February Animation Preview

I'm getting this article ready a little more advance than I usually do, as I'll be posting it while I'm on vacation in Japan. So hopefully this information is accurate and I didn't miss too much. It seems like February is a slightly lighter month animation-wise, but there are still a few movies to keep an eye out for, and I imagine we'll get some releases finally popping up on streaming (maybe Moana 2?).

In Theaters

There are a few animated movies hitting theaters in the US in February. The first is Out of the Nest, a Thai-Chinese co-production that premiered at Annecy last year, and hits (limited) theaters on February 7. It follows a delivery boy goat named Arthur who is tasked with rescuing the seven royal fledglings (who look fresh out of Angry Birds) and bringing them back to their parents, the Emperor and Empress. And, according to the synopsis on IMDb, he also dreams of being a world-class barber. Sounds pretty random, but it looks very cute, and should be a fun watch.

Out of the Nest

On February 28, GKIDS is bringing Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-  (hardest title to type I've ever seen) to the big screen. This is a re-editing of some of the episodes of the show into movie form, so it seems like it'll be a good entry point into the franchise for newcomers (like me). It follows a high school student who is drawn into an illegal mech fighting sport after meeting a war refugee. Sounds and looks cool to me!

February 28 also brings, at long last, the theatrical release of The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. I loved this one when I caught it at Animation is Film last year, and I think anyone who catches it will feel similarly. It does a great job of honoring the classic Looney Tunes humor while also updating it and adding some modern flair. Warner Bros. dumped it, so it's being distributed by Ketchup Entertainment (low-key, they put out some great stuff), so I'm not sure how big of a footprint this will have. Might end up popping off once it makes it to streaming.

In Australia, there's a movie coming out on February 27 called The Lost Tiger. It's Australia's first animated film to be written and directed by an Indigenous woman filmmaker, which is very cool. The film follows Teo (the eponymous tiger), who was adopted by a family of wrestler kangaroos. When he starts having visions about his origins, he sets out on a journey to save his homeland. I'm not sure if this will make it to US shores, but I'll try to find a way to watch it so I can review it here. 

The Lost Tiger

Streaming

The lone animated release on streaming that I'm aware of is The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, which hits Netflix on February 11. This is the second anime movie for the streamer, and is adapted from the popular show, which is adapted from the (arguably even more) popular video game series. In this movie, Geralt is brought in to investigate attacks in a seaside village (maybe being committed by sirens of the deep? Who can say?). I don't have a lot of history with The Witcher. I played the third game on Switch, which is largely considered the series' high point. I enjoyed it pretty well, and I definitely see the appeal of the world. I fell asleep trying to watch the first episode of the show on a plane once, and I never tried again. I might check out the first movie -- Nightmare of the Wolf -- before watching this.

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

Festivals

World-premiering at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on February 4 is the amazing-looking The Great History of Western Philosophy, which is the feature debut from Mexican filmmaker Aria Covamonas. The very meta movie is about a filmmaker who is hired by Chariman Mao to create a philosophical film, but is then sentenced to death for failing to deliver. Monkey and Pigsy from Journey to the West intervene, taking the filmmaker on a tour through -- you guessed it -- western philosophy, hoping to spark some creativity. It sounds like an astonishing piece of art, a dreamlike assemblage of public domain footage and audio to create something truly original. I can't wait to see it.

The Great History of Western Philosophy

Also happening in February is the Berlin International Film Festival, which has a couple high-profile animated films showing. Michel Gondry's Maya, Give Me a Title will play at the fest. Using paper and stop-motion techniques, as well as some live-action, Gondry creates various animated scenarios as a way to connect with his daughter, who lives overseas. This will be the film's international premiere, and I'm sure it'll play many other fests on its way to theaters.

Berlin will also host the world premiere of Space Cadet, a very cute-looking Canadian film about a young astronaut and her guardian robot. The film is described as a dialogue-free musical that explores grief, love, and loss across generations. Yeah, I'm already crying. This is the directorial debut of Kid Koala, and is an adaptation of his 2011 graphic novel.

Space Cadet