Hundreds of Beavers

Hundreds of Beavers is a 2022 American slapstick comedy film directed by Mike Cheslik and written by Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews. The film stars Tews as an applejack maker conflicting with beavers to win the hand of a fur trader's daughter.
Hundreds of Beavers premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 29, 2022. The film has received widespread acclaim from critics. The film was released Video on demand via Amazon Prime Video & iTunes in April 2024.
== Plot ==
In the 19th century, Jean Kayak runs an applejack farm, where occasionally, people come and party. One day, as the guests are leaving, a beaver steals one of the giant applejack kegs, and leaving the other to destroy the applejack farm.
Some time later, Jean Kayak awakens in a snowy forest, his applejack farm destroyed. He tries to survive the best he can, but is never successful in catching animals nor getting warmth. One day, he finds a Santa-looking fur trapper, who he follows to a cabin run by a merchant and his daughter, who Jean instantly falls in love with. The merchant tries to get the fur trapper to marry his daughter, but he refuses. Jean Kayak is able to sell fish that he caught, and uses the money he got to buy a tiny knife. He uses it to turn his shirt into a lasso, with which he uses to try and catch some rabbits, but constantly fails. He realizes that the rabbits use a tunnel system, and uses that to set a trap, but fails to catch one as raccoons keep eating the rabbits. He changes his tactic to try and get the rabbits in the air, out of reach from the raccoons, but it order to make it work, he strips naked to make the rope longer.
With his new tactic, Jean Kayak catches a raccoon accidentally, and kills it with his bare hands after it took his knife. On the way back to the cabin with the dead raccoon, he runs into an Indian, with whom he trades the small knife for his snowshoes. He brings the raccoon back to the cabin, where the daughter turns it into clothing for Jean. In the wilderness, Jean falls into a trap, breaking his leg. He is then saved by the fur trapper, who takes him along to catch animals. They are stalked by wolves, who pick off the fur trapper's dogs. One night, Jean, the fur trapper, and the fur trapper's last dog, are ambushed by wolves. The dog is killed, while Jean and the fur trapper climb up a tree to safety. However, one of the wolves grabs the fur trapper, but before it drags him down, he gives Jean his trap plan, with consists of a map of his traps, and a key that shows what attracts each animal.
In the morning, Jean finds the dead body of the fur trapper, and buries it. He then follows footprints to a cave, where the wolves took the fur trappers bag into. He makes a new trap plan to and uses it as a map. He also learns that the beavers are attracted to wood, so sets a trap for them. He collects the belongings of the fur trapper and brings it back to the cabin, and uses it to buy some rope. He also tells the merchant about the deaths of the fur trapper and his dogs, so the merchant puts the marriage of his daughter up for sale at an unknown price. Jean Kayak then runs into the Indian again, who shows him his axe and horse. Jean notices that his beaver trap is missing, and follows a trail to a cliff, where his trap and a dead beaver are. He brings the dead body back to the cabin, where he gets a pipe, which he later uses to trade the Indian's axe for. He also gets castor oil, which can be used to attract beavers. Meanwhile, 2 detective beavers find the dead beavers snow imprint, but suspect foul play due to its length.
While trying to catch animals, Jean Kayak realizes that beavers love apples, and uses it to catch 2 beavers on a lake. He tries to catch a rabbit, but his trap flings the rabbit very far. He later tries to get the fur trapper's bag in the wolf cave, but awakens the wolves, who pursue him. Jean climbs up a tree, and evades the wolves, as well as killing one of them with an icicle. He brings the bodies back to the cabin, where he gets 2 bear traps. He also gets a necklace made by the merchant's daughter, which he later uses to get a fish trap from the Indian. Meanwhile, the 2 detective beavers from before find the snow imprint of the bodies, but due to its 6-armed imprint, they again suspect foul play.
Jean Kayak puts one of the bear trap into a river to try and catch a beaver. He then catches 2 beavers, one with tree and the other with the other bear trap. One of his traps successfully works, but works too well as it tries to suck him and a beaver into it. They survive, but the trap starts blowing the other way, causing the beaver to hang itself. He also tries to get the bag again, but fails, and uses his new strategy to get out of there without any wolves following him. He then brings the dead beavers to the merchant, and gets a bat. Meanwhile, the 2 beavers from before find the snow imprints of the dead beavers, but due to the imprints made by the traps, they again suspect foul play. Later, they try to save a beaver from one of Jean Kayak's trap, but fail.
Using his traps, Jean is able to catch 7 beavers. He inspects his rabbit trap, but find that the rabbits keep landing in the spiky perimeter, where the raccoons can eat them. He also sees that the rabbits land far away from where their shadow is, as he sees when another rabbit fell for his trap. Jean tries to get the bag again, but fails again. This time, one of the wolves were able to grab him, which causes him to land in a place that the beavers use to poop. He brings the bodies back to the merchant, and gets a gun. The merchant finds his daughter and Jean Kayak in love, and gets mad, telling Jean that in order to marry his daughter, he must bring him "Hundreds of Beavers."
While collecting dead beavers, Jean is stalked by the 2 detective beavers from before, who see his carnage and report it to the other beavers, who follow him to the wolf cave, but learn it was a trap set by Jean, who uses a skunk and some icicles to trap them and the wolves. He brings the bodies back to the cabin, only to learn it was a trap set by the detective beavers, who bring the bundle of dead beavers back to the beaver dam. He follows their trail to the dam, and sneaks in. He finds the applejack keg, and goes to drink from it, but refuses and gets back on track. Jean is then founded by the beavers who chase and eventually catch him.
Jean is then faced with beaver court, due to his killings of beavers. He is found guilty, and is sentenced to become a coat. While being strapped down, the fur trapper, somehow alive, barges in, but the beavers ignore him. It's then revealed that the fur trapper was actually a beaver in disguise. Before he can be turned into a coat, Jean pushes against his restraints to break free. A bar fight then ensues between Jean and the beavers. Jean eventually intimidates the beavers by punching a beaver's head off, and then ripping it's skin off, leaving only a skeleton. Outside, Jean sees the bundle of dead beavers being taken to a giant hole. He tries to find an exit, but finds a giant rocket ship, which has the applejack keg as its body. He then accidentally causes it to malfunction and destroy the dam, which causes the icy lake to break and flood, causing the Green Bay to be formed. Because of this, the beavers start to chase after Jean. He fights off against the beavers at the hole.
Jean pushes the bundle of dead beavers down a hill, causing it to become a giant snowball. He chases after it, while being pursued by beavers. The Indian sees what's happening and goes to follow Jean to help him. After fighting off the beavers, Jean catches up to the giant snowball and gets on it, while the beavers form a giant person and chase after him, crushing the Indian's horse as well. While being chased by the beavers, Jean sees the rocket ship, and easily avoids it. The beavers jump over it, but the Indian uses an arrow to spin it around to the beavers, showing off his impeccable strength. The rocket ship crash lands and explodes, defeating the beavers. Jean arrives at the cabin and stops the snowball just before it can destroy the cabin. With the amount of beavers Jean brought with him, the merchant allows him to marry his daughter.
== Cast ==
* Ryland Brickson Cole Tews as Jean Kayak
* Olivia Graves as The Furrier
* Wes Tank as The Master Fur Trapper
* Doug Mancheski as The Merchant
* Luis Rico as The Indian Fur Trapper
== Reception ==
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 62 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Sustaining a zany premise with stylistic bravura and inspired gags, Hundreds of Beavers is a comedic gem that gives a ." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Dennis Harvey of Variety called the film "a sort of vast homage to comedy traditions past [...including] the Road Runner v. Coyote saga, as well as pre-talkie knockabout humor, frontier parody Cannibal: The Musical, pioneering screen fantasists Georges Melies and Karel Zeman, and so on. On paper, it would hardly be expected to remain funny for eight minutes, let alone 108. But this ingeniously home-made lark never runs out of steam." Nick Schager of The Daily Beast declared the film "a marvel of slapstick invention that in terms of pure unbridled creativity puts most big-screen comedies to shame" and "an overstuffed live-action homage to the golden age of animation that's bursting with ingenuity and personality."
== External links ==
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== References ==
Category:2022 films
Category:2022 action comedy films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:American slapstick comedy films
Category:Films about beavers
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Films set in Wisconsin
Category:Films shot in Wisconsin
Category:Films shot in Michigan