The Present (Short)
“The Present” starts with a kid playing video games. He is totally immersed in that fantasy world. His mother comes home bearing a gift for him. He continues playing. When she asks him to open it, he finds it’s a dog. When he sees the dog is missing part of one of it’s legs, though, he becomes disinterested. That’s when the dog sees a ball under a piece of furniture. Writer-director Jacob Frey uses animation to bring this story (based on a comic strip by Fabio Cavalcanti) to life, and it’s a lovely, simple story that is rendered beautifully. There really isn’t much more to be said about it, and that is perfectly fine.