The Dam Keeper (2014)
The Dam Keeper Review
The Dam Keeper is a 2014 animated short film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It’s an incredible film.
A young pig is weighed down by an important job, but everything changes when a new classmate arrives. You see, this pig is bullied at school, but nobody realizes that he is the one who is keeping the entire town afloat. This is a film about the importance of kindness and friendship. It is beautifully anti-bullying in its messaging, though obviously the message was slightly muted due to the pig being crucial to the town. I would have preferred for him to be just a regular kid.
Plot holes notwithstanding, the pig’s position still led to an interesting depiction of a town that is at the precipice of doom. It represents all those smaller communities that are in danger of going extinct, so the movie through that depiction got that nostalgic, melancholic feel that I just love in my artistic animation. The world building is truly fantastic here.
The Dam Keeper features an astonishing visual style – it feels like concept art come to life. I loved that it’s not too kinetic in movement, which lent it a certain feel of an illustration coming to life. The character designs are phenomenal and the cityscape looked breathtakingly gorgeous. I loved the bus driving scenes in particular as they featured some of the best world building of the film. The score is tender and befitting its melancholic tone while the editing and pacing are top-notch too.
The fox character is wonderful and their friendship is the emotional core of the movie. The characters felt well developed and deep in spite of them having no dialogue, which is a testament to the power of animation as a medium. How the effects of bullying are depicted was realistic and the central metaphor really worked. This is a film that is timeless in quality and perfect for both children and adults.
