Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

***Birdboy: The Forgotten Children*** (Spanish: Psiconautas, los niños olvidados; festival title: Psychonauts, the Forgotten Children) is a 2015 Spanish animated drama-horror coming-of-age film written and directed by Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero, based on the comic *Psiconautas* by Vázquez.

## Plot

After the nuclear incident, Birdboy has some demon inside of him, if someone attacks his closest loved onces, he becomes a demon. Meanwhile, a mouse named Dinki got abused by her Catholic parents and steal some pills for her loved once, Birdboy. She also had friends names Sandra the Rabbit and Zorrito the Fox wanted to leave the island and wanted a new life in the city.

## Why it Rocks

1. The dark animation looks great, it feels like were in the post-apocalyptic movie (especially given the fact that the movie actually *does* take place in a post-apocalyptic setting). The color palette itself also greatly reflects the overall tone of the movie.
2. The voice dubbing of English were very nice. The voice acting in the original Spanish version if great as well.
3. Amazing lighting used for the film. Just like the animation and color palette, the lighting really helps seal the dark, gloomy, apocalyptic setting that the film sets up.
4. The final battle of the movie actually has Birdboy transform into a demon in order to protect Dinki, and it was just straight-up awesome.
5. There are no villains in this movie, except for the rat bandits. As a majority of the film is set around the premise of watching Birdboy and the other children desperately struggling to survive the nuclear incident that had destroyed their home. This makes it one of those films that doesn't have a central antagonist (if an antagonist at all) as it's main plot if simply watching the main cast and how they try to adapt to and survive the disastrous events that have befallen their homes. Some of which even having morally grey characters that may seem antagonistic at first, but are later shown to be more sympathetic as the film goes on or having background characters that *could* serve as the antagonists, but they don't have a major role in the actual story, also like this film (other examples of this include Grave of the Fireflies, Padak, and When the Wind Blows).
6. The character designs looks great, especially when they were in human form. But the general designs of the characters are also great and pretty cute.
7. **Character Development:** Birdboy acts very sad and gloomy at the beginning. He was originally pessimistic and hopeless when the disaster first befell his home (which is nonetheless completely understandable and justified given the situation). But he became a badass monster at the end to save Dinki in the aforementioned epic climax (previously discussed in WIR# 4).
8. Birdboy, Dinki, Sandra and Zorrito are all very likable and memorable characters in the film. They are also very relatable and go through many realistic and believable struggles in order to survive the nuclear incident.
9. Musicians and composers like Aránzazu Calleja, Victor García and Junna made incredible soundtracks to follow the scenes in the film. And, just like the animation, color palette, and lighting, it helps invoke that dark, depressing, apocalyptic feel that the movie revolves around in terms of it's story.

## The Only Bad Quality

1. Some of the names for the characters are pretty weird, such as Birdman and Birdboy.