Birdboy: The Forgotten Childen

A small group of animal friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape from their post-apocalyptic island home, all while a young outcast known as Birdboy unleashes a secret power that could change their world forever.

I’ve seen Spanish Writer/Director Alberto Vazquez’s animated film, Unicorn Wars, which I really enjoyed, so I’ve been meaning to check out Birdboy: The Forgotten Children, his first animated film, for some time now. Also known as Psiconautas or Psychonauts - The Forgotten Children, this film is based on Vazquez’s comic Psiconautas.

Just fyi…

Birdboy takes place on an island of cute cartoon animal people, a place that was once prosperous, with an economy centered around a bustling factory. But then one day, the factory explodes, poisoning the earth, killing most of the residents, and leaving the survivors destitute and trapped on the island. They can see the mainland from their shores, but they have no way of getting there.

I’m not sure why they can’t swim, or just build a raft, as the mainland looks really close, but whatever…

Anyway, the film switches between a couple of different characters, like the pig-fisherman struggling to care for his ailing mother, to a robotic alarm clock enjoying the use its new legs for the first time, but mostly, it focuses on three teenagers, a fox named Little Fox, a mouse named Dinky, and a bunny named Sandra, on the day that they all decide to skip school, with all their savings, in order to find a way off the island once and for all. The film is also about the titular Birdboy, a mute teenager with big dark eyes, a ragged suit and tie, and dark wings.

Birdboy is a junkie because the demon within him demands it, and so he struggles with this, and also with the reality of his father’s true legacy, and the responsibility he now must carry now that his father is gone.

Birdboy’s father, Birdman, was once the lighthouse keeper. After the island was destroyed, and the lighthouse was shut down, Birdman was out of a job, so he put on a mask, learned to fly, and then used his newfound ability to distribute drugs all over the island. Birdman didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice, as he was out of a job, but all the while, his real purpose is a closely guarded secret.

But before Birdman can finish his work, the police catch up with him and shoot him out of the sky. Now, the cops want to do the same with Birdboy.

Dinky is Birdboy’s ex, but he ghosted her after his father was killed.

The three teens all want to leave their island home because it kind of sucks in general, but Dinky specifically wants to leave because her parents are the typical overbearing asshole Christian fundamentalists. So, Dinky’s decided to go through with her plan to escape the island, and she’s bringing Sandra and Little Fox with her, and all their life savings too. The trio plan to cross the water to the mainland, and go to the big city, where they’ve heard that a friend's brother went and is now living the good life.

But to get the last amount of money they need, the trio decide to rob Zachariah's house. Zacharius is a pig and also a fisherman. He has a boat that he wants to use to leave the island himself, and he’s saving the money to do just that, but he is also stuck taking care of his ailing mother—a pig woman slowly dying from disease and addiction. Even though his piggy bank pleads with him to just leave and find his own life, that responsibility keeps him here.

When the teens break in to steal Zachariah’s money, his mom’s pain pill addiction takes the form of a huge spider demon, catching the children in the act of stealing Zachariah's piggy bank. There’s a fight, but the kids manage to get away with the money. Zachariah, finally fed up with the spider demon, crushes it, even though he knows this will also kill his mother. But to his surprise, his mother actually thanks him for freeing her, and encourages him to find his own life.

Eventually, the three teens wind up in a junkyard, hoping to buy a boat from a black market dealer, only to find that the place is ruled by an evil rat king and his blood-thirsty child cult, known as the Forgotten Children, who ambush them.

Luckily, a parrot sees the teens get capture, and flies to Birdboy to tell him that Dinky and the others are in trouble. Filled with rage, Birdboy allows the demon to take over, which changes him into a gigantic shadow demon that breathes green fire. Birdboy destroys the Forgotten Children and the junkyard.

After the battle, the cutesy little cartoon animals are left to pick up the pieces and try to salvage their lives from the wreckage, only to learn that the island never lets anyone go.

To make a long story short... this is a sad and weird little film.

Birdboy: The Forgotten Children is a generally nihilistic, tragic, and surreal coming-of-age story about lost innocence, all shown through fantastic animation that is both vibrant and colorful, and often unapologetically horrific. It's a dark, post-apocalyptic comedy that features some drug abuse and violence, with a little bit of nudity too, not to mention some implied sex between a bird and a mouse in their early teens, and all while featuring commentary on police brutality and the dangers of cults, so… there’s basically something for the whole family.

But that’s the whole point, right?

Much like Unicorn Wars, seeing a cutesy cartoon bird kid sniff up a few lines of cocaine, or watching two half-starved but also still cutesy cartoon mouse children beat each other to death, or a disney-like cartoon animal being ripped in half and spraying its guts and viscera all over, is really what you’re tuning in for when you seek out something like this, right?

Still, despite its many high points, Birdboy doesn’t quite work.

For the most part, this film is both too dark, and its ending isn’t satisfying at all. Despite implying at the end that there might be better days ahead, after spending some time in this world, a place where the good characters only get the crap kicked out of them, and the bad guys are the most bloodthirsty monsters you can imagine, it’s a little hard to believe that it’s all going to work out. On top of that, huge parts of this story are simply too underwritten, especially during the parts that explain why the characters are doing what they’re doing. Things get skipped over that shouldn’t be skipped over.

Still, there was a lot to like too. I loved Zachariah’s very loquacious and poetic piggy bank. When the thieves break it open for the money, it pleads mournfully with them: "Please don't leave me here. I feel empty inside...” I also love the toy mouse alarm clock—new to its sentience and out wandering around in the wide world for the first time—as it weeps over some random rusted-out empty tin cans that it finds along a riverbank. “My brothers! It’s a massacre!”

Good stuff.

Much like Unicorn Wars, Birdboy: The Forgotten Children is an interesting novelty, but in the end, not something I’d call ”good“ or would really recommend to most people. I think you probably already know whether or not something like this will interest you, and if so, after watching it, you’ll probably find that it’s fine, because that's all it is really.

Fine.