Mamma Mu och Kråken (Mamma Moo and Crow)/ dir. Igor Veyshtagin/ 2008/ Sweden
Der Mondbär: Das große Kinoabenteuer (Moonbeam Bear and His Friends)/ dir. Thomas Bodenstein & Michael Maurus/ 2008/ Germany
I saw Mamma Moo and Crow and Moonbeam Bear and His Friends at Admiral Theater for SIFF this past weekend. Both showings were filled with cute little children and their parents. I’ll be honest I felt a little weird being there. Luckily I wasn’t the only one there without kids.
Anyway, I have a new found respect for animated projects that are geared toward those in society that are 5 years old and YOUNGER. If I were being really critical, I would mention the sub-par and simplistic animation, the thin story and plot, and general cheese factor for both films. Yeah, it was cool seeing animation from other countries but these films screamed PBS kids special. Hey the filmakers know their audience and simple animation combined with simple story and basic dialogue is perfect for the target demographic.
I did have some quibbles after the fact though. Mamma Moo and Crow was a story about friendship, but to me it seemed that the Cow and Crow had something more going on (if you know what I mean). That aint age appropriate is it?
As for Moonbeam Bear and His Friends, I enjoyed that story more, but there were rapping crows! That’s right crows that rapped! I almost yelled “THAT’S RACIST!” in the theater. That aint age approriate is it?
The real question for these kinds of films is “Is there a good message for the kiddies?” The answer is yes. However, I would never let MY kids watch this sh#%!
Art of the Cartoon 
Wow you’re ripping Mamma Mu because they seem TOO friendly? Perhaps this isn’t fine enough for your sophisticated mind but for the age group it’s fantastic. Kids at that age don’t see sex in everything and complex actions and pictures are not only difficult for them to follow but can also be confusing. So do show it to your kids. It won’t hurt them as much as it seems to hurt you.
*runs, gasping for air*
Lotta, you dropped your sarcasm machine WAY back there, I tried to catch up but you were too fast…anyway, here you go *hands you sarcasm machine*, although, I think it was already broken when I picked it up.
*breathes hard*
kthanxbai!
*runs away*
Lotta, thanks for reading and many thanks for the comment… BTW, I was just joking about the cow and the crow. Plus, since it was made in Sweden, maybe that’s just how things are. Anyway, It does show me that I need to watch out for my sarcasm sometimes, and after watching those movies, I had a much greater appreciation for those who create animation geared toward youths that age. However, I do think we need to give kids more credit nowadays. Children ages 3-6 are soo much smarter now. I mean, they can grasp complex concepts and animation in Pixar and/or Dreamworks films, so yeah… One last thing, thanks for thinking I have a “sophisticated mind” =P… oh wait was that sarcasm? …
I’m actually showing this to my 1.5 year old (yes I know they’re not supposed to watch tv before 2 but life isn’t like a text book) and it’s at a perfect level for that age.
I did not intend to be sarcastic so there you go. I gave you a compliment. Weird in this day and age I know.
daps1, I’m assuming that all that gasping made you all dizzy and that’s why it didn’t even occur to you that not everyone in the world has english as their first language. Try to follow the rule that if you have nothing valuable to add, then shut up. Nobody likes a smartass.