Capelito is a hero unlike any other: he is a mushroom with a magic nose and a cap that can be changed into anything at an instant. He is fun and good-hearted and, with a press of his nose, he always manages to resolve hilarious situations and ingeniously overcome the setbacks he suffers, all of which will have children in stitches of laughter as well as inspiring them to be brave and use their imaginations.
Each five-minute episode features a new adventure, and endearing secondary characters pop up to add extra layers of intrigue. That makes watching these episodes a good introduction to figuring out complex puzzles. In this series we see Capelito learning to fish, fighting with a fly, knitting a hat, making a merry-go-round, travelling in a tropical country, looking for a lost dog, eluding a guard at a party and passing himself off as a mum.
The film has no dialogue, instead the story is told by the visual and sonic expressions. The sound effects are ingenious. Every time Capelito touches his nose, it makes a honking “Tut-tut!” sound, and the most hilarious scenes are soundtracked with children’s laughter. Young viewers will lap up all the different noises. Moreover, the stop-motion animation with modelling clay of many different colours generates a homespun atmosphere and brings jollity to the universe of Capelito. This is reinforced by the comical movements. The sets are simple-looking but have been meticulously crafted. Although the camera is often stationary, there is a variety of angles and a mirror or television screen is used to create the impression of stories within stories. The combination of single shots followed by quick sequences has the effect of making us reassemble the narrative spaces (continuity, depth or height) in our heads, and this is one of the fundamentals of cinematic language.
For all these reasons, this series of totally original wordless short films will enthrall young viewers, who will love the highly colourful modelling clay characters.
