"First Flight" is a 7-minute animated short film from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year already. It is the only directorial effort for both Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson, but the duo has worked on a lot of other stuff, some of it also really well-known, in the animation department. It is a Dreamworks production, which shows you that the quality cannot be too bad. And it isn't. Maybe the film needs slightly too long to get going, namely until the moment the bird enters the picture, but afterwards all is good. Of course, cuteness is king in here, but also in terms of the story it has more good than bad in my opinion. Sure you could argue how realistic the transformation is, but the animation genre makes it work somehow I guess. And the message it sends out that you should do what you find fulfilling instead of just functioning like a robot could not be any more spot-on and inspiring for the time we live in. That's why I give this little film a thumbs-up. It's probably a bit on the underseen side and you should do something against that. Go check it out.
2 Reviews
Funny and Charming
Scrooge-316 May 2006
This animated short tells the story of an obsessive neatnik waiting for his bus to work when an orphaned baby bird lands on the bench next to him. The man initially resists the attentions of the bird, but eventually becomes its surrogate mother, learning a valuable lesson from the bird. This is a very funny and charming short subject. It is co-produced by Dreamworks and Aardman Animations. The CGI is well done, giving the man and the bird very good facial expressions and mannerisms. There is not a lot of dialog, so the animation is what really carries the load of showing what's going on. This film is a treat for children and adults. I fully expect it will be a strong contender for next year's Academy Award for animated short.
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