The Dam Keeper (2014)

Sick Product of a Sick System

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

"The Dam Keeper" is an 18-minute short film from last year and it is a truly multicultural project. The two writers and directors Kondo and Tsutsumi have Japanese names, the narrator is Mads Mikkelsen's brother Lars from Denmark and it's an American production. The two filmmakers actually worked on movies like "Ratatouille", "Monsters University", "Ice Age" etc. in the past, so they are certainly no rookies. I have to say I enjoyed the story here, but I enjoyed the animation even more. It is certainly not for everyone. Some may complain it is not bright enough, others may not like the style and call it mostly for children. I will not 100% disagree with them. In my opinion, it's beautiful. Especially the pig protagonist was really cute to watch, but so was the little fox and all the other animals were nicely animated as well. In terms of the story, we have a little pig who protects the city from darkness, yet is constantly bullied at school. When his only friends, a little fox, has apparently turned against him too, he has too much and lets the darkness win? Or does he really or will good prevail. It was really easy to feel for the pig and it's actually sad to see it suffer so hard during several situations. You will probably connect with this film even more if you got bullied at school yourself. I liked the quote about what to do against the darkness that surrounds you. Well-written and animated little tale. I think I may have preferred it to win the Oscar instead of "Feast". Highly recommended.

"His mask protected me from the cloud, but nothing I had, protected me from the people."The Dam Keeper is an emotionally engaging animated short co-directed by Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsutsumi, which I thought could've upset Disney's candidate (Feast) for the Oscar win this year. The hand painted 2D animation style wasn't my favorite, but the story makes up for it with a lot of heart. The short centers on a young pig who has a very important task. He is the Dam Keeper, in other words he is in charge of operating a large windmill at the entrance of the city which keeps all the pollution out. But that isn't the only darkness that the pig has to face. In school the rest of the kids make fun of him and he is constantly bullied by everyone. This is a darkness which he doesn't know how to face. When a young new fox arrives at the school the two become close and he learns that through drawing he can find a new means of expression. The story is emotionally engaging and we sympathize for the main character and how he is alienated from the rest of the kids. The only dialogue in the film is voiced by a narrator (Lars Mikkelsen), the rest of the story is told through the animation and its accompanying score. There is an interesting resemblance going on between the darkness that the pig faces to protect the city and the darkness he faces in his own personal life. The Dam Keeper is a rare animated film that manages to make an impact on the audience despite its short run time. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

The Dam Keeper is my choice for the best of the animated shorts and I think the quality difference between this and the rest of the films is pretty obvious. Like The Bigger Picture, this one has the look of a painting--which is quite unusual for an animated film. But the paintings are of a much higher quality and there is an amazing artistry that set this one apart---it just looks great. While the style isn't quite as lush as Petrov's style (but whose is?!), it is gorgeous and the filmmakers, Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, used over 8000 paintings to make this short film. The story is very sentimental and sweet--and not in way that is cloying or over the top. It left me feeling satisfied and I love the website for the film (https://www.thedamkeeper.com/) and it's nearly as creative as the film itself.UPDATE: This film lost to the Disney short. Perhaps it might sound snarky, but I assume many of the folks who voted for these films probably didn't see them all---and "Feast" was the only one that had widespread release (with "Big Hero 6"). That's the only way I could explain "The Dam Keeper" not winning.

'THE DAM KEEPER': Four Stars (Out of Five)An 18 minute animated short; which was nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Animated Short Film, at the upcoming 87th Academy Awards. It was written and directed by Robert Kondo and Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi and it's narrated by Lars Mikkelsen. The film tells the story of a future world of animals, that rely on a pig to constantly operate a large windmill dam; in order to keep dangerous pollution out. The pig is an outsider, who's constantly bullied by other animals at school. That changes when a new student comes to town; a friendly fox that befriends him. Things suddenly go really well for the pig, until he feels unexpectedly betrayed. The short is very dark and kind of frightening for kids; I know my eight-year old nephew thought it was pretty scary (but he also loved it). I could really relate to how harassed and somewhat alone the pig felt, due to the constant bullying. I think this is one of the stronger 2015 Oscar nominated animated shorts; because of it's relatability to kids. It's also really well made and bizarrely interesting!Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/D17O2xOoOCw