Short, simple and fairly straightforward yet extremely well-executed, entertaining and surprisingly emotional.

Rating: 7/10 (2 December 2017)

It's a short, simple story with a strong structure and three somewhat stereotypical yet superbly crafted central characters, set against a unique backdrop of prehistoric permafrost strangely unexplored on film considering its interesting inhabitants and splendid scenery (not to mention the artistic licence inherent with a narrative that takes place so very long ago); the animation (and general graphic) style is rough around the edges but ultimately snappy, lively and aesthetically pleasing, with the picture painting a stylistic yet consistent world full of envelope-pushing environmental effects (ala snow and water) that ground the cartoon- esque physics and give them a proper weight, but it's really the interplay of the main players that marks this piece as a cut above the rest as each of them arise as distinct individuals with believable arcs and interesting dynamics - not to mention the fact that the feature is much more emotionally affecting than you'd expect and is pretty funny too (especially in a couple of stand-out set-pieces, most notably 'the dodo debacle.') 7/10