Animal Behaviour (film) explained

Animal Behaviour
Director:Alison Snowden
David Fine
Producer:Michael Fukushima
Starring:Ryan Beil
Taz VanRassel
Leah Juel
Andrea Libman
James Kirk
Alison Snowden
Music:Judith Gruber-Stitzer
Studio:National Film Board of Canada
Runtime:14 minutes[1]
Country:Canada
Language:English

Animal Behaviour (also released in French as Zoothérapie) is a Canadian animated short film directed by Alison Snowden and David Fine, which was released in 2018.[2] The duo's first animated theatrical short since their 1993 Oscar-winning film Bob's Birthday, the film centres on a group of animals who meet weekly for a group psychotherapy session in the offices of psychiatrist Dr. Clement.[2]

The film's voice cast includes Ryan Beil as Dr. Clement, Taz VanRassel as Victor the ape, Leah Juel as Lorraine the leech, Andrea Libman as Cheryl the mantis, Toby Berner as Todd the pig, James Kirk as Jeffrey the bird, and Alison Snowden as Linda the cat.

Release

The film premiered in June 2018 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.[3] The film was dedicated to the medical team at the Vancouver General Hospital, who saved Snowden's life in 2017 when she was diagnosed with acute interstitial pneumonitis during the making of the film.[4]

Awards and honors

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards,[5] but lost to the Pixar short Bao.[6] In March it won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards.[7]

See also

American adult animated sitcom, premiering in 2021, with a similar premise of an animal therapy group.

Notes and References

  1. https://calgaryfilm2018.eventive.org/films/5b80ebc84844d10014687443#! Calgary Film 2018
  2. https://www.awn.com/news/watch-walk-wild-side-alison-snowden-david-fines-animal-behaviour "WATCH: Walk on the Wild Side with Alison Snowden & David Fine’s ‘Animal Behaviour’"
  3. https://www.awn.com/animationworld/annecy-2018-short-and-short-it "Annecy 2018: The Short and Short of It"
  4. https://globalnews.ca/news/4258466/b-c-oscar-winners-dedicate-new-film-to-vgh-staff/ "B.C. Oscar winners dedicate new film to VGH staff"
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnNDI9aZUDQ "Bao" wins Best Animated Short Film-Oscars on YouTube
  6. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/animal-behaviour-oscar-nomination-1.4987873 "Vancouver filmmaking pair nominated for Oscar with short animation Animal Behaviour"
  7. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1161646/prix-ecrans-canadiens-2019-gagnants "Les Québécois remportent plus de la moitié des trophées à l'avant-gala des prix Écrans canadiens"