I learned about this movie not too long ago and finally got ahold of a DVD copy. (it's not anywhere on streaming, couldn't even find a pirated version lol) It's an adaptation of the book by Fred Bodsworth, and I was curious if anyone else has seen it, or at least, be interested in it.
Interestingly, this TV movie was made as the first Afterschool Special. It was made by Hanna-Barbera, even produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbara themselves. It plays like a regular nature documentary, which is pretty rare in animation, but given the subject matter (an extinct species) it's understandable why they went that route. Like a regular nature documentary, it follows an individual of the species as he goes through life in his natural environment. It's a little anthropomorphized (which I'm told the book does too, but I haven't read that yet) but not excessively so.
Even if you don't know your history, the title tells you how it's going to end. That's something else that makes it kind of interesting, it's geared towards kids but has such a depressing ending with no hope spot. The Eskimo curlew is gone because of humans, it's never coming back, there's not even a message about what's being done to prevent this from happening to other species. The message hits especially hard because it follows this individual bird, and you get invested in his life and you want him to succeed, but you know that's not happening. I got a little teary-eyed at the end.
It would be really cool to see this kind of documentary format for other recently extinct species. The way it follows an individual animal like a regular nature documentary, it brings the past to life and really helps show that this was a real species that mattered, you really get attached to the bird. I really wish the movie was easier for people to see because I think the subject matter and message are so important, it does a good job with what it's trying to do, and it's an interesting piece of animation.
Interestingly, this TV movie was made as the first Afterschool Special. It was made by Hanna-Barbera, even produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbara themselves. It plays like a regular nature documentary, which is pretty rare in animation, but given the subject matter (an extinct species) it's understandable why they went that route. Like a regular nature documentary, it follows an individual of the species as he goes through life in his natural environment. It's a little anthropomorphized (which I'm told the book does too, but I haven't read that yet) but not excessively so.
Even if you don't know your history, the title tells you how it's going to end. That's something else that makes it kind of interesting, it's geared towards kids but has such a depressing ending with no hope spot. The Eskimo curlew is gone because of humans, it's never coming back, there's not even a message about what's being done to prevent this from happening to other species. The message hits especially hard because it follows this individual bird, and you get invested in his life and you want him to succeed, but you know that's not happening. I got a little teary-eyed at the end.
It would be really cool to see this kind of documentary format for other recently extinct species. The way it follows an individual animal like a regular nature documentary, it brings the past to life and really helps show that this was a real species that mattered, you really get attached to the bird. I really wish the movie was easier for people to see because I think the subject matter and message are so important, it does a good job with what it's trying to do, and it's an interesting piece of animation.
