O MENINO E O MUNDO [2013]

aka
Boy & The World

Nearly 2 years after it's home country release, director Alê Abreu brings the rest of the world into a refreshingly colorful animated reality in Brazil's O Menino e o Mundo.
A young boy, raised in the secluded countryside, goes on a journey into the crazy world seeking out his father, where he experiences everything the planet has to offer him, both good and bad.
It's told in a uniquely designed fashion that relies on it's brilliantly designed picture and organically composed music to tell the story rather than the odd mumbled dialogue of senseless gibberish.  Abreu paints the industrial materialistic world with a downbeat ugliness but never forgets to teach there's still quite a bit of hidden beauty left still worth fighting for.  The lesson being taught gets a little heavy-handed near the end but it's so brief it can be forgiven.  It's as inspiring as it is mortifying but when it all comes down to it, the film is a brilliant feast for the ears and eyes.

3½ cotton poodles out of 5