COLOR: Simple Animation, Deep Story
I have always been a big fan of animated films, there is just something about animation that enables it to evoke emotions live action films rarely reach. I’m such a fan that I even started on a mission to watch every animated short film to win an Oscar in the Academy Award for Animated Short Film category, I’ve seen 77 out of 81 so far.
Color is an animated short film about a creature that looks a lot like a lima bean with legs. This little creature has a beautiful yellow color that it tries to hide to fit in with the creatures and the buildings in the town it lives in. Since everything in its world, including all the other beans, is grey, the bean tries to make itself appear grey as well. The type of grey used is reminiscent of the color used in the 2012 Oscar winning short film Paperman (which I highly recommend).
Fitting In
Color is a metaphor for queer people trying to fit in by pretending to be something they’re not, and how hard they try, they never truly will, and are deeply unhappy pretending. Dedicated to queer people, Lin‘s film is a touching little film that, through its simplistic but lovely animation, great use of sound effects and soulful music, makes you care for the little lima bean that seems so lost, in just a few minutes.
Message!
Films with a social message can be a bit tricky because they often seem a bit preachy, which was wonderfully parodied in the 1996 film Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood through its use of a postman that would show up and loudly yell MESSAGE every time a social message was being delivered. Thankfully Color manages to make its point without falling into that trap.
Color was animated by Kate Ting-Chun Lin and features music by Alex Robert Heinrich.
Do you know any films with a social message that hit the mark without tipping over into preachy territory? Let us know in the comments section!
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