There is an old adage with animation that I was always told which is that the reason people make cartoons is because they offer the ability to present a story the way that live action cannot. And with a verbally dexterous crowdpleasing musical, Pastafarian Productions did exactly that. Set in the near future the film explored a universal theme of being yourself in the quest for love, with nerdy science dad jokes galore.
Colours really pop in this film, with a smart decision to adorn the lead character in a solid orange and making them extremely likeable through touches of shyness and quirks.
Setting the stage in a museum also a clever double play subversion because what you think might be a callback to history instead quickly gets amplified by lasers and then elevated when the film progresses to a science lab where all the world is a stage and our lead actress is the puppet master trying to pull the strings of her own destiny.
Genre adherence is clever in a blink and you miss it realisation that time is actually running out for the experiments to generate fruitful results. In fact there are a lot of clever details going on in the background of this film such as the positive spirit of the lead presented with her actions and attire backed up by the blackboard wording "CHO Na" which means "I'm fine"
The voice work and songs are terrific here, with the harmonies really standing out for mine. I think Hannah's editing was on point as well throughout the film, choosing just the right moment to adjust coverage.
So honestly I loved the film. I think maybe by nature the genre requirement of it being a race against time could perhaps have been emphasised a little bit more, because on first and 2nd watch when the lead character declared they were onto attempt number 59 it almost felt like they actually had all the time in the world? But just a nitpick.
Just one little thing that made my day; the French accented Heart! They are just so charming and silly that it really gave a nice point of difference when the 'character' comes with their passion and instinct, classic red blooded gallic nature and all.
Love is love and I love that your world building and layered characters meant we cared about our protagonist. A lot of teams in the competition can learn a lesson here how to make characters likeable.
Also loved the darkly humorous ending. Take that, How I Met Your (Grand)mother!