SWAMPS, 1min., Canada

Directed by David Convery

Bello takes a mystery trip through the wood wide web and lands in a swamp – nature’s water treatment plants.

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Review by Victoria Angelique:

SWAMPS is a short narrative that is aimed at children and invokes feelings of nostalgia as it is reminiscent of the educational commercials in between shows back when there were still Saturday morning cartoons. It keeps the attention of children with a familiar character, a mushroom named Bello, while being short enough so that the information can be retained rather than forgotten. 

The dialogue makes it clear that this is part of a series of shorts following Bello around as they explain the scientific reasoning behind different bodies of water. This particular short depicts SWAMPS, hence the title. It even includes body humor that children enjoy to explain the odor of swamplands in a way that would get little giggles out of the viewers. 

The animation style is mixed with live shots of not only the swamps, but the animals that reside in the murky waters. It combines animated particles to explain why the swamp stinks. Sound is combined with the two visual styles to explain the sounds of the body of water, using the buzzing of the many insects even though it doesn’t go into what type of insects live near swamps. This is probably to keep the interest of children as many would never visit a swamp if they knew how many mosquitoes called the area home. 

The film, SWAMPS, feels like a short that entire families would enjoy. It would educate children in a wholesome way while bringing back fond memories of childhood for the parents watching the animated short. Children would love Bello, which would promote parents searching online for more of the shorts starring the character to broaden their children’s scientific education.