Underplayed Gems

Life, Animated (2016)

Life, Animated poster
Directed by
Roger Ross Williams
Genre
drama film, documentary film, romance film, family film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 29m
Rated
PG
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 144 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This documentary follows Owen Suskind, a young man with autism. He learned to talk and understand the world by watching Disney animated movies. It shows how those films helped him connect with his family and express himself.

tenderinspiringheartfeltupliftingemotionalquietly movingpoignanthopeful

What happens

Life, Animated is a 2016 American independent documentary film by director Roger Ross Williams. It is co-produced by Williams with Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn and Christopher Clements. Life, Animated is based on journalist Ron Suskind's 2014 book Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism, which tells the story of his son, Owen Suskind, who struggles with autism and learned how to communicate with the outside world through his love of Disney animated films. Upon its release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and won numerous awards including the Sundance Film Festival award for Best Direction and the Special Achievement Annie Award. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film category at the 89th Academy Awards, but lost to O.J.: Made in America. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.