Laika & Nemo, an Oscar-qualifying short film written and directed by Jan Gadermann, is a heartwarming animation tale of an Astronaut and a Deep Sea Diver who develop a deep friendship by overcoming barriers. Through building this bond, and helping each other to overcome their fears, they highlight the pressures of exclusion, the scars of bullying, and the crippling feeling of loneliness. Each of them is unique, different, and for so long – ignored. Together, they are like two peas in a pod.
Nemo has never met anyone that looks like him before. No one else wears a diving suit and a helmet that big. In truth, no one really likes him. Nemo is dissimilar and alone until he meets Laika. Nemo lives at the local lighthouse by himself, the rest of the town ridicules and pokes fun of him whenever they see him. Using flashbacks, we see that Nemo’s had to endure this since school and, unfortunately, now into adulthood. As a result, Nemo’s developed a thick skin and doesn’t even bat an eyelid as the insults rain down on him.
One clear night, while gazing at the stars, he sees a light moving in the sky. Shocked, he stumbles, knocks over the light and falls down the stairs. As he wakes, there’s a knock at the door. Stumbling over, he opens the door to see an angry Astronaut standing there.
The Astronaut is the first person Nemo has ever been able to relate to and instantly he’s curious. Why? Laika is just like Nemo, and she also wears a suit. As their relationship develops, the similarities continue. The next day, as Nemo is yet again ridiculed by the townspeople, Laika is quick to provide support gained from her own experiences. Again, the use of flashbacks give us a view into a tough childhood full of bullying and self-doubt. Nemo and Laika are not alone anymore, they have found each other and together they can heal old wounds by building new friendships. Despite being from different places and speaking different languages, their shared experiences (loneliness, bullying, isolation, being unique) cross all boundaries.
To say the stop-motion animation is good is to do it a disservice, it’s excellent. Each shot flows smoothly, oozing skill on par to the likes of Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit). The seven years taken to fine-tune and polish the final product is evident, as is the input of master puppet makers MacKinnon & Saunders (a regular for Tim Burton). With animation this good, it’s easy to consider the message second fiddle – instead it compliments the story, helping us form an attachment to them both. We care about Nemo, maybe we relate or know someone who has had similar experiences.
This is Gadermann’s second short stop-motion animation and is co-directed with Sebastian Gadow. For both young filmmakers, this represents their graduation project from the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Germany. Both artists are clearly talented and have a long future ahead. They are certainly ones to look out for.
