Cantando de Galo

It's not usual to see a Mexican film being highlighted in Portugal, and even less being entirely dubbed into our language. However, I have just seen it on TV, on a Sunday morning, the regular time at which children's animated films are usually shown. And after researching a little about it, I was truly surprised by the number of films about roosters and eggs that Mexican animation cinema has already made.

Overall, I liked what I saw. It's not an original film, we've already seen a lot of similar things, but it was a consistent, solid effort and denotes some ambition and also technical and artistic capacity, which is commendable for a country that makes a lot of cinema for regional consumption, but has some difficulty in export films to the Old Continent. It's not a movie that makes me laugh a lot, and I bet most kids will enjoy it, but without feeling excited about what they're seeing and quickly forgetting everything they've seen.

The script revolves around Toto, a young chicken who has to save his family's farm, preventing it from being taken over by a malicious landowner. To do so, he needs to defeat a big fighting cock in a stakes fight. Of course, the other animals, chickens and talking eggs will try their best to help you tip the odds in your favour. Therefore, it is a retelling of the old story of David against Goliath, of the struggle of the oppressed and weak against the powerful. It's effective, has a good, uplifting moral message, and entertains the audience well.

On a technical level, the film deserves attention for its impeccable graphics and visuals. The CGI used in the animations is not exactly state of the art, it is not pristine and ultra-realistic. None of that. However, it's elegant enough, pretty enough, doesn't make gross mistakes, and has very good color and stroke. The mood isn't perfect, but it seems okay, it's within what I expected to find. I cannot evaluate the original dialogues and jokes since I saw the dubbed version for my language and not the original, but I am satisfied with the dub done by the Portuguese, it is a job that seems to be well done.