Introduction
Hey hey, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for yet another exciting adventure, and in one of my previous lists about my most anticipated animated movies from this year’s Annecy International Film Festival, I talked about perhaps my most anticipated animated movie of the second half of 2024 with Flow, and today, we are covering the movie that pipped it to the Annecy Cristal award at this year’s Annecy International Film Festival, and that is the Australian stop-motion animated movie Memoir of a Snail!
Directed by Adam Elliot, the stop-motion auteur responsible for perhaps one of the greatest stop-motion animated movies of all time with 2009’s Mary and Max, Memoir of a Snail is a tragic story of twins in 1970s Australia who were under the care of their paraplegic father who became separated after their father’s passing. This movie takes the perspective of the twin girl Grace (Sarah Snook, Charlotte Belsey as the younger version), who herself is a fanatic of snails, romance novels and guinea pigs, among other things and after being separated from her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee, Mason Litsos as the younger version) under the care of a kind-hearted old lady, she vowed to reunite with him when she grows up.
Ever since its debuts at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and the Annecy International Film Festival, the buzz between it and Flow grew exponentially, especially given the accolades they are getting. Even more impressive is that this is only Elliot’s second animated movie, and 15 years after his debut with the iconic Mary and Max which I was fortunate to watch (and cry after the credits rolled), proving that yes, quality triumphs quantity, as he had already produced two animated movies that are better than the entire catalogue of most smaller foreigner animation studios, combined.
Will Memoir of a Snail be yet another masterpiece? Well, one way to find out, let’s roll forward with this adventure, shall we?
Key Information
- Director: Adam Elliot
- Animation Studio: Snails Pace Films
- Country of Origin: Australia
- Rating: R21
- Release Date: 17 October 2024 (in Australia)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
Given that this is an animated movie that, spoiler alert, is worth seeing and it is very difficult to talk about the movie’s writing without spoiling some key elements, so I will try to be as brief as possible about this movie’s story. However, I can provide my opinions on the writing elements.
In a change from the story format in Mary and Max, Memoir of a Snail utilise a flashback approach as Grace reflects on her life journey with her as the narrator, from birth to where she was now, similar to the recounting method used in The Glassworker. That said, just like Mary and Max, Memoir is as dark and twisted as the movie, maybe even more so than Elliot’s debut feature, as this movie is as twisted and devastating as it.
However, within it is also a well-layered story filled with moments of brilliance as Grace and Gilbert’s life story peels a layer by layer of how they became who they were today. This allows for all the elements to come to full circle by the end of the movie, thus creating a movie with so much development and depth within the story that was also helped by its purposeful and well-timed pacing that provides the moviegoers a rollercoaster ride on their twisted story. The script is also filled with some of the best lines of any animated movie this year and the line delivery is just as impactful.
It also helped that the comedy is as dark, twisted and well-written. There are so many crude jokes within this movie that one of these jokes alone could result in the cancellation of any animated movie, but given Elliot’s twisted point of view, the jokes are on brand with his delightfully offensive sense of humour. There are sexual jokes, regional Australian jokes and everything else in between. There are no limits to the level of creativeness in both verbal and physical comedy in Memoir, showing that you do not need to rely on tired and unfunny jokes to be a great animated movie.
The characters are also well-developed and unique. Of course, Grace, the main character, is such a full-fledged character with her personality and development, that it was so easy to fall in love with her quirkiness. The same thing with Gilbert who also went through a tragic phase just like Grace, but in a more serious tone, and he too has his quirks that is easy to please. Pinky, the old lady who helps out Grace after Grace separate from Gilbert, is a funny but loveable character with impactful lines to boot. In fact, every character, even the minor characters, are tended with the same loving but twisted care from Elliot and his writers.
Voice acting, as usual, is as fantastic in Memoir as in Mary and Max. Both Sarah Snook and Kodi Smith-McPhee delivered top-tier voice acting performances as Grace and Gilbert respectively, but Jacki Weaver delivered perhaps the best supporting voice actress as Pinkie this year. The way she delivered some of the best lines in this movie felt not only effortless, but also impactful.
Overall, the writing in Memoir of the Snail is easily the best of any animated movie this year, even more so than The Wild Robot which has the best writing of any animated movie before this movie. If this is what the future of writing in animated movies is like, more of that please!
Animation
Adam Elliot delivered his twisted but beautifully crafted stop-motion animation in Mary and Max, but he and his animators at Snails Pace Films outdid themselves with the animation style in Memoir.
Even though the animation style and medium is the same ugly and dark, but unique stop-motion animation in his debut feature, the animation is more expansive and creative than the first, which is unprecedented. The set designs the animators pulled off are in a league of their own, having to build so many puppets and sets on a very low budget, 7 million Australian dollars (US$4.5 million) in fact. However, it was clear Memoir stretched its budget to its absolute limits, because the deliberately ugly and gritty animation style sells Elliot’s vision so well.
The background and character designs lend this authentic feel Elliot wanted, given he felt the animation style is too refined for his own liking, which is saying something considering the animation style in Mary and Max is one of the most unique of any animated movie of all time. The quirky character and background designs blend in with its bleak but hopeful story, filled with some of the best stop-motion animation sequences of the 2020s decade.
Unlike the beautiful aesthetics of some of the best animated movies of the year, Memoir embraces its imperfections by being as crude but unique as possible, and honestly, this is why we still need stop-motion animation in 2024. It offers something unique in the animation medium, and Elliot and his animators demonstrated that in the best way possible.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
The music score is devastating but powerful at the same time, and while not as dynamic as what I would hope compared to Kris Bowers’ score in The Wild Robot, provides an extra lift for the movie’s already excellent writing and animation.
As for my level of enjoyment, I knew what I was going for after seeing Mary and Max prior to Memoir, but even so, by the end as the ned credits began rolling, I was close to tears, even more so than The Wild Robot. Virtually every element in Memoir of a Snail is done to absolute perfection and I can understand why it pipped Flow to this year’s Annecy Cristal. Honestly, where else can you find a dark, twisted but hopeful animated movie that has a scene where the snails are doing their own thing that would not be age-appropriate for this review? Only in Memoir of a Snail.
Conclusion
Wow, wow, wow, wow, absolute wow. I am honestly devastated by it in the best way possible.
Memoir of the Snail is without a question not only the best animated movie of 2024, but also one of the best of the 2020s decade so far. A movie filled with so much heart amidst the tragic story that is filled with so much love and care, crude and creative jokes that are perfectly executed and unique and quirky characters that are so easy to root for. In addition, the animation is easily one of the best and one of the most unique of any animated movie this year, filled with an out-there animation style that utilize stop-motion animation in the best way possible, and one of the best music scores of the year so far.
Honestly, we need to stop accepting the mediocrity of animated movies with so many, many family-friendly animated movie shtick, and focus on producing animated movies that match the vision, heart and soul Memoir possess. If we do that, then the future of animation will be so much interesting and brighter.
We still got many more animated movies to go, so tune in next time where we explore five more animated movies from across the world. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
