Shooom’s adventure – L’odyssée de choum (2019)

Directed by: Julien Bisaro | 26 minutes | animation, adventure, short film | Dutch voice cast: Meghna Kumar, Murth Mossel, Daysha Ligeon, Peggy Sandaal, Daphne Flint, Davian Mardjoeki, Juneoer Mers

‘Shooom’s Adventure’ is a 26-minute gem of an animated film. The film is made for children between the ages of 4 and 7, but it is guaranteed that many adults will count this beautiful work as one of their favorites after seeing it.

The video is set in Louisiana. An ideal setting because the variety in the landscape provides a lot of variation in colour, shape and sound. The adventure begins in a small coastal town, where the harbor master sounds the alarm for the approaching hurricane. People, but also animals, quickly seek the safety of their homes. We follow a small squirrel who suddenly spots a nest in a hollow tree from a high tree. He takes a look worried. It turns out that there are two eggs – the parents are nowhere to be seen. The squirrel takes them out of the danger zone. Not long after, one of the eggs hatches: it turns out to be a baby snowy owl. This little one sees the squirrel as his mother of course, but the squirrel doesn’t want to know about that and runs away. The little snowy owl stands alone, but hey, there is sound coming from the other egg!

What follows is a nail-biting, but above all oh so moving adventure in which ‘Shooom’ (the eldest owl) does everything to save his brother or sister. Danger lurks everywhere and such an egg easily rolls away. Shooom is then also opposed by Walter and Rosie, two children, who of course don’t mean so bad, but in their innocence they separate the family owl, because they want to keep ‘Piep’, the unhatched egg, for themselves. .

The 2D animation is phenomenal, the use of color and the application of light and shadow is perfect and the attention to even the smallest details makes ‘Shooom’s adventure’ a feast for the eyes. The animation is not realistic, but still quite natural. The expressive faces of the animals, especially the owls, are very endearing. But also the ‘body language’, the funny movements and the different sounds they make to communicate, provide a unique viewing experience. So clever how the makers seem to have created their own owl language. Whether Shooom “says” ‘beep’, ‘beep’ or ‘beep’, you understand exactly what she means.

Besides the fact that these animals will irrevocably conquer your heart, ‘Shooom’s adventure’ also has an ecological message, but it is very subtle. This impressive film has already won several awards (including best animated short at the Césars, the French Oscars) and puts all the checks in the right places. This is perfection.