Cactus Swing

The scouts

A Mountie waking up to a varmint mariachi band and tap-dancing cacti should be insufferable, but Portman and Crandall commit to the absurdity so completely that it circles back around to genuinely weird—this is what happens when you refuse to wink at the audience.

The film sits comfortably in the tradition of mid-century Canadian animation's playful surrealism, with careful attention to character design and pacing that recalls the National Film Board's signature blend of restraint and whimsy.

The decision to score the cacti choreography with an actual varmint ensemble—acoustic, lived-in, never synthetic—is what sells the entire premise; it's the sound design that transforms a silly premise into something genuinely felt.