Alexa: The Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards usually features at least one entry that flies below the radar in the U.S. until it receives a nomination. In 2017 that movie was “My Life as a Zucchini,” and though it lost to “Zootopia,” its inclusion at the Oscars deservedly opened it up to a much wider audience. It’s a truly touching little film, and a remarkably honest one. The stop-motion animation is a joy to behold, and every choice in the character and scenic design conveys the joy and sorrow of these orphans’ world. The vivid colors capture a childlike sense of wonder, while the characters’ heavy eyes reveal a traumatic lived experience no child should ever have to endure. It’s a heartbreaking and heartwarming journey at the same time, watching these children teeter back and forth between coming to terms with their tragic circumstances and dealing with the growing pains of just being a kid. “My Life as a Zucchini” expertly weaves themes of love and family that are sure to resonate long after the credits roll.
Joel: Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming is an excellent way to describe this movie. It’s a simple movie, with a short runtime, yet it’s able to pack a powerful amount of emotional power by giving us just enough of the puzzle that we are able to put everything together ourselves. The simple, stop motion animation gives us a visual to go with the childlike perspective of the world that we would get from these main characters. It’s sweet and endearing. There’s a simplicity that goes with it, as the limited animation allows for limited expression on the faces of each character. Yet, that limited amount of expression is masterfully used in such a way that we are able to extrapolate all the exposition we need from the shifting of the eyes, or minimal movement of the mouth.
My Life as a Zucchini has moments were it feels like we’re watching genuine children run, play, and interact with each other. But it also gives each character a certain weight where the heavier moments of the movie don’t feel cheap or forced. It presents itself simply, and then allows the audience to draw the conclusions they’re expected to draw. It’s an emotional movie, and one that lingers with you past the credits, with both the emotional highs and lows of the story holding tight in your memory.
Chris: The opening of My Life as a Zucchini had me worried because with the look and the dark subject matter at the beginning had all the signs of an animation movie that’s dark and sad only for the sack of bring dark and sad with no substance or progression. Those worries were relieved as the movie progressed as we see a full spectrum of emotions in relatively simple fashion that resonated deeply within the audience. The run time is short but I'm glad for it because it was padded for time at all, the story would've felt dragged out and slow. I'm appreciative that they used just as much time as necessary to tell a simple but compelling story rather than try to hit a specific time mark.
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