Palaest recommended

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Flurrk The overall story is rather basic and fairytale-like. The King wants to marry a shepherdess who in turn is in love with a chimney sweep. As they run away together he tries to capture them. Their only ally is the titular mockingbird.The characters are rather flat. They're devices to forward the plot rather than developed personalities. Even the mockingbird, who is presented as a trickster character, felt rather toothless as such. The only character who displays some depth of personality is the King, in the beginning at least. But even that is stretching it.A lot of pointless side characters are introduced. Much like the main characters they don't really contribute with any lasting emotion or meaning to the story and end up being ignored leaving many loose threads in the end.The movie does a poor job exploring the world it presents; we're taken from point A to B to C and from character A to B to C without lingering anywhere meaningful or exploring any deeper themes. Some crude symbolism thrown in doesn't save it.The movie does contain some successful gags, in particular visual ones. Most relates to the King's egomania. As comedy is the only thing this movie succeeds with story-wise, it's a shame it doesn't really aspire to be one.The direction and editing isn't very tight. There are lots of awkward, unnecessary long and/or pointless scenes and cuts which at best are contributing to the strangeness of this movie and at worst are outright boring.The animation is at a high frame rate and as such it is very fluid. The lines are very precise with no jitter to be seen. However the movements of the characters can be very jerky and despite the animators having high aspirations it is clear they weren't very knowledgeable in animation principles.The King and the Mockingbird's strongest point is its artwork and its setting. The surreal atmosphere it manages to capture at times can be a treat. The character designs are interesting and the environments are intriguing and beautifully rendered. The labyrinthine palace, the wacky modes of transportation and other strange contraptions are indeed captivating. The art and the setting is what saves this movie.In the end, I found this movie somewhat enjoyable and well worth a watch. I would recommend it to anyone artistically inclined. As for people in general, probably not.

TheLittleSongbird I am actually kind of furious with myself for taking so long to see The King and the Mockingbird. Seeing how good the film is makes me wonder why it was that I did take as long as I did to view it. As an animated film, it is a real bon bon and rivals anything Disney, Studio Ghibli or Pixar has done, and in some respects better than some to be honest.The visuals are one of the many great strengths. The animation on the kingdom of Tikicardia itself looks amazing with a unique stylistic look to it, and the rest of the landscapes are a thing of true beauty. The colours are also gorgeous with the shadings very pleasing to the eye, and the architecture is enough to make your jaw drop. And the characters are very well modelled.The music is both haunting and poignant and really enhances to the atmosphere of the film. The script is poetic and ironic, the story is just magical with some fine themes such as a touching love story and tyranny and class difference which are explored in a tender way. The final message of the film affected me in a way very few other animated films have done, while the characters are engaging and the direction and voice work are top notch.All in all, The King and the Mockingbird is a gem. If you love animated films, I think you should see this beautiful yet criminally under-seen film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

runcyclexcski I saw The King and the Bird ~25 years ago in the Soviet Union, professionally translated and dubbed. The movie, ironically, fits very well the Soviet ideology (the poor get explored by the rich, the rich living in sky-scraper-like palaces etc). Apparently the movie is not available in the US with English subtitles. The movie fascinated me as a ~7 year old, but also disturbed me quite profoundly. After I watched it again in 2010 I have realized that I remember ~50% of the movie quite literally 25 years later. Some scenes still don't make sense to me, just like the didn't back in the early 80s, e.g. the king from the painting getting rid of the real king 15 min into the movie and taking over the rest of the show. Some parts of the story and some scenes in the animation itself could have more attention to detail, they stand out. E.g. the lion scene is showing very abstract lions; and later I learned that the scene was added ~30 years later.

nwsts Beware! Although not a bad movie, this movie is definitely not deserving of being placed ahead of such breakthrough features as Toy Story and Nightmare Before Christmas. Why is this movie so-so? First, the animation, though decent is not first class like the old Disney and Miyazaki features. Second, the story, again, though decent, does not engage us enough to care about the protagonists, a young couple (compared to, say, how much we care about Shrek and Fiona). Third, most of the conflicts and enemies are standard Saturday morning cartoon constructions....just not fresh at all (compared to, for example, the monsters in Spirited Away).So, in conclusion, although this movie MIGHT have been in the top 100 animated features in the 1950's, it certainly does not merit being considered among the best of all time. Somehow, IMDb needs to figure out a way to prevent a few people from ginning up the ratings in a way that places a weak sister ahead of the opinion of tens of thousands.