Doomed: A Biological Cartoon!

This is a Spanish animated short and I wonder if it might not have worked better if it was broadcast in its native tongue . Let me explain . If you're from Britain and of a certain age like me then if you see a nature documentary it's impossible to be instantly reminded of Sir David Attenborough using voice over while the audience watch nature in all it's diversity . A nature documentary isn't DOCTOR WHO or the James Bond franchise because one man and one man only is involved and that man is David Attenborough . Even if he's not involved in a nature documentary then on a conscious level you'll still find yourself comparing the narrator to Attenborough

That's the problem with DOOMED . The Irish voice speaking in English made me think it be having a satirical go at these narrators but at the same time being conscious that it's a Spanish production this probably isn't the case as the uninformed ignorant narrator becomes more and more bored at the lack of on screen action involving the animal kingdom . One wonders if Spain has its own version of these highly prestigious natural world documentaries featuring household names ? The animation is impressive enough but one can't help thinking there's maybe something lost in translation

In a new series of nature documentaries a narrator talks us through the beautiful wonder of the natural world as demonstrated by a group of creatures never featured on the show before. As the narrator starts out filled with wonder and excitement of the beauty of creation, soon he comes to realize that none of these creatures will ever live long enough to procreate – whether it be the tragic inverted hedgehogs or the ultimately frigging pointless cube fish.

This animation offers you a series of amusing creatures, none of which appear to have been lucky in the area of natural selection so that all of them are basically doomed. In terms of the animation, although the background is sparse, the creatures themselves are really colourful and creative even if they are ultimately all a bit weird. In and of itself this would have been funny but it is the narrator that makes it a bit funnier. Although it is a Spanish production, the version I saw had narration in English by a guy with an Irish accent (not credited – the narration is credited to a company "Audio Contact"). The narration starts out with the hushed but slightly breathless wonder that one comes to expect from the genre, but as the film goes on his irritation at the creatures comes out more and more, not in a big overblown way, but in a tired, comical manner which I found quite tickling.

The combination of this and the creative animals made the film lightly amusing and entertaining, with several good laughs along the way. Weird, tragic but funny.