User Reviews

This wonderful film says it all in under 4 minutes. I'm hoping this is continually fed into the in boxes of every board member of every company that still tests beauty products on animals, There is no need for it now.

Only Waititi's ironic humour accompanied with a hint of meta along with his eccentric, poignant style can render a 4-minute short film about the cruelty test animals undergo packing such an emotional wallop. Nearly flinched at some moments. Better be a wake-up call!

'Save Ralph (2021)' is a simple but effective stop-motion short film that acts as a PSA about the inherent (and, frankly, obvious) cruelty of animal testing, ending with a plea to end the practice once and for all. It directly calls out the fact that the people who buy animal-tested products are actually helping to perpetuate the practice, regardless of their views on the matter. It also points out the, I suppose, pointlessness (or, perhaps, absurdity) of such a practice. After all, why is an animal's life less important than a stick of lipstick? The piece is styled as a documentary, following its eponymous rabbit as he gets ready for 'work' and discusses the injuries he has incurred from it. The character has been conditioned to think his job is a necessary part of his existence, that he serves only to help humans figure out if a cosmetic product is fit for public release, but he also has moments of reflection that cause his internal sadness to subtly rise to the surface. The performance, which is mostly perpetuated by the visuals but is also helped by Taika Waititi's voicework, is actually really nuanced. As such, it's pretty powerful. The same can be said of the overall affair. Though I was aware of animal testing and its inherent inhumanity, I never actually gave much thought to the products I was using. I sort of naively assumed that animal testing wasn't really a thing in the west anymore. This short proves that it isn't the case and does so in a really empathetic way. It has inspired me to pay attention to the cosmetics I buy; I've already done some research as to what indications should be present on the packaging to ensure the product is 'cruelty-free'. As such, it's safe to say that the piece has served its purpose. It's a profoundly sad experience, but it's one that's rooted entirely in an uncomfortable truth that we all should face. It's easy to dismiss animal testing when it only exists on the periphery; if you feel even a modicum of empathy for Ralph, you owe it to yourself (not to mention the animals) to stop supporting animal testing. 8/10.

So well done by everyone involved. An absolute must see!!

Would love to see a longer film, in such a short time you really care about this character. Brilliant work.

A documentary about life routine of a rabbit. A tester rabbit. Dark humor and powerful alarm sign. And a smart way to sensibilize about a very delicate ordinary situation. A good animation for message and admirable craft. And for something very, very human. Short, a film about us in the clothes of a confession of a tester reminding Jonathan Swift writings.

High production quality, and it sends the message.

I've never reviewed anything on here before but this is worth the effort. Short and not so sweet but hits with such a hard message and is quite difficult viewing given the subject matter. We immediately went through products in our home and threw any away that would do this to animals it affected us that much, amazing that such a short video can impact like this and I encourage more to see it and have it take effect.

Honestly the best advert I've ever seen for anti testing on animals.

Great message and the delivery was perfect.

'Save Ralph' says a lot that I and many others, some with huge influence, have been saying for years.

I don't say this to undermine what this short has to say, but I am disappointed at the amount of time it's taking to see some action, I'm disappointed in the lack of awareness surrounding animal abuse and animal testing.

Having huge names like Zac Efron, Ricky Gervais and Taika Waititi attached to something that projects this message in an accessible way is a huge deal for getting some people to wake up to these issues and potentially others.

They did a good job on this documentary! HELP US STOP ANIMAL TESTING NOW!!! These rabbits deserve better! All animals deserve better! We must do our part!

The highlight of the short film is its end message, it has moments of comedy and wit throughout but the overarching feature is to inform people about the cruelty of animal testing for pointless reasons of vanity and highlight how unnecessary and vicious it is.

6/10: Very short but the message holds true.

A topic that cannot be explained in two sentences or four minutes of film. I am against violence in principle, absolutely, but what is our alternative? I was roasting chicken yesterday, does that mean I'm a heartless person or what? Animals have feelings because they are living beings? Then they have plants because by definition they are living beings. Where to draw some limit that is "normal"?

This is so well done and really gets its point across. The blind positivity Ralph shows throughout it all is gut-wrenching. It shows reality in a terrifying way... Just as it is.

Props to the cast, crew, and producers and the Humane Society for putting this together.

Lasting less than 4 minutes, this perfect blend of the lighthearted and the disturbing made me squirm in a way I definitely did not expect (if you've seen it, you know exactly what scene I'm talking about).

I have the feeling there's an abundance of shabby PETA videos and extremely cheesy films dealing with this topic, only to inadvertently do disservice to the topics they tackle and the art of cinema, ultimately disrespecting the intelligence of the more discerning audience.

But I can confidently say that Save Ralph, the newest film made with the collaboration of Humane Society International, is not one of them, and I'll be positively gobsmacked if this can be expanded into a full-length feature film, even if it would take a few more years.

In particular, the puppet and set designer extraordinaire Andy Gent (well-known for his work as chief animator on Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' and head of puppet department on 'Isle of Dogs') knocked it out of the park here. During the short film's panel discussion, he described his stop-motion animation (which I regard as magnificently detailed eye-candy) for this film as a "labour of love". I mean, the production crew poured an entire year of hard work into the animation. What's not to admire about this film? I'm just glad that it turned out to be good including its animation.

So much, and then again the next day when I remembered.

Never thought that they test these stuff on rabbits. Very very short clip and yes, I got the message loud and clear.

Thats a good idea.

It is also very sad.

But the fact that such a thing had been done warned people, it was talked about for a few months or so. Everyone shared it on social media, but it's over. Forgotten.

Great way to show a point of view for those who doesn't know or care about the animals test.

I found this short very hard to watch beacuse of the fact that rabbit was basically abused. This did have a few bad things like the style of the short . It followed a simple story about a rabbit that is being tested and is abused. It try's to stay focused but the way the bunny looks is quite distracting. But the message does leave you thinking. I do believe this isn't taika watits best work, sorry if I spelt that wrong. I belive that he could have done some more stuff like the cinematography better. I definitely don't think this is Tristan Oliver's best Either. Beacuse he did fantastic Mr fox. Overall 7.1/10.

It's true. No animal should suffer and die in the name of beauty.

Blunt and to the point, and effective for what it is, Save Ralph is simply about how animal testing is bad and shouldn't exist, especially for products that human beings technically don't need (like beauty products). It's hard not to agree with much of the message, no matter who you are, and the aggressively presented message here might well prove persuasive even to those who might not be on the short's side, for whatever reason. It reminds me of that part from Marcel the Shell with Shoes On where the title character rants sarcastically about signing off an email with "Peace and love" ("Who doesn't want peace and love?. . . I'm going to start signing my emails, 'Let the battle begin!'")

Perhaps it simplifies things, and I'm now morbidly curious to see how someone would defend animal testing nowadays. Furthermore, I'm cautious to see whether there's a debate about whether certain products need testing or not. Like, as in beauty products versus medical products - whether there's a line there or not... not saying I'm joining a side here, but I'm curious as to whether there is nuance or debate to be hard. Save Ralph is just four minutes long. Maybe it can't, or shouldn't, engage with the topic further, but I guess in the end, it's fairly effective for what it is.

Creepy rabbit, hard to empathise with such a arrange looking animal, they should use real Animals next time.