The Moon and the Son
I find that many of the most interesting animated films these days are being made in the genre of animated documentaries. Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, The Rauch Brothers, and Marjane Satrapi ground their films in every day life, rather than fantasy. This isn't to say that their films don't take advantage of animation's ability to use exaggeration, symbol and metaphor. It's just that their films illuminate real life instead of providing the audience with an escape from it. I am late in getting to John Canemaker's The Moon and the Son . I never saw it in its original release and have only now caught up to it on DVD . The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2005 and it deals with the relationship between John Canemaker and his father. There's been no shortage of father-son relationship issues in recent animated features. Finding Nemo , Chicken Little , Ratatouille , and How to Train Your Dragon come to mind. In each of these films...