'The Lost Thing', short film on a book by Shaun Tan
Have seen this memorable flic a couple times on Imagemakers
The Animation of ImaginationBoth are wistful, evoking ideas we rarely inspect. Children of all ages, if having grown up with books will grok to fullness both tales. I think that the "Lost" title permeates our psyches. ('Rescuing' animals, for ex./former pets usually) ... treats loss) of first, belonging somewhere and next ..of health, all rolled into daily hunger.
THE LOST THING (Australia) - A boy discovers a bizarre looking creature while out collecting bottle caps one day at the beach. Realizing it is lost, he tries to find out where it belongs, but everyone else is too busy or wrapped up in their own lives to care. The boy decides it is up to him to find its home. The surreal animation comes from the mind of children's book writer Shaun Tan. A beautiful allegory exploring how we take for granted the world around us and how we ourselves at times feel like we don't belong.
FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MORRIS LESSMORE (US) - Inspired in equal measures by Hurricane Katrina (the filmmakers are based in Louisiana), Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, "Morris Lessmore" is a story of people who devote their lives to books. The film is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of reading. The film uses a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals.