Kiwi! (2006) User Reviews

A review contrasting and comparing "Kiwi" with "Bunny".

[Mightyzebra · 9/10 · 9 August 2008]

In 1998, a beautiful CGI short called "Bunny" was made, with a beautiful message and beautiful CGI. Now, along comes "Kiwi", with the animation more simplistic, but the message still powerful.

Even though they are both very different, both "Kiwi" and "Bunny" are animated shorts to be treasured. Watch both of them, on Youtube if you can!

This animated short starts with a kiwi pulling a large rope. What on earth is he doing? Yep, I asked the same question. Just watch on and you will see. There are many surprises in store, some happy - and some not...

I love this short because it is an easy length and not too "draggy" and because of the simplistic but warming CGI, the kiwi, who is a very cute character, the theme of the short and the ending, which waters your eyes. There is a little bit of mixed humour in this as well, which is not found in "Bunny".

Another thing which fascinates me about this short is that six people are included in the credits, three who made it and three in the acknowledgements. I think it was very clever how three people made this (meanwhile the crew for "Bunny" was a huge amount - but then the CGI was more advanced, even eight years before this was made).

I recommend this to people who like kiwis, see the beauty in animation and who do not mind emotional short films too much. Enjoy "Kiwi"! :-)

Traumatic AND cool!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 11 August 2009]

I think it's amazing how as the years pass, people are able to do more and more with CGI than ever before. Now, a small group of people can make a film that looks amazingly professional and is very watchable. However, I still must give a lot of credit to Dony Permedi because although such projects are now possible, it still takes a lot of work and manages to be funny as well.

The film consists of a computer generated kiwi. He's pretty simple in design but very effective. Through much of the film, he's pulling on a rope and doing things that make no sense to the viewer. However, in the end you understand and can laugh at what is occurring--but at the same time be filled with a sense of dread! This is proof that comedy, unfortunately, usually is pretty violent and cruel.

Overall, a great little film that is clever, well done and manages to pack an amazing amount of stuff into its very short length. I really hope to see more from Dony, as this shows great skill and intelligence.

One LIfe/One Effort

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 26 June 2019]

A kiwi, a little flightless bird, needs to know what fight would be. So he structures a pathway full of trees so he can sail off a cliff and fly over them. The beauty of his film is the incredible effort he expends in order to accomplish his wishes. It's about two minutes long and has a remarkable message.

Simplistic and all the more touching and enjoyable for it

[bob the moo · 18 July 2007]

A small, flightless kiwi makes the finishing touches to a lifetime of work as he prepares to fulfil his one, overriding ambition and dream.

I shan't really get into the plot but it does become apparent what the dream is and how it is to be achieved very quickly within this film. Then the dream is fulfilled and before you know it the film is over. To simply say what it is about risks it sounding obvious and corny and would rather take away from the strength of delivery from Permedi. Overegging the cake would have ruined the story by pushing the emotion too much but by having everything simplistic, it comes over as much more genuine and quite touching.

The kiwi is a visually limited character but this doesn't matter so much because where Permedi is not able to bring us Pixar quality graphics, what is brought out is a character. The idea is sweet and immediately tells us of a simple goal and a lifetime of work towards it with dedication and hard work. The actual dream is delivered with no overblown delivery but rather with a single tear, which makes it all the more touching for the viewer.

A simple short film perhaps but one that benefits from this approach as the restraint shown in not pushing the emotion and allowing the viewer to be touched by the wider idea rather than a specific musical score, camera shot or other technique.

Nothing short of a miracle

[simonsayz-1 · 10/10 · 11 February 2008]

In the time and age of cookie-cutter-CGI "comedies" featuring talking animals and supposedly cool pop culture comments, the magic of what animation can really achieve is often forgotten. Only Pixar reminds us continually of the wonderful opportunities animation has in its storytelling, both in its visuals and its characters. Yet I can think of no animation film outside of Pixar classics such as "Toy Story" 1 & 2 or "Monsters. Inc." that takes you from laughing to crying to the place in between - and in 3 minutes nonetheless.

"Kiwi!" shows how it's done. For starters, its title (and single) character is silent - no silly one-liners here. And yet, he is a fully developed character and the fact that he gets characterized simply via mimic and gestures is one of the many wonderful things the creator has achieved. We know everything we kneed to know about kiwi - his dream and what it means to him. The animation is simple but distinct. Kiwi's big expressive eyes endear him to the viewer as does his resourcefulness in his preparations. The animation's clarity adds to the overall effect and the theme music is great also.

One should not talk about details of the story for fear of spoiling the experience. Again, it's a simple one, almost fable-like. It uses its diminutive bird protagonist to say something profound about the human condition - how far one would go to achieve one's dreams. By the time a tear shows in Kiwi's eyes - there will be tears welling up in yours as well.

It might sound like hyperbole, but it really isn't. Go to YouTube and see this - it is three minutes of animation perfection.

the perfect short

[wholeheartfriend · 10/10 · 8 June 2008]

just awesome!! It's been a while since I've encountered something a marvellous animation-short, that tells such a great story in just a couple of minutes. It has all the elements which made this sweet little KIWI touched so many people: Humor and drama and everything in between. I started off screaming from laughter by the way he (she?) moved and its persistence in the undertaking of this enormous task (!), but was also choked by the drama which evolved, and the inescapable ending that was (wisely enough not graphically exploited), the distant sound of KIWI hitting the ground was chilling and heartbreaking and truly had an impact. But hey... I'm one who have always cried and laughed at animation movies since way back in 1953, when I was 3. And still I enjoy this art after 55 years and will, till the day I die probably.

Let's hope the talent of this guy will be recognized and that he will be given the chance to make more movies that really tell a story and move people all over the world. He deserves this BIG TIME.

I only saw this movie for the 1st time a couple of days back (June 06, 2008) and it had by then been viewed over 17.5 million times at Youtube. That's a lot of THUMBS UP and one heck of a standing ovation!

Simply stunning

[visavismeyou · 10/10 · 28 March 2017]

This short is 11 years old and is one of the most profound works I've ever seen. The stunning juxtaposition of sincere happiness at an achievement followed by the utter desolation of realizing the Kiwi's life goal results in his complete destruction. This momento mori crescendos in subtleties known only in masterpieces with the ease and simplicity of a cartoon. Without uttering a single line, this short transmits the full range of delight to despair within seconds.

I cannot rate this high enough.

I apply for the job at Wold Bank after watching the film

[watergyf · 10/10 · 5 March 2015]

This is really an extremely simple story. My friends posted this film on Chinese twitter and said she cried. After watching for about three minutes, I suddenly realized what my dream was. My dream has been thrown away by me for a long time. I am starting to adapt to my current lift. But as Steve Jobs mentioned, if I die tomorrow, this is not the exact job I would like to continue to do. Then I checked the World Bank Group's website and noticed the job they posted will be closed tomorrow. So I applied immediately. No matter what the result will be, I will keep my dream alive in the future and do my best to realize it.I hope everyone can find their dream deep from their heart.

Reach for the Sky

[ackstasis · 6/10 · 28 September 2009]

When you've only got three minutes to tell a story, you'd better make it count. Pixar Studios has always excelled at such an efficient brand of storytelling: 'Geri's Game (1997)' is a masterpiece in four minutes, and 'For the Birds (2000)' and 'Lifted (2006)' have always been crowd- pleasing favourites. 'Kiwi! (2006)' is a student film by Dony Permedi, and it was produced in much the same mould. The short certainly looks like a student film, the CG animation terribly crude by modern standards (though, admittedly, it's unfair to compare any animated film to the standards of Pixar). However, the technical detail doesn't necessarily matter, as long as it succeeds in telling an emotionally-absorbing story. This it does pretty well. An ambitious little kiwi, long confined to the earth by his measly ratite wings, fulfills his lifelong ambition to fly – or, at least, to approximate the sensation of flight. The moment of success is oddly touching, and the single tear that slips from beneath his eyelid would be familiar to anybody who's ever achieved his lifelong dream. Still, I didn't find 'Kiwi!' quite as life-affirming as many viewers seem to have – for me, it was an amusing little aside, and certainly not a bad way to spend three minutes of my time.

Emotional

[briancham1994 · 10/10 · 11 August 2020]

This short film is deceptive on the surface. We see a cute kiwi and think we're in for something uplifting. Then it takes a drastic turn and in the space of only a short minutes we are taken on a very emotional ride.

Flappy bird.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 6/10 · 14 December 2021]

'Kiwi! (2006)' is surprisingly dark, with an ending that sort of comes out of nowhere in terms of its emotional impact (narratively, it's very clearly established, though it eschews perhaps an expected final beat that reveals everything is okay). The piece creates an odd contrast between beauty and tragedy; it can seem very different, in terms of its protagonist's motivations and the plot's overall message, depending on how you look at it. The first half of the flick builds mystery as to just what this little bird is doing, while the second uses your realisation as a tool to break your heart. It's a really, really sad short. That's its intention, though, so it is successful overall. It isn't especially fun, however, and its aesthetics are very rudimentary. The ending is perhaps a tad too dark for my liking, too. Still, it's a solid short. 6/10.

Great short movie!

[cristiU · 10/10 · 15 September 2019]

What a great short movie! One of the best animation you will see. It is simplistic, but very deeply.

Okay...I am missing something here?

[Rectangular_businessman · 3/10 · 4 June 2013]

I like a lot to see animated shorts. For me, most of those shorts are way more creative and inspiring than most of the movies from the recent years, having also more artistic value than many so-called "masterpieces".

Sadly, most of those shorts are quite underrated on IMDb. For some reason, even the shorts with a high visual quality and captivating stories tend to have a relatively low (or just average) score on this website, and I simply don't know why.

However, and sadly, this is not of those underrated shorts. In fact, I will dare to say that this is something quite overrated.

I honestly don't know what is the big deal about this. Sure, there is a somewhat clever plot twist at the end, but besides of that, there isn't anything remarkable about this.

And the plot twist at the end (Where the titular character commits suicide at the end in order to achieve his dream to fly) isn't really that clever. I am not sure if that was supposed to be some kind of dark joke, or something emotional, but either way, it didn't work for me. I personally see it from a dramatic perspective, but it didn't have very much emotional impact on me.

Additionally, this short doesn't have a very good animation quality. Despite being made in the year 2006, the CGI from "Kiwi!" looks like something from the late nineties and visually it isn't very creative. I 've seen many other animated films and shorts which despite having a low budget, use their resources in a very creative manner, sometimes with very beautiful results, but "Kiwi!" doesn't even seems to be trying to be something more than generic in that aspect.

In my opinion, "Kiwi!" along with "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" and "Oktapodi" is one of the most overrated short animations ever made. There are many, many animated shorts which are much better than this one (Not only in what concerns to the visual aspect, but also narratively speaking, having also much more meaningful messages and much more emotional impact than "Kiwi!"

Just to name a few: "The Little Matchgirl" Disney short from the year 2006, "Madame Tutli-Putli", "Street of Crocodiles", all the shorts directed by Aleksandr Petrov, "The External World", "Please Say Something", "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello", "Paths of Hate", "Pas à deux" from Gerrit van Dijk, "Love and War", "Adam and Dog", any of the PES shorts...And sadly, most of them have less score on IMDb than this.

The most emotional thing you'll see all day

[MrVibrating · 25 October 2007]

This wonderful little animation is the sweetest, cutest and most emotionally engaging little movie you'll see in months.

The animation is simplistic, and works really well. The score, the same.

The cuteness is not overdone, and works just perfectly. Check it out on Youtube and enjoy.

There is really not much to say about it, just watch it and love it.

Almost brings a tear to my cynical eye, which doesn't happen every day!

Check it out today and be a little happier...what more can I say? 10-line rule go to hell, more comments than this ruins it!

Amazing

[chrisoldham1-557-350109 · 10/10 · 29 August 2013]

It's quite hard, really, to fit a story into such a short animation, but Kiwi really does it well.

At first you wonder what exactly is happening, but as you continue watching you start to realise that the little fella is simply living out his dream.

It genuinely brought a tear to my eye, I really felt something for the little guy.

Amazing work, and so well done.

I would recommend everyone to watch it, such a great little story, with real meaning.

What the Kiwi was upto

[AnonymousbutDilpreet002 · 8/10 · 21 August 2020]

I still don't understand how a little Kiwi was able to lift and hang all the trees up there. And how all of them remain green even after being plucked. But, logic is the last thing you expect from a three minute short.

The flying sequence is truly great. The first moving trees actually surprised me, the Kiwi shows different emotions during the flight and when he cries, ah, that moment. Very emotionally touching scene, it was.

No mountain's too high

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 30 September 2013]

This very short animation piece by writer-director Dony Permedi is quite a thing of beauty. Probably one of my absolute favorite films with a running time of 3 minutes. It really doesn't get better for such a running time. The first minute you may probably ask yourself what is going on exactly until you finally realize what the little kiwi is up to with all his crafting.

The flying sequence is nothing short of brilliant and delivers on all levels emotionally, especially when we see the shutting of the eyes and the tear of joy in the corner of the bird's eye. He has paid and will pay a huge prize, but it's his lifelong dream coming true. I had one as well and after seeing this early effort from Permedi, it's quite a shame that, seven years later, he hasn't directed any other movie. From the merely technical perspective, this film is also a great example how much of an effect a simple 90°-camera turn can have. He seems to have great touch and with the quality of animation these days, it's always the story and emotional impact thereof that makes the movie. I'm sure this man could bring both to the table.

Very touching

[AiXiSi · 10/10 · 22 August 2022]

This is my most impressive animation short film, very moving.

It's very difficult to tell a good story in a short period of time, but Kiwi really did a good job.

Not sure I understand

[injury-65447 · 4/10 · 23 May 2020]

People are saying they are very emotionally affected by this short. I don't feel moved at all. I really don't understand.

The creature design I find quite ugly. His naked body flying through the air is offputting.

The kiwi is an idiot.

[conbarn · 1 January 2021]

A direction is a direction no matter which position the trees are placed