This is a nice surprise, like the one you discover when opening a box in an Advent calendar. A sweet and comforting story that reads like leafing through a pretty storybook. A Christmas tale in this case, produced by Alfonso Cuaron (Roma, Gravity), which mixes the harsh reality with the magic of a night different from other nights. Inspired by a true story, that of an adorable baby owl found in the enormous tree of the Rockefeller Center shopping complex in New York in 2020, this animated medium-length film tells a story of friendship between two special beings.
Moon is a young owl whose curiosity drives him to explore the large forest where he lives with his dad and his little sister. After risking his life to repair something stupid, the little bird is confined to a shelter, at the top of a huge fir tree that a lumberjack cuts down to install in the center of the big city. It is there, in a lively square in Manhattan, that Moon befriends Luna, a lost and disabled little girl. Two young souls with pure hearts who understand each other without speaking the same language but help each other find their way home.
Feast for the eyes
The simplicity of the story is served by an animation technique which seeks to reconnect with the essential. Contrary to what the visual appearance of the film suggests, the settings and characters are in computer-generated images and not in cut-out paper or cardboard figurines. But everything has a tangible and childish aspect. The owl’s round face seems to have been carved from a piece of wood and its feathers cut from a pine cone. Everything seems to have been tinkered with by the director, David Lowery, and his team, including the lighting: that of the Moon follows the flight of the owl Moon (Moon, in English).
Added to this feast for the eyes is a tender moral about the warmth that emanates from a newly formed friendship and family ties rewoven during moving reunions.
