Klara and the Mad Cows – KuToppen (2018)

Directed by: Lise I. Osvoll | 66 minutes | animation, family | Dutch voice cast: Daan van Rijssel, Donna Vrijhof, Wiebe-Pier Cnossen, Seb van den Berg, Desi van Doeveren, Enzo Coenen, Peggy Vrijens, Jorien Zeevaart, Nine Meijer, Rutger le Poole, Dennis van Schajik

The young calf Klara wants to become a star, but in the big city she seems unable to do so. When one day she receives a letter from her, until then, absent father, she decides to visit him. Her father is an eccentric figure who lives on a farm and Klara soon feels at home. But then the farm is in danger and Klara and her father have to bake 100 apple pies in order not to lose the lot. That seems like a simple assignment, were it not for the fact that all apples just keep disappearing. Without apples no pie and therefore no farm. See here, the story of ‘Klara and the mad cows’; a film that is clearly aimed at the younger viewer.

For the younger viewer it won’t be a problem that the plot feels a bit random at times. This arbitrariness is mainly caused by the lack of logic in the developments in the story. The problem of the missing apples actually has no relation to the beckoning stardom that Klara aspires to. And the fact that the apples actually disappear has little to no connection with Klara’s personal development. But a 6-year-old will have no problem with that.

There is a deeper message hidden in Klara’s story. At one point, Klara’s father is thought to have mad cow disease because he seems to behave so irrationally. But he continues to believe in himself and eventually the others do too. And that becomes the moral of the story through the power of repetition: Believe in yourself! There are worse messages for young viewers.

So it’s not really a question of whether ‘Klara and the mad cows’ is a good movie or not. The answer to that question in this case is not a savior. The question is whether children who go to this film have a nice experience. The answer to that will be “yes”, especially for the real young viewers. They see a film that is at times funny, exciting and educational. They also see a colourful, cheerful and easily understandable film. And that the fact that the plot of ‘Klara and the mad cows’ solves certain problems very easily won’t matter to them.