Black lines on a white background that could be a blank page or a snowy slope – that is the elementary graphic world of Pawo, which looks like it was directly inspired by the earliest cartoons, which were, above all, about the joy of altering shapes and things. Here the character of the little girl is a bit like a budding animator in the way she uses her magic ski stick to joyously tweak the appearance of her companion, who bears a passing similarity to the 1970s picture-book character Barbapapa. That companion is turned into a sharp-tongued sheep, an inflated party monster, a fierce octopus, a pig, a stolid panda … and the list goes on, as the little girl can’t get enough and even starts experimenting on herself, changing her hair and shape, like when Alice went to Wonderland and drank magic liquid that made her grow huge and shrink again. As with Lewis Caroll’s celebrated character, the little girl gradually becomes more confident in the course of this short coming-of-age tale, and ultimately she is happy as she dances off the screen. This spare black and white film is not at all austere, rather it transports us into a cheery and barmy universe in which the music adds to the entertainment of all the metamorphoses. This short film revives all the original joy of simple animation and will delight preschool viewers and grow-ups alike!
