My Review: La Leyenda del Espantapajaros (7/10)

¨The scarecrow asked himself why no one wanted to be his friend.¨


The Legend of the Scarecrow is a 10 minute animated film that narrates the story of a scarecrow and how he couldn`t make friends with the crows. The film was directed and written in Spain by Marco Besas and it received several awards in 2005. It is beautifully narrated by Sancho Gracia (who is known for his role as Father Benito Diaz in The Crime of Father Amaro), who has an excellent voice, and the score that accompanied it was great as well. You can easily find this movie in YouTube if you are interested in watching it.

The narrator tells us a story about a lonely scarecrow who tried to befriend the crows that flew over him every day. Whatever he tried to do to get their attention it wouldn`t work, until one day an injured crow fell near him and the scarecrow befriended him. The crow tells the scarecrow why the fear him so much and so he decides to tell the farmer he doesn`t want to scare crows anymore. The farmer is frightened when he hears the scarecrow speak and alarms all the rest of the people in the village about it. The film has a Frankenstein feeling to it at the end.

The plot is pretty simple, but the animation and the narration are worth giving it a watch. Besides the movie tells you why crows are black so that should be an interesting reason for you to check this movie out (besides the fact that it is only ten minutes long). I really enjoyed this short film, even though the story isn`t spectacular, but it still manages to seduce you and remind you of those bedtime stories you used to hear when growing up.

My Review: La Dama y La Muerte (The Lady and the Reaper) 6/10

¨I know we`ll meet again some sunny day¨


La Dama y La Muerte (The Lady and The Reaper) is a short animated film that competed in this year`s Oscar and was the favorite to win in its category, but lost to Logorama. It is a Spanish film that was written and directed by Javier Recio Garcia and produced by Antonio Banderas. The animated film is only 8 minutes long and it is pretty funny, but I still enjoyed Logorama a little more and glad that movie took home the Oscar.

The movie begins with an old widow living on her own and staring at a portrait of her dead husband. That same night she dies in her sleep and the reaper comes to take her to the light. While her spirit is about to enter the light, all of a sudden she is brought back to life by an arrogant doctor and she awakes in a hospital room along with the doctor and a couple of nurses. The battle then begins between the reaper and the doctor as the old lady continues to die while the doctor keeps on bringing her back to life.

The short animated film works mostly as a comedy, but it also raises our consciousness about life and death. The animation was done really well and the effects are great, although I didn`t find the story very original or different from what we may see in any ordinary cartoon. There are several funny moments, but I don`t think it was Oscar worthy. Still at 8 minutes it is worth a watch.