Dead (2013) Online

This brightly colored animation is about death, I guess. A childish character laments the death of his brother (a mouse), his aunt (a rabbit) and many others as he builds up and up till he is the central point of all creation due to his loss and grief. The nature of the delivery is important here because it s a short film that is consistently absurd in its construction and delivery, with a silly childish tone that is almost mocking the subject. Although the title is Dead and the many animal characters die, the actual focus of the film is the boy himself and in particular his sense of grief and loss.

This is not done in a serious way but rather in a manner that shows the boy as being absorbed with himself and his place. Thus every death elevates him in importance and eventually he comes to the conclusion that he prefers the death due to the attention (more or less). I am helping the film by putting it this simply because mostly the short is a sing-song delivery of animals being squished. The message about the child's valuing of grief is there in the escalation but it is not the most intelligent way to make an intelligent point. Bichard deserves credit for how much he did on the film (he even includes himself prominently in the end-credit "thank you" list) but it is only an OK film and the crude manner of delivery doesn't really even last the very short running time before it outstays its welcome.