Annecy Review: Julián is my favorite animated mermaid this side of Ariel

Julián, the latest fantastic animated outing from Cartoon Saloon (of The Secret of Kells and Wolfwalkers fame), is a perfect movie for this time of year. It captures the sweltering heat of a summer's day in New York. It makes you want to go to the pool or the beach, and to grab a cold treat along the way. And with its themes of navigating identity and gender expectations, it's also a great Pride Month watch. Who could ask for anything more?

Not me, honestly. Julián was on my most anticipated list I put up late last year, and it was the movie I was most excited to see pop up at Annecy, where it just made its world premiere. Director Louise Bagnall and screenwriter Juliany Taveras, working from Jessica Love's book Julián is a Mermaid, have crafted a movie that is so bountiful. It's bursting with color, every frame gorgeous and vibrant and pulsing with the life of the barrio where Abuela lives. The music is upbeat and infectious; I was bopping in my seat. And the story and characters are so beautifully and thoughtfully realized, with space to grow and adapt and become better. 

Julián (or Julian, as his father pronounces it) is excited to spend some time with his abuela in Brooklyn, even though it seems they haven't seen each other in a while. Julián is an abundant child, oozing creativity and imagination, expressive, curious. He's a happy kid, almost always wearing a toothy smile, even when he's in trouble. He and Abuela make a bit of an odd pair. Whereas Julián is quick to say what's on his mind, maybe to his detriment, Abuela is quieter and more stoic. You can sense she carries some pain in her, but she isn't quick to let on what it is. She's from a different, older generation, one that might be a bit out of sync with today's kids. But she welcomes Julián into her home all the same, while still laying down the law when she needs to.

Julián is obsessed with the sea, and becomes fascinated by Yemayá, the goddess of the sea who sometimes takes on the appearance of a mermaid. It just so happens the neighborhood is hosting a mermaid parade soon, and Julián, after some initial foibles, befriends a trio of girls and joins their mermaid "team." They'll make costumes and perform a dance at the parade, if Julián can get Abuela on board to help him make a costume.

As you might expect, there's some tension with Julián's wish to be a mermaid. What kind of awakening he's having isn't totally clear, and isn't really the point. Maybe this is a little gay boy taking his first footsteps into flamboyance. Maybe there's a gender journey that's just getting started. It doesn't really matter, because it's a universal story however it's playing out. Every kid has to navigate these choices and challenges as they try on identities and figure themselves out. And every person who's involved in a kid's life ought to be supportive and loving, even when the vision isn't shared. I love how this movie shows what that journey can look like, with Abuela struggling to understand Julián's interests (he's so different from his dad, whose childhood passion was baseball) but mostly supporting him nonetheless.

And while the film tackles some of the friction that comes with being different -- Abuela's friends are prone to throwing shade, and Julián gets bullied at the pool for wearing his mermaid outfit -- the film doesn't wallow too much in these moments. Instead, it mostly keeps things pretty light and hopeful. It's a film that seeks to show the joy of living authentically, and finding the people who will celebrate with you when you're feeling good in your own skin. Watching Julián feels, appropriately, like a big party, one full of color and glitter and music and good vibes. You can't let the haters get you down.

I have to give a special shout-out to Knyght Darius Jack, the young actor who voices Julián. Between his fantastic performance and how beautifully expressive the animation is (in true Cartoon Saloon fashion), it is impossible not to love and root for this character. His flights of fancy, breathless excitement, and desire to connect with the people around him make Julián one of my favorite characters of the year. He's just an awesome kid.

And I love that, in this movie, we get to see what it looks like for a kid like Julián -- one who's marching to the beat of his own drum -- to live his life well. He gets to be himself, strut his stuff, and do so while being surrounded by people who love him for everything he is, including us viewers.