The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend

Caroline Leaf has done some exceptional work and this is one of her best. An adaptation of a fable, this is an example of what animation can do. Enjoyable for children and adults alike. This is available through the National Film Board of Canada and is well worth the effort to track down. Most recommended.

Now he's possibly not the fittest owl you've ever seen, but he married a goose and they had five little goslings before she decides it's time to migrate to warmer climes taking her brood with her. Judging by the audio of his 70-a-day breathing, the chances of him making the trip would seem slight, but he's game! This is a lovely animation using a sort of blotted ink effect to frame-by-frame follow the story of these two birds from the hatching to the fishing to their long flight with lots of creativity. The monochrome effects work really quite poignantly as we cannot see the water or the sky but for the presence of some (nourishing) fish or the passing of the sun and the moon as they travel. There could be any number of morals to this Eskimo story about family, inter-reliance and determination - or it could just be a simple fable to tell to their children.