by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea with Animation Celebration is to take a look at some underseen gems — so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
After taking a bit of a detour into a novel last month, for this month, it was a vibe that just happened to catch my attention as I opened up the home screen on my television.
I wouldn’t say it’s quite “spooky season” vibes I got as Nocturna popped up as something I might like, but (as the name implies) there’s a nighttime feel that just sort of got my attention.
The film follows an orphan, Tim (Lloyd F. Booth Shankley), who is afraid of the dark. When he notices the star he relies on for comfort going out of the sky, he’s drawn into the titular world of the night with the Cat Shepherd (Robert Paterson) to lead his way.
This project was funded through — and stop if you’ve heard this one before in this series — a conglomerate of European arts sources. (I guess the almighty algorithm figures I have a type by now.) In this case, it’s a joint Spanish and French production from two studios: Animakids, whose other project is a TV series called Pig City, and Filmax Animation, with this project being by far the best-reviewed of the bunch. Helmed by a directing duo, it’s the only animated feature of director Adrià García, who also co-directed an animated short, and his directing partner on this project, Víctor Maldonado, who has gone on to direct a pair of Love, Death & Robots shorts as well as Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia.
What really stands out here is the color palette. Right from the get-go, the tones help set the mood for each setting. It’s golden mixed with oranges and reds during the day to give a very warm feeling. When it tries for foreboding, like when it’s time for bed or Tim is staring into the depth of a dark, dank basement, it shifts to green. The night itself bathes the screen in shades of blue. Having set our expectation for what the colors mean at the start, the colors from the world we’re used to go on to mirror things in the world of night. Things start of yellow as we’re introduced to the bustling world of Nocturna headquarters, but night tends to get greener as the creep factor increases and the default blue is sprinkled throughout our characters’ travels.
The animation is more than just the color palette, though. I enjoyed the design of the characters. Tim makes for an adorable protagonist, and the Cat Shepherd, as well as the rest of the creatures of Nocturna, are creative and engaging to look at. The world building as a whole is a real benefit. It creates quite a charming atmosphere and fantasy world that is just a joy to experience. The real highlight for me, though, was a short production from a being known as the Whisperer (Joe Lewis), who conducts the sounds of the night. It’s a great moment of score and sound and blends perfectly with the overall score from Nicolas Errèra that helps accentuate each moment of the story.
Nocturna‘s charm, which it builds through its design and world building, goes a long way to cover up what is a rather basic story. The beats and motivations can be sort of hand-wavey as it gets the viewer from one story beat to the next, but I didn’t really care too much thanks to my fascination with the world and the visuals. Even watching the English version didn’t bother me much at all this time around. If I’m being honest, the fact that this charming film is available for free (with a few ads) on Tubi, is a net positive for such an underseen gem.
If you’re in the mood for a certain type of viewing experience, I think Nocturna is worth shining a light on. It may be a tad weak on story and plot machinations, but if you’re looking for something that’s a visual feast with some creative fantasy world building, it might be just what you’re looking for
I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. The column will be taking a holiday hiatus for next month, but I’ll be back in the new year with another underseen Oscar-nominated feature.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd