• Adventure all the way
  • Toddlers

Bellysaurus

  • Philip Watts
  • 2021
  • Australia

Synopsis :

A young dinosaur turns into a huge and terrifying Bellysaurus… in the most amazing way possible!

Benshi's review :

A little dinosaur grows very big… Following a bad joke by her pals, our heroine finds herself thrust into a very surprising adventure. While in the pit of her misfortune she discovers new powers and, from deep inside the bellysaurus, she becomes the queen of the Jurassic playground. Now it’s her turn to pull the strings and wow the others: with hilarious consequences! Thanks to her amazing and, above all, very funny experience, the intrepid young character learns about self-confidence. As the poster for this short film puts it so well: “It’s what’s inside that counts”. Literally, in this case! With its round and colourful animation, Bellysaurus finds an admirably straightforward way to address issues such as bullying, rejection and fitting-in, adapting these situations to a prehistoric setting. One of the most striking lessons in the short film is that there is always someone out there bigger than you, so it’s shrewd to keep a low profile. Director Philip Watts explains: “I’m fascinated by small dogs that are totally unaware of their size and bark ferociously at larger dogs that could eat them for breakfast.” So watch out for the bellaysaurus because he risks causing the sides of young and older viewers to split from laughter, with his minor digestive bothers and his amazing choreographies. Indeed, the creature’s movements will no doubt remind you of the fanciful cavorting of Alfredo Linguini, who was controlled by Remy the rat in Ratatouille. Enjoy your trip to the Jurassic!

Suitable for :

As it is very visual, colourful and funny, Bellysaurus is a perfect opportunity for preschoolers to meet quirky dinosaurs, making it ideal for ages 3 and over.

Top reasons to watch the film :

  1. To understand how to become a Bellysaurus
  2. To guffaw along with madcap scenes
  3. To travel back to the time of the dinosaurs!

Additional information :

A director from Down Under Philip Watts is a director and illustrator from Melbourne, Australia. He may be from far away but his film Bellysaurus has travelled the world thanks to its popularity at festivals, with audiences delighted to discover it in places such as Annecy in France, London in England, Seattle in the United States and Gothenburg in Sweden.

Chameleon-like technique The elements of the set for Bellysaurus were drawn by hand with coloured markers while the characters were done digitally. But the inspiration for the animation clearly came from paper cut-out art, with the characters seeming as if they were made from geometric shapes cut out by hand. Philip Watts sought to retain an aesthetic close to stop-motion.

  • Keywords :

  • Animals
  • Difference