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A Disappointing Continuation

NFB Fairy books--Andrew Lang and H. J. FordThis film is from Claude Cloutier and was financed by the National Film Board of Canada. The NFB's backing often means you're going to see an exceptional film and this film certainly is exceptional...and well worth your time.The story is a Sleeping Beauty sort of tale, as all the folks in the castle are trying to wake the princess--with no success. Eventually, however, she awakens. Does this sound particularly interesting based on my description? Not in the least! But it is wonderful from start to finish for many reasons. The artwork is really neat--very memorable and very unique. I just loved the fine line drawings and know you will also. The story has a WONDERFUL sense of humor and made me laugh many times. Sometimes it was because of wonderful jokes, sometimes it was looking at the characters (the attendants in the princess' bedroom are a hoot--believe me). And, I adored how Cloutier designed the credits--something most people won't get, but a wonderful nod to the Fairy books--a series of books (such as the "Green Fairy Book" and the "Purple Fairy Book") by Andrew Lang and H. J. Ford. It has the fonts and scroll-work directly from these books. A must-see and a very funny and surreal cartoon.

I watched this brief, animated, wordless short with my 8-year-old son, who found it mildly distracting.A manic and cynical take on the Sleeping Beauty legend, this short offers a few cute jokes but they're done to death. It's mildly amusing when the witch proves incompetent with her wand. But to see her make a mistake 12 consecutive times is less entertaining. And the prince isn't really charming so his kiss doesn't awaken the princess. It's not so funny to watch his horse pucker up.The movie has a surprise ending that nonetheless seems anticlimactic. I'd rather snooze.

When you see the surprise ending, you'll say "that makes sense!" even though it is absurd.Absurdity is the name of the game in this animated short as we go back to Medieval days where we see the king, queen and others in the court all in the daughter's bedroom distraught over the fact that the young woman can't wake up. What's wrong with her? Mom is literally crying rivers of tears. Dad is calling everyone in sight who might be able to wake up "Betty." The "star" of this short might be a horse, the one belong to the Prince called in to save the day. The adventures our Prince Charming (so to speak) and his horse have en route to the castle provides a lot of slapstick laughs.Overall, not a lot of out-loud laughs but a lot of chuckles, an animated film that is definitely fun to watch in all nine minutes. The artwork is pretty good, too, and should be seen on a Blu-Ray disc where the drawings are very sharp and clear.I saw this as part of the DVD titled "Animation Express" which is available in regular and Blu-Ray discs and is a compilation of animation short subjects by the Film Board Of Canada.

Betty is asleep and won't wake up, despite the best efforts of her Alice-in-Wonderland royal parents. So what do we do? We run through a large series of sight gags, endless sight gags. And at first they are very funny indeed. But after a while they simply begin to grow wearisome. The witch comes and waves her wand and Betty's head transmutes into an endless and unrelated variety of things. A knight is called, and along he comes on his charger, and the horse moves in every which way: he gallops, he trots, he runs on his hind legs, his forelegs, whatever is called upon to fill up time on this cartoon.After a while, that becomes to the point of this film: to bring it up to its allotted length, by running variations on a theme. And after a while it becomes wearisome. Especially when you see what makes her wake up.