"The Boy in the Bubble" is an Irish 8-minute animated short film from 4 years ago written and directed by Kealan O'Rourke. For him, it was (according to IMDb) the last effort as a writer, but not as a director. A bit of a pity he did not enter full feature territory afterward as I can certainly see some talent in this little movie. This also includes narrator Alan Rickman obviously, who once again gets in touch with the wonderful world of magic, even if it is not so wonderful in this little movie. A boy gets left by his girlfriend and decides to enter a magic bubble, so he will never get hurt by any girl again in the future. Doesn't work out as planned in the end and that's a good thing. The animation will probably not appeal to everybody, but i liked just like the story, which is cute and smart at the same time. Good watch and I recommend it. Certainly an underseen little film.
3 Reviews
nice
Kirpianuscus1 January 2018
Nice story, remembering classic parables. inspired presence of the voice of Alan Rickman. and answer to pressures, in poetic manner, to a child. this poetic side is the best part of a short animation seductive for the art to tell, in right way, old truths. because something missing. the film is beautiful, shining, well made and similar to many others fantasy films. but it is not convincing in real sense. and this is the small sin of it.
The Boy In The Bubble displays adolescent heartache through stilted animation.
TheMovieDiorama11 April 2019
A ten year old boy helplessly falls in love for the first time and inevitably has his heart broken. So to prevent this, he utilises an incantation to shield him from emotion forever. Melancholic whilst imitating Tim Burton's gothic style, O'Rourke's short film feels too simple for its own good. The animation, narration and story is presented in a way that younger audiences can access, which is great. But in doing so, the emotional journey of overcoming heartache is simplified to an extent that all the resonance and attachment to the story has dissipated. A shame considering the unique charm that it exhumes.
The legendary Alan Rickman narrates the story and, despite harnessing the best voice ever, there was a distinct lack of lyricism to the narration. Its poetic foundations lost amidst the star power of Rickman. Then we come to the animation itself. As always, I applaud the effort that goes into fully animating a story, especially when produced independently. However the stilted style and lack of fluidity was reminiscent that of a PlayStation 2 video game (this was released in 2011). It's a common form of storytelling, with many other independent short films using the style and achieving better results. Still, the story is conveyed through some magical moments, just not enough to fully captivate me and overcome its outdated animation style.
The legendary Alan Rickman narrates the story and, despite harnessing the best voice ever, there was a distinct lack of lyricism to the narration. Its poetic foundations lost amidst the star power of Rickman. Then we come to the animation itself. As always, I applaud the effort that goes into fully animating a story, especially when produced independently. However the stilted style and lack of fluidity was reminiscent that of a PlayStation 2 video game (this was released in 2011). It's a common form of storytelling, with many other independent short films using the style and achieving better results. Still, the story is conveyed through some magical moments, just not enough to fully captivate me and overcome its outdated animation style.
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