Marcel, King of Tervuren (2013) Online

A King survives attempts to control or kill him, but ultimately it is the rising power of his own son that turns out to be the real threat to his reign. Oh, and he is a rooster.

This short film does something fascinating to me when watching it; what it does is present me with a couple of aspects that I didn't really like when I considered them on their own, but yet as part of the overall product it all works pretty well. Primarily this is the musical score, which I still think if overly abrasive and dramatic, but yet it works, so I cannot say too much. It works to create a lot of drama, color and drama out of a man talking about an old rooster. The narration is the main thing that draws one in, because it is a well told story, but it is the animation that brings this to life with color and flowing, engaging images throughout. These three things come together and the story is presented with a warm and engaging tone but yet one of drama and energy.

The weakness of it is that it is all about the delivery, so it didn't leave me with a lot afterwards, although this is a fault one often sees with shorts that do well in festivals (where they screen in groups of films, and it is about who makes the biggest impression at the time).