Movie Review: Hadidance

On June 4, 2019, The Animation School uploaded "Hadidance," a student-made, four-minute animation. Short and simple, it touches on body image and wraps up with a sweet ending. A bird, a conventionally ugly one at that, is looking for love. So, she dresses herself up and goes to what is set up to be like a bar. She accessorizes herself to the point of becoming a whole new bird. On her own, she's hairless, gray, has a short tail and a squawk that she incessantly tries to hide. Added on are blue feathers, a golden snap choker, a blue ponytail, and a bigger tail.

She walks in, confident and ready. Immediately, all the other birds notice her and start ogling at her. Two, in particular, try to swoon her. A large, muscular white bird with a tattoo of weights, and a slim, blue peacock. They both give their best efforts, but it results in a series of bad experience which ends up driving the main character out.

The white bird tries to show off by lifting various things and people. Although, in my opinion, she's entirely way too small for him and I don't see how he thought they'd be a good fit. The peacock gets a bit closer and almost manages to kiss her. But, first, she steps on his tail, completely pulling off his feather. She's confused by why he doesn't feel it, but doesn't press on it. But then, she squawks, the very thing she's been hiding the whole time. Though the peacock doesn't really mind, she walks off because of it. 

Disappointed, she steps out into the rain. There, she sheds off her accessories and reveals her true self. The white bird immediately backs away, but the peacock steps up. He takes off his tail, revealing his fake feathers. He uses the set to shield them both from the rain and reveals that his hair and other feathers are also fake. And when she squawks, he squawks back. The end.

Cute.

And that's about all I have to say. No real impact was left on me. A part of me expected the chubby owl to follow her outside, so seeing it be the "peacock" was a small surprise. Other than that, the whole thing fell at satisfying and that's about it. I could be nitpicky(why were there only barely a dozen birds there with the main character being the only female?), but I won't. It's barely four minutes, so tiny details aren't as important as if it were a full T.V. show. 

It's a cute short film on body image and self-acceptance, and that's all.