The Small One

I’m going to level with you guys, I haven’t seen this one in a long time, so my knowledge on it is somewhat limited. What I do remember is that it is about a small boy who lives in Israel who has to sell his donkey who has been a longtime friend of his. The only issue is that everybody who is interested in buying it is either too mean or too poor to take care of it. I will tell you the ending, but to be honest with you, if you can’t call it right now, I will reach through my computer screen and hit you in the head. In fact, I’ll give you a head start. Take 5 minutes to go figure out what the ending to a special about a boy in Israel who wants to sell his donkey. Ready? GO!

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Times up! Did you figure it out? Well let’s find out! The special ends with the boy meeting Joseph who wants to buy the donkey off of the boy so that his pregnant wife, Mary can ride the donkey to Bethlehem. Take a look at the answer you came up with. Did you get it right? If not, expect an e-mail from me sometime this week. The movie was one of the few that famed animator Don Bluth directed before he left Walt Disney studios. For those of you who don’t know who Mr. Bluth is, he made some of the best animated movies ever, mostly coming out of the 80’s. His philosophy on story telling was that you could make the plot as depressing and heart-wrenching as possible, and nobody would mind as long as you ended on a high note. This would also make it acceptable for children to see. Kind of like how the little mouse finally found his family in American Tail, or everybody’s favorite group of dinosaurs finally reaching the Great Valley in Land Before Time, despite the hardship that all of these characters endured along the way (both of these were films either directed or produced by Don Bluth). Don't even get me started on the death of Little Foot's mother in Land Before Time! The Small One is no exception, you feel bad for the boy and the donkey all along the way, and while you still feel sad that they have to be parted at the end, you at least have the comfort of knowing that the boy will be able to move on and that his child hood friend is in good hands. Crap, I’m getting a little teary-eyed just thinking about some of these darn movies. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. It isn't that long, but you'll enjoy every bit of it, from the tear jerking story to Don Bluth's wonderful animation. Now while you are doing that, I'm going to cry like a little girl in the corner of my basement thinking about those damn dinosaur kids.

Final Grade: A

Yours truly,

MP