Dalia and the Red Book, an Argentinian Animated Sleeper

They are sort of like animated versions of Pirandello’s six characters in search of an author, but their Argentinian author, Adolfo is gone. They do not really want someone to write their ending for them anyway. They would prefer it if someone would simply take their dictation. That someone would be their author’s daughter, Dalia. However, her favorite character encourages her to write her own story in screenwriter-director David Bisbano’s Dalia and the Red Book, which releases tomorrow on VOD.

Dalia keeps insisting to her mother she does not want to be a writer. However, her mom can recognize talent. After all, she was Adolfo’s editor. Unfortunately, it was not full-time work, because her dad took his sweet time with every short story he released and he never finished what would have been his first novel.

That is where Dalia comes in. When she discovers the notebook in which Adolfo wrote his unfinished narrative, it reawakens the fictional, but very real otherworld. Wolf and her accomplices want an ending, wherein they emerge triumphant. However, Goat arrives just in time to rescue her. He happened to be the character Dalia created, but he has taken on new traits over time, like his aviator goggles.

The now stylish Goat must escort her back to her world before time runs out on Adolfo’s old pocket watch. It would be helpful towards that goal if she could finally write an ending, but Dalia has always struggled to conclude her stories.

It is odd that this film largely flew under the festival radar, because the hybrid 3D/2D/stop-motion animation is impressively immersive and the story celebrates the power of creativity in ways that should resonate with animation fans. There are also several revelations that hold a good deal of psychological and archetypal meaning, so they seem fitting and appropriate in the context of the film.

A lot of thought went into both the world-building and the narrative. Goat is a particularly intriguing character, whose humorlessness turns out to be oddly charming. In fact, he is the only character well-served by the English dubbing, which was otherwise a mistake.

Regardless, the richly detailed backdrops and set designs transport readers to a fantasy world that feels fresh and surprising. Frankly, this is better than at least a third of the most recent shortlist of Oscar-qualified animated features. Highly recommended, Dalia and the Red Book releases tomorrow (5/6) on VOD.