Mice, a small story
2018 · 5m · Francia
Directed by Dimitri James, Jade Baillargeault, Manon Pringault, Mélanie Pango, Morgane Lau, Nazli Doale, Quang Daniel La
Genres: animation, dark comedy, fantasy
In a dark metro tunnel, a group of mice finds a gold ring that seems to have a mysterious effect on one of them, while nearby an owl and his enslaved rats watch — and send his rats to seize the strange object.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Seven directors collaborating on a 5-minute animated fever dream about rodent class warfare and a cursed ring — it's absurdist enough to make you question why this isn't a feature, and perverse enough that nobody else would've greenlit it. The fact that it works at all is pure contrarian vindication.
The formal restraint here is remarkable: working within the constraint of a dark metro tunnel and a lean runtime, the directors establish a clear mythic hierarchy (enslaved rats, aristocratic owl, free mice, mysterious talisman) that echoes fable traditions while the surreal tone keeps it from settling into easy allegory.
The decision to keep the ring's power ambiguous and latent — never explaining its effect, just letting it *do* something to the mice's comportment — turns what could've been a MacGuffin chase into something genuinely unsettling, and that restraint is what separates this from standard fantasy animation.