Far From the Tree

Shown before Encanto, Far From the Tree is a Disney short done traditionally rather than animated through CGI. The short sees a parent and baby raccoon venturing out into beach in search for food, though the parent, who has a scar over its left eye, is very protective of the baby who tends to wander off. Due to the baby's over curious nature it ends up separated from the parent and comes face to face with a wolf whose attack leaves it with a scar on its nose. Though the parent saves its baby and are able to evade the wolf up a tree, the baby is scolded for putting them in danger. Years later, the baby is now grown up and has its own child and tries to teach it the same safety from so long ago. Doing things differently, the new parent climbs up a tree and shows its child a wolf to explain the danger and show the nose scar, thus helping the child understand what could happen before they go back looking for food. While computer animation will always improve year after year, one should never forget that traditional can still tell and show beautiful stories. Director Natalie Nourigat crafts such a well told story all without any use of dialogue, preferring to keep the animals sounding like how they would in real life. The score is kept minimal but you still get faints of it that grab both the emotional and the curious from what the raccoons face. This short's animation style is absolutely breathtaking, has the right amount of color and lighting, and has a bit of a anime-esque quality to it due to its quick pace and surprisingly violent moments that fit the story its telling. Sometimes not all stories need to be hours long to tell something so well crafted, and Far From the Tree is a great example of that.