This charming short film is about being friends despite being different. It takes place in a simple natural setting by a pond. While trying to get away from a greedy bird, a little caterpillar falls into the water, but is saved by a tadpole. So begins a beautiful friendship…
The artwork in this film couldn’t be more simple or streamlined. The characters are like little black blobs moving around a soothing set full of poetry. The tadpole is a small black ball with a tail, while the caterpillar is like a hairy twig. The pond, meanwhile, is depicted in pastels with a clutch of reeds. There is no dialogue and very little music. The sound effects accompanying the images are enough to plunge us into characters’ world – lapping water, chirping crickets, noisy insects, tweeting birds and the croaking of the frog.
Our two little protagonists come from very different habitats - one is a creature of the land, the other lives in the water – so they have nothing in common. Yet when they meet, they become friends: they look after each other and, as time goes by, the tadpole grows into a big green frog. As for the caterpillar, it turns into a little butterfly – alas, when that happens the frog does not recognise his friend. What we quickly realise with this story is that although the characters’ differences are highlighted at the start, they do in fact have plenty in common: they both transform into something else! Two Friends is a lovely film to stimulate a talk with children about changes that can come with growth.
One of the film’s most attractive qualities is that it shows children different types of humour. As there is no dialogue, obviously the first thing we notice is the funniness of the situation, as is the case in lots of films for children. But what makes this one distinctive is the dark humour – which is here pitched in a child-friendly way, like a kind of introduction to the form. Much of that comedy value lies in the film’s payoff, which is delivered without diluting the gentleness and poetry of the overall piece …
So, Two Friends is a marvellous story of friendship and difference, with a nice dollop of humour!
