Trains, Boats, and Animation

 “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.”

        - Walt Disney

        I’ve always been a big fan of animation. Like many children growing up I of course watched my share of cartoons and animated films, although I think I took it slightly further. As a child learning to read I began to devour books about pioneers like Walt Disney. As I grew into an adult I also grew into a fan of cinema, although I kept watching animated films and added to my knowledge about them. In fact I oftentimes found some animated films, whether or not they were primarily meant for children, to be more mature (especially thematically) than many comedies and other movies meant for a more adult audience (think of much of Adam Sandler’s work).  

Recently I saw two animated works that not only entertained but intrigued me as well. One was a television show with three seasons so far (and hopefully many more to come). Another was a very unique animated film that just recently premiered on Netflix. 

Infinity Train

Imagine waking up one day and finding yourself in a completely different world. As you escape that alien world, you find yourself in yet another world, unsure how to get back to your home. While trying to navigate your way through a magnitude of separate worlds, there’s also a mysterious number on your hand that might just determine your fate.

That’s the predicament that each character on the show “Infinity Train” faces. They find themselves in another world, and soon discover that every world is actually inside of a train car, and that the train they’re magically on is practically endless. Along with the already intriguing premise, each season focuses on a different main character. The first season revolves around a young teenage girl named Tulip who finds herself on the train, meeting companions like the tiny robot One-One (who is honestly one of the best and certainly funniest characters of the series) and trying to find her way back home. But then each season revolves around a different protagonist (I won’t spoil who they are in the next couple of seasons), which I think is an excellent choice for this particular show.

        “Infinity Train” is an imaginative show that I can’t imagine having coming out before the age of streaming. I can’t picture this show coming out in the 1960s alongside shows like “The Flintstones” or “The Jetsons.” It premiered on Cartoon Network last year (after originally starting life as a short film), although its latest season began strictly on HBO Max (where you can also watch and catch up on the previous two seasons). It also doesn’t really take long to binge watch; each season has ten episodes of about ten minutes each, taking about the same amount of time as a movie to watch. 

Children of the Sea

I was actually excited for this one for a while because I had read the series of five graphic novels by Daisuke Igarashi it’s based on. The graphic novels have an intriguing story with top-notch artwork (seeing how the artist draws whales is just breathtaking). So I was pleased when I found out that it was coming onto Netflix.

Both the film and the books it’s based upon tell the story of Ruka, a Japanese teenage girl who meets two boys named Umi and Sora. Both live at the aquarium where her father works at, and it turns out that, like Mowgli and Tarzan before them, both were feral children raised by animals in the world. In their case they were found living at sea while being raised by dugongs (they’re a sea creature that looks somewhat similar to a manatee). 

While that alone may seem like an intriguing and fun premise, it gets a little more complicated and mysterious as time goes by. Around the world sea creatures are acting a little funny to say the least, and it turns out that both Ruka and the boys may have a mysterious destiny tied to it. The ending sequence of the film (and also the books) seems akin to the ending of “2001: A space Odyssey,” being both mysterious and visually arresting (personally I don’t do marijuana, but I imagine this film, especially the ending, would be the type a stoner would want to watch while high).

I’d have to say that overall I enjoyed the film, although it’s not a movie I can wholeheartedly recommend to everyone. The artwork in the film is stunning, and for me at least that was enough to watch it at least once on Netflix. Unfortunately with the pandemic many films have not been able to experience life on the big screen, but I imagine that if more people outside of Japan had been able to see it in a theater that they would have been even more enthralled. Although as the story goes along I just know that several people watching are going to go, “What the hell am I watching? What’s going on?”

One thing that I wish the film had captured as well as the books was the character development. They felt less dimensional in the move than in the book series, and backstories of several characters were missing (although there are a few dramatic moments between the three young main characters, and times when I found myself truly feeling for Ruka). In particular was the backstory of Ruka’s mother, who in the books grew up as one of the ama (they’re female Japanese pearl divers who are quite frankly pretty badass); finding that out in my opinion greatly fleshed out a lot of her character. Granted, it’s a movie that’s just under two hours, and it can be challenging to adapt anything into a film, much less a series of five graphic novels (maybe this would have worked slightly better as a mini-series).

If you do end up watching this film, make sure to stay for an after credits scene.