Birdboy is a teen-aged, lonely, orphaned, drug-addicted bird-boy who lives in an abandoned lighthouse on an island decimated by an explosion at a local factory. His kinda-sorta girlfriend is Dinky, a young girl mouse who lives with her mother and abusive stepfather (and their luchador-mask-wearing angry puppy) and longs to get off this island and leave her miserable life behind. Instead of going to school, Dinky hangs out with her two friends, a schizophrenic bunny who hears voices, and a weakling fox.

The three spend the day trying to get some money (by any means necessary) and run into a variety of wild characters: a young pig with an obscenely horrifying mother, a tribe of garbage-scavanging feral mice, looking for treasure amongst the trash (which seemed like an interesting nod to Buñuel’s Los olvidados), a talking piggy bank, and a pair of dog police officers forever trying to shoot poor Birdboy out of the sky because of his father’s transgressions.

This ain’t your average animated film, and it’s definitely not for kids.

Psychonauts, The Forgotten Children, based on the graphic novel by Alberto Vazquez and directed by the author and Pedro Rivero, is a beautiful-looking film, full of pastel watercolor backgrounds, fluid animation, and surprisingly terrifying images that have been stuck in my head hours after I was done watching it. I felt sympathetic and, frankly, heart-broken about these characters and their adversarial challenges as well as their (short-lived) victories as they struggle to secure transportation off this horrible island.

While their quest continues, we occasionally check in with Birdboy who has some amazing visions while on drugs, but who also discovers a sort of “bird heaven” in a beautiful, heavily camouflaged area that brings him a sweet moment of healing peace.

I loved this movie and its unique (albeit a bit of a downer) outlook on life. The characters are interesting and well-drawn, reminding me of Tim Burton as seen through Bruno Bozzetto’s eyes, and I was captivated with them throughout the entire film. There is real pathos and tragedy here, but also genuinely warm and heartfelt moments that ultimately make for an uplifting journey. Uncle Mike sez check it out.

Psychonauts, The Forgotten Children screened July 23 at Fantasia Film Fest.