Oktapodi

Dir: Emud Mokhberi, Julien Bocabeille, Quentin Marmier, François Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand

2007

****

Oktapodi is a simple but sweet idea, brilliantly animated and impossible to fault. The film is about a pair of love struck octopuses who through a series of comical events are separated and find each other. The pair end up fighting for their lives with a stubborn restaurant cook in a comical escape through the streets of a seaside town in Greece. I can’t help but think it was inspired by the scene from The Little Mermaid where Sebastian the Grab is chased by the ship’s chief who is looking to add him to the dinner menu. It also has a lot in common with Finding Nemo. The animation is nice and simple but hasn’t dated well. However, it was well received, winning a number of awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film (Animated) at the 81st Academy Awards. The short animation’s real strength however is in its short and snappy action sequences and the depiction of the classical seaside Greek town. The film was made by Gobelins L'Ecole de L'Image - an Art School, so for a student film to be nominated for an Oscar, and for winning the Sigraph 08 audience and best of show award, is a fantastic achievement and something of an inspiration. Simplicity is key and a good simple story will always win over anything else, as is the case with the lovely Oktapodi. I’m afraid though, as much as I enjoyed it, I still love eating Calamari more so.