We're Kind of Different
2025 · 3m · Canada
Directed by Ben Meinhardt
Genres: animation, comedy, musical
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, melancholic, whimsical
An animated musical comedy follows a character with an unconventional body shape as it cheerfully celebrates individuality and self-acceptance in an office setting, parodying the moralistic sing-along genre with absurdist wit.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Meinhardt's command of subversive formal parody — turning the children's sing-along into a vehicle for discomfiting, genuinely funny body comedy — marks a filmmaker who understands that the most transgressive work often arrives in the most innocent packaging.
Three minutes, kid's-show parody, body positivity — fine. It knows it's a joke, doesn't pretend to be more, and that restraint alone separates it from the field.
Earnest children's sing-along grammar deployed for adult body-positive absurdism, with character designs from the director's young son — that detail is actually delightful. Three minutes; the parent-child collaboration IS the warmth.
Festivals
- SXSW 2025
- Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2025
- Ottawa International Animation Festival 2025