Leafie: A Hen into the Wild

The film is beautifully animated and was originally a Korean film. The English dub version is ok but there were a bunch of changes made during localization that kind of ruin the film towards the ending. I would recommend the original version with subtitles for older kids and animation junkies and the dub is ok for younger children or those who don’t care about the poor editing. As for the plot the movie tells the story of a run away factory hen who tries to make it in the wild whilst raising an orphaned duckling after witnessing the babies parents getting killed by a one eyed weasel. The film deals with heavy topics and the ending is just beautiful, heroic, and sad. For parents or over sensitive viewers (since I know sad movies aren’t for everyone) I have included a major spoiler so that you can decide if you and your family can handle this movie. Spoiler alert: after raising her adopted duck and discovering that the weasel is also a mother struggling to make milk for her babies, Leafy (Daisy in the dub) lets the weasel eat her so that she can lactate so her weasel babies don’t starve.

I'll admit, going into this film, all I knew is that this is currently the most popular animated film from Korea, and I can see why. This film has a very impressive Miyazaki feel to it with a shockingly realistic story that tackles very heavy themes. I won't spoil the ending, but it's very unpredictable and beautiful with how real it is. The main lead is fairly likable and relatable and the relationship between her and her adopted son is very nice. The film does not shy away from heavy themes as let's just say death plays a pretty big part in this film. When it comes to the English dub, it is fairly good, though for some reason, they felt the need to change both the soundtrack and the names of the characters, which doesn't really add up to me since dubs of foreign films don't usually do that anymore. (Well, they also removed two clips from the ending, and while one I'm not particularly happy with, the second clip they removed I actually feel is better left out of the film as leaving it out makes, um, let's say Daisy's final decision come off as much more heroic) But that's a very minor gripe. The animations are gorgeous and, yeah, it's a really good film. My only real gripe with the story as a whole is the mayor character. He's fine, but a lot of his dialog and behaviour feel out of place with the rest of the cast. Luckily, this is very minor and doesn't take away from the experience. If you think your kid can handle heavy themes related to death, I highly recommend this.