Mar 2, 2020
Shorts can get a bad rap for not being very substantive. I don't think Fukusuke will change your mind about how substantive a short can be, but it may make you consider how much that really matters in the first place.
I'm not saying Fukusuke necessarily has nothing to say, but I think the strength of the short is in how simple it is. It focuses on exploring a fun, silly premise giving it room to be creative and expressive in its execution.
Talking about how things can get a bad rap, the few shorts from this time period could easily be seen as more of an
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academic curiosity than anything, but Fukusuke flies in the face of that by being very entertaining in spite of its age.
There are so many fun little details on display from the way the father frog jumps out of the helicopter to the little frog traversing the river. It certainly made me forget all about how this is over 60 years old.
It also looks great. It's colourful with interesting and sometimes quite pretty backgrounds. The various characters are cute, and simplistic (the dog is ugly, but you can't win 'em all I guess).
The main area I think could have served to draw a more consistent throughline was the way the little frog's story concluded. Without directly spoiling anything, it was a feelgood ending, but I was almost hoping that the little frog could have had the opportunity to come to terms with being different.
Most of what made the little frog's life truly difficult was the overcompensation of those around it, and not its original disposition (lol). It seemed pretty content when everything was said and done though.
So maybe being a little more substantive could have elevated this for me, but there's still a timeless quality that I really appreciate. Add to that how wacky and funny it can be, and it becomes something I can definitely see myself returning to for a good time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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