Fox and the Whale is an animated short film created by Robin Joseph. The ten minute short is centered around naturalistic elements, and this nature theme carries the weight of the film.
The opening scene appears to be the night sky—blacks and purples dotted with specks of light. Then a fox walks on screen, holding a bright torch, and water ripples under his feet. The camera rises, and we see the true night sky, its reflection glistening off the surface of water below. The scene feels very much like a dream, with a quiet background ambiance made of clicking sounds, capped by a whale’s echoing call.
The dreamlike scene cuts to black, revealing the main title—a simple, crisp courier font in center screen, aligned right.
The next several shots depict a mountainous forest. Greens, blues and foggy greys, all with crisp brush strokes and a very realistic style. The fox contrasts greatly with the setting, being a very modern, almost cartoon character, made entirely of basic shapes—triangles, ovals, squares, and circles.
The fox falls asleep, and we return to the dream scene from the beginning, standing on the water, looking off in the distance, fog covering the water’s surface. The fox’s dreams are always characterized with the same ambiance—clicking noises, followed by the echoing call of a whale, often with an underwater feel.
There is no music throughout the film until the very end, and only then music is made up of a single, simple piano tune. Sound effects throughout include rain, ocean waves, birds and other woodland sounds, and the fox’s dream sounds.
Clouds of various forms are present in almost every shot, from fog over lakes to cloud-capped mountains. This gives the upper world of the story a watery feel, giving a very similar vibe as the underwater sounds in the fox’s dreams.
Fox and the Whale is a stunning piece of visual art, and those who are drawn to nature, and especially the woodland, will find themselves enraptured by it.
