Gon Movie: Gon, the Little Fox

This is a 2020 Tecarat film based off of the Japanese classic by Niimi Nankichi. The book was originally written in the early 1930s. So, let's see how Tecarat handles the story.

Story:
We follow a young man named Hyoju who's being encouraged to shoot the troublesome fox that's been getting into his farm. He seems hesitant until the mischievous creature frees an eel that Hyoju was going to give his sick mother. The fox, Gon, sees the effect of his mischief and tries to make it up to Hyoju by bringing him gifts.

The big issue with this film is that it just feels ... rushed especially towards the end. I know, the book is really short. But if you're going to adapt it you could take some extra time to wind things down and flesh out some details more strongly.

With that said, the film does do a good job of following the book's story. It has all the important details and scenes. It keeps the tragic ending intact too. And I do respect that kind of dedication to the source material.

Characters:

The only two characters really worth mentioning are Hyoju and Gon. Hyoju is set up as a kind of wimpy but good-natured man while Gon is more of a well-intentioned trickster who feels legitimately bad when he learns that his actions actually hurt Hyoju and wants to make up for it. I feel like their dynamic is one area where the film could have added some extra depth and interesting details while still keeping the book's plot intact but they just couldn't be bothered.

Art:

The artwork in this is really ugly to be honest. It reminds me of that Alice in Dreamland film I watched where all the characters were dolls but without the surreal elements and with gross looking wooden dolls instead of the porcelain ones that film had. So, this actually looks worse. I especially hate the humanoid look they give Gon in some scenes. And it doesn't help that the animation itself is really awkward.

Sound:

The acting is fine. It's not really anything great or super unique but it does the job. The music, likewise, is serviceable.

Ho-yay:

There isn't any.

Areas of Improvement:

1. The ending needs a little more time to provide a stronger impact. The way its executed is just too abrupt.

2. The film really needed better artwork and animation. This makes Gdgd Faeries look like a visual masterpiece in comparison.

3. The characters really should have been more complex. I know it's based on a short book and that it's a relatively short film as well. But you have literally two important characters to work with.

Final Thoughts:

I question why this film even exists. Its visuals are, frankly, hideous. Its acting and music are just acceptable. It just doesn't add anything of value to the story nor does it tell the story better in any way than the book did. Listen, I'm a big proponent of adaptations following the original. I think that can be a great thing and some of the best book adaptations out there have followed the original books pretty closely. But they also enhanced the experience with really strong acting and great visuals and this film doesn't have that going for it. I'm giving it a 3/10. Just read the book the images and sounds your imagination provides will be better.