Foxed! (2013)
I love stop-motion animation. It takes me back to all those holiday specials that I watched as a kid. It is a refined, time-consuming art pioneered by Ray Harryhausen, and one that seems to endure despite all the computer generated animation out these days. Take, for example, Foxed!, a 3 minute short screened at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival directed by James Stewart and written by Nev Bezaire. It tells the tale of Emily, voiced by Athena Karkanis from the Saw series, a wide-eyed little girl who has been kidnapped by sneaky and shifty looking foxes to work in their Blue Goo mines. Sounds kooky, but when you see the film, you are drawn in by Emily’s despair and literally shout for more of the story when it ends. It has a creepy fairytale feel that makes you want to watch at bedtime with the covers pulled up over your nose. Stewart, whose inspiration came from films like Coraline, has stated that there are many themes in the main story, ones of parent-child relationships, finding your individuality and facing personal demons, adding some real depth to Emily’s plight.
The film has made the festival circuit, winning several awards and charming audiences everywhere. Not only is it created with the painstaking stop-motion technique, but it is also the first to use stereoscopic 3-D, which adds depth and cinematic scope to the tiny sets. For really great behind the scenes video, commentary and more, go to the official film site:
and download the film at ITunes : https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/foxed!/id922682834
So what happens to Emily? How did these foxes kidnap her? Who are these snaggle-toothed burrowers and what do they want? If you check out the clips on the Foxed! site, Stewart has confirmed a feature-length film coming from this intriguing short, so I think the growing number of fans will get what they want: More!!
