons. It is a Latvian production that tells the story of a kitten struggling to survive in a mysteriously flooded world, learning to coexist with animals from other species aboard a boat. Simple, but effectively told with pure images, without dialogue, achieving an almost naturalistic expressiveness in the animals and a deceptive emotional depth for such a basic premise, which focuses more on evoking compassion than on explaining its mysteries. Additionally, in terms of the animation industry, it could be a game-changer: it was made entirely with the open-source software Blender, which opens the door for independent animators to create innovative animated films without the constraints imposed by other expensive industry standards.
