Boy and the World

Boy and the World (O Menino e o Mundo), the Academy Award-winning (Best Animated Feature, 2013) work of Brazilian writer/director Alê Abreu and company, is a visually stunning film that says a great deal by saying very little. Literally. The film has very little dialogue, and what dialogue it does have is delivered in backwards Portuguese. Nevertheless, Boy and the World, which screens Friday evening as part of the San Antonio Museum of Art and Slab Cinema’s Family Flicks outdoor film series, says a great deal, in a kid-friendly manner of course, about loss, loneliness, exploration, personal growth and transcendence. Besides all that, the film’s combination of drawing, painting, digital animation and even live action, is thoroughly delightful to watch. This is one of those flicks that does just as much, for kids and adults alike, to edify as to entertain.