Hundreds of beavers? Amazing. 108 minutes? That might be a bit much. Otherwise I loved quite a bit about this inventively silly combination of silent-era film sensibilities and contemporary, animated frivolity. Filmed in black and white and almost entirely dialogue-free, Hundreds of Beavers follows a 19th-century, would-be fur trapper (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) bumbling his way through a freezing winter. This is as much Looney Tunes as Chaplin or Keaton—what with the manic pacing and animated flourishes, like question marks over characters’ heads—but in truth it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Director Mike Cheslik, who wrote the script with his lead actor, makes odd choices at every turn and nearly every one of them works. The beavers—as well as the rabbits and other creatures we meet—are played by humans in ratty animal costumes. Our hero, Jean Kayak, wears a coonskin cap with crossed-out eyes on the front, to indicate that the raccoon is dead. There’s a recurring bit about the wind temperamentally changing directions to blow out Jean’s meager fire. In fact, most of the gags here are recurring, which is one reason the film’s running time feels long. But that’s not so bad considering how many of the jokes hit.
(6/25/2024)
