"My Life As a Zucchini" is a movie that resists any effort I undertake to categorize it alongside other films. It's animation is top notch along side films like "Kubo and the Two Strings" but it is no way the adventure that Kubo is. It's a dark film, but not like "Nightmare Before Christmas" or "Coraline." It's a movie for kid but not like "Coco" or "Moana."
I want to say that it is a great kid's stop motion film, but I'm afraid people would be surprised by how serious the film is, but I also don't want to give the impression that it is too serious for kids. It isn't.
What is unique about this film is that it seems to be genuinely from a child's perspective. I don't just mean that the protagonist is a kid. There are lots of movies which have child protagonists but they don't necessarily read as from a child's perspective.
Take "Coco" or "Moana" for instance. These are films which feature a child doing incredible things, but the kids don't act like kids and they don't think like children. Their sense of logic and understanding is similar to an adults. The adults in the films never try to hide life's harder side from them, don't really talk down to them, and one gets the feeling that either one would be pretty self sufficient if push came to shove.
What is unique about this film is that it seems to be genuinely from a child's perspective. I don't just mean that the protagonist is a kid. There are lots of movies which have child protagonists but they don't necessarily read as from a child's perspective.
Take "Coco" or "Moana" for instance. These are films which feature a child doing incredible things, but the kids don't act like kids and they don't think like children. Their sense of logic and understanding is similar to an adults. The adults in the films never try to hide life's harder side from them, don't really talk down to them, and one gets the feeling that either one would be pretty self sufficient if push came to shove.