Father and Daughter

November 24, 2008 3:42 PM

"With the holiday season almost upon us, the Picture Palace is in a familial, touchy-feely mood. Also, we thought it’d be kind of cool to turn you into a shivering puddle of tears. And so we present to you Michael Dudok de Wit’s Father and Daughter. It won the 2000 Best Animated Short Oscar, along with a whole crapload of other awards. There’s a reason for all those accolades: This wordless, minimalist, beautifully animated eight-minute fable, about a girl who watches her father leave and continues to wait for him, is one of the most powerful things we’ve ever seen. It’s also been a cult item among animation buffs for a long time now."
posted by vronsky (26 comments total)

also from Dudok de Wit -- The monk and the fish.
posted by vronsky at 3:47 PM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thank you.
posted by wires at 4:19 PM on November 24, 2008

I didn't want to watch it. I didn't want to like it. I did both, and I cried at the end.
posted by math at 4:21 PM on November 24, 2008

I'm exactly the opposite of math.

I got excited by the description. The animation and aesthetic were promising, too. But it just kind of dragged on and had a very predictable and disappointing ending.
posted by vertigo25 at 4:29 PM on November 24, 2008

Shivering puddle of tears: check. (For anybody compiling MeFite reaction statistics.)
posted by Michael Roberts at 4:55 PM on November 24, 2008

count me in the misty eyed category.
Something about the need for a child to hug their parent is really universal isn't it?
posted by tylerfulltilt at 4:58 PM on November 24, 2008

The monk and the fish, though, is awesome.
posted by Michael Roberts at 5:02 PM on November 24, 2008

I was okay until near the end. That was amazing. Thank You.
posted by sir_rubixalot at 5:58 PM on November 24, 2008

If you want another lovely cartoon short with a happier ending (but no fewer tears) please, please check out The Danish Poet.
posted by sararah at 6:25 PM on November 24, 2008

People seem to be more willing to accept an animated tearjerker short than a live-action one.
posted by jfrancis at 6:33 PM on November 24, 2008

Thank you for this - it was beautiful music and animation. Not the saddest I have seen, but touching nonetheless.

The saddest cartoon I ever saw was the Futurama episode Jurassic Bark. But then again, I am a big Futurama/Simpsons fan.
posted by bitteroldman at 6:49 PM on November 24, 2008

Thank you for posting this.
posted by jquinby at 6:57 PM on November 24, 2008

I didn't get the ending for a second, and then, yeah, choke.

...along with a whole crapload of other awards.
Refresh my memory, vronsky-- a crapload is somewhere between a swad and a caboodle?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:13 PM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

...along with a whole crapload of other awards.
Refresh my memory, vronsky-- a crapload is somewhere between a swad and a caboodle?

See the Rose George post below.
posted by Jumpin Jack Flash at 8:25 PM on November 24, 2008

Having been pretty much floored by the video to Modest Mouse's Little Motel (ie, I'm kinda a sentimental douche), I am deciding whether to watch the short linked above. Hm.
posted by maxwelton at 9:23 PM on November 24, 2008

Lovely.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:22 AM on November 25, 2008

What a perfect gem. It is the minimalism that takes the simple story to another level; if this had been a a disney cartoon in saturated colors, it would not have been so moving. I guess I see it as the cartoon equivalent of understated wit.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:09 AM on November 25, 2008

Beautiful. I too thought I would hold out, but yeah, if you've lost your dad, it gets you in the end.
posted by Dragonness at 6:41 AM on November 25, 2008

... if you've lost your dad, it gets you in the end.

Or your mom. Who I lost as a very young child. And who I've dreamed about (I mean sleep dreams) intermittently, over the years. Reuniting dreams. Something like the hug at the end of this film. So, this film was just enormously touching for me. That is, it touched something deep within me, something I've felt many times. Thanks for posting this, vronsky.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:55 AM on November 25, 2008

Just beautiful, in imagery as well as story. I love how the far-off sound of crows cawing evokes exactly the blustery winter feel they intended.
posted by vytae at 11:06 AM on November 25, 2008

Oh, man, I knew when I saw this link I was going to end up like math did, and I was right. I can't believe I was sobbing by the end.
posted by aliceinreality at 11:07 AM on November 25, 2008

I did not think I was going to cry. But I did.
I lost my mother to cancer a year ago at Christmastime. At about this time last year, we had just found out she had cancer. This shouldn't be a big thing, because I am 45 years old, and my mother had had a full life. It doesn't make any sense to cry. Yet, I am crying. This video managed to take me back to being a child.
posted by lleachie at 1:15 PM on November 25, 2008

I got misty for other reasons - my parents are both still alive...but I have daughters.
posted by jquinby at 1:50 PM on November 25, 2008

Puddle of tears.
posted by AuntLisa at 3:10 PM on November 25, 2008

I got misty for other reasons - my parents are both still alive...but I have daughters.

Me too. Three and a half (about the age of the girl at the beginning I guess), and eight months.

I'm going to turn off the computer now and go play with them.
posted by Mephisto at 3:41 PM on November 25, 2008 [2 favorites]

Such a tender work of art. I love that and it's poignantly how I feel about my own dad.
posted by nickyskye at 6:29 PM on November 25, 2008