Wonderful Movie

Touches You

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

"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.

This film is a rare and wonderful gem that stays with you for days after viewing. Visually, it resembles a series of beautiful watercolors, with the animation having an almost a stop-motion quality to it. Though the story is told (nearly) without words, it's accompanied by a moving score and the familiar sounds of children's laughter and crying.The titular hero--a steadfast little pig--is adorable and sweet-natured. His daily torment and isolation at school are heartbreaking to watch. He's clearly deprived of the love and appreciation he deserves, and you wish you could reach through the screen to comfort and protect him. Be warned--as beautiful as this film is, it's also bound to evoke some of your ugliest childhood memories, whether you ever were on the giving or receiving end of bullying, or simply stayed silent on the sidelines as it happened.Growing up, many of us built our own "dams" to cope with the darkness of teasing, bullying, and loneliness. When the dams broke, having someone there on the other side--a friend, parent, teacher, anyone--could make all the difference. To me, this is the core message of the film. If you have young children that are just starting school, consider watching and discussing with them.

The Dam Keeper is the richest, most plot-driven short of this year's animated batch of Oscar shorts. Captured in animation that resembles the illustrations of a storybook you grew up reading as a child, The Dam Keeper concerns a pig who controls the dam of his town. The dam's job is to block out the darkness from casting an ugly, dreary shadow onto the neighborhood, and the pig's now deceased father taught him the ways to fight off the darkness. At school, however, darkness hovers over the pig like a dark cloud, as he's bullied profusely, one day, befriending a fox who loves to sketch and shows him liberation through means of animation.It's as if the writing/directing of Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsutsumi had past experiences with bullies as children and used animation as a tactic to set their mind free, making The Dam Keeper a short that could potentially bear a very heavy personal meaning. It also shows the way that while the physical darkness can be fought in this particular world that, like in the natural world, feelings of sadness and alienation unfortunately cannot, and through tender, affectionate writing and animation does The Dam Keeper helps us realize that, crafting a beautiful story and a wonderfully easy-on-the-eyes animation style.Directed by: Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsutsumi.

'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