Madang-eul Naon Amtalg

Based on the Korean children's book entitled The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild is a shimmering example of the capabilities of Korean animation. It's a marvelous and moving movie based on a marvelous and moving book, full of heartwarming characters and devastating tragedies. What's that, you say? That BISHONEN DUCKS movie is ripe with engaging drama and heart-breaking tragedy? Well, yes. Yes it is.


Story: 10
The movie pretty much follows the book to a T, so there's nothing in the story that could even be remotely negative. It's a bittersweet, touching tale of motherhood and nature told ... from the perspective of a factory farm hen named Leafie who dreams only of leaving her imprisonment and raising her eggs to adulthood. Instead, after befriending a duck, she ends up taking care of the egg he leaves behind after death and the bond she shares with the subsequent baby duck Greenie. It is a tale of the circle of life, and how devastating that reality can be...as well as the shining sweetness that lies underneath the difficulties of life. It is both the highs and lows of motherhood, freedom, and life itself.

And in that, it is heartbreaking and heart-touching.


Art: 8
While I personally find the art well done and well animated, it's hard to argue that the artstyle is probably the most offputting part of the entire movie. There's a reason dozens of gifsets have been made to poke fun at, well, the slightly odd decision of giving bishonen sparkles and wind to ducks. It could unfortunately end up sending a chuckle through you once or twice due to how silly it can look to watch a DUCK toss his bishie 'hair' around.

Still...the art, in its many natural hues, still manages to look absolutely beautiful in its presentation. The designs are actually pretty good despite the aforementioned bishie syndrome, and the colors are warm and welcoming (except when the situation calls for otherwise). Its pretty, and the big eyed innocence in the main character's design does lend to some automatic pity being lent to her--when it isn't being lent to her because of the situations she's in, of course.


Sound: 9
I've only seen the Korean version of this so I can't say much of the dub--all I know is that they cut some scenes, and changed some names. One thing is for certain, though. The music in this film is absolutely serene and calming, fitting almost perfectly to just about every scene. There's little to say about the sound OTHER than that. It's just very nice. All the voices seem to fit fine enough too, so all in all the sound is executed very well.


Character: 10
This is where the movie shines. The characters in Leafie: A Hen in the Wild are one of a kind and represent an aspect of emotional connection that is not typically explored in film. Leafie is one of the most sympathetic, well-intentioned, sweet heroines I've ever had the luxury to encounter in any form of film. She is a hero through her sacrifices, and a hero through her dedication to a child that is not only not hers but is also not even her species. Its hard to not love her innocent sweetness and her upright determination to help raise the child she adopts. But she's no perfect mother--she makes mistakes, and they are understandable mistakes, especially since she more than makes up for it in just how dedicated she is proven to be in her role as a mother.

The other characters are just as lovable--Greenie, lost in his place in the world and struck with the conflict of choosing between his mother and his species. Wanderer, in his solemn dignity and brave sacrifices. Even the One-Eyed Badger, in the role that she is revealed to truly have, is a fantastic character. They all have their place in this circle of life so brutally portrayed and come full circle to be some of the most inspiration characters, especially the titular character Leafie.


Enjoyment: 10
I love this film. This is an amazing film and an amazing story. It deserves nothing short of praise and awards, both in this animated format and in its original written format. The characters are bold, the themes are unique, and the animation is meticulous if not slightly jarring at times. The pain the characters feel is an intense pain and the viewer will easily be able to share in both the ups and downs of the life of this little chicken, with her simple goals and admirable desires. I recommend it to anyone. Just keep in mind that these bishonen fowl...may bring a tear to your eye in the process.

This is such a great, gorgeous film. You should go and watch it if you love beautiful animation, wonderful story, bishounen ducks and topical narratives.

This film is based on a Korean novel called "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" by Hwang Sun-mi and is partially like a talking animals film you might remember from your childhood and also like a more topical look at the darker aspects of animals' interactions with each other and people, including the food chain, the cycles of nature and farming practices. But this is also a very painful narrative - just as there are many beautiful, heart-warming and humorous ... moments in this film, so too are there also very bittersweet moments.

The animation is gorgeous. This film would take my vote for best-animated film if "Garden of Words" wasn't already there. It's on par with (or better than) Miyazaki films in this department. The nature settings are beautiful, the animals are beautiful (did I mention that there are BISHOUNEN DUCKS) and the cartoonish art style just works brilliantly.

The voice actors all did a great job on this, and Moon So-ri did (Leafie), Choi min-shik (Wanderer), Park Cheoi-min (Mr. Otter), Yoo Seung-ho (Greenie) especially did wonderful jobs here. The characters are so vibrant and fun and feel so alive but also like animals and not just humans as animals for a metaphor. I love that the primary protag is female and she is wonderfully written. That being said, this film is a sausage fest, although there's a delightful surprise by the end of the film that might assuage some ruffled feathers. It doesn't fix everything, but it's a start anyway and says some things about gendering behavior and the way our society looks at warriors.

This is a story about freedom, passion, daydreaming, romance, loss, sacrifice, duty, family, mothers, fathers, friendship, dreams, pride, peer pressure, conformity, creativity, optimism, compassion, empathy, heroism and, overall, it's about nature. While there is sorrow here, I still say that this is a heart-warming coming of age/adventure story. There are great messages about loving people no matter how different they are, just because those differences don't conform to societal pressures, helping your neighbors and being a good friend and being involved in your community. There's also heavy messages about adoption, education and the problems with the ways farmers raise their animals. I have researched a lot about current practices involving chickens in particular and was astonished that they actually showed at least some of it on-screen.

You will enjoy this. It can be difficult to find, but it is entirely worth it.

English is not my language.

As average as it is, this movie was kind of fun to watch.

It starts with Leafie wanting to live in the backyard instead of laying eggs, so she pretends to be dead and is sent off to be buried, but manages to escape. After this weasel is introduced who wants to eat Leafie and a Wild Duck helps her escape.
This Wild Duck has been fighting the Weasel for some time. And there is his final fight, where he sacrifices himself by jumping off a cliff and taking the Weasel with him, but the Weasel survives.

After this "the real movie begins," as ... Leafie helps a Duck's egg hatch, and she becomes the "mother" of this duckling. Before this, the wild duck that Leafie calls "Wanderer" tells Leafie to take the duckling that was about to hatch to the swamp, and she doesn't know the reason for this, but he says that one day she will understand.
During this the relationship between Leafie and her "son", whom she names Greenie, develops. One thing I did not like is that there is Time-Skip in the middle of nowhere, from one scene to another at the moment when Greenie is just a puppy.
The movie portrays Greenie's acceptance that his mother is not a duck either. At one point he says he is ashamed of her, but she saves him from the man and he sees that she is a good mother to him.
Towards the end there is a competition of the wild ducks to see who will be their flight leader. The result was kind of obvious, but it was nice to see. After this some things happen and the film ends, Leafie and Greenie say goodbye with the promise of meeting again.

The characters are not great. The best is Leafie, who is very charismatic.
The only character I didn't like is Otter, he is very annoying and even irritating at times.

One thing you can't complain about in this movie is the production. Everything is very detailed and consistent.
The animation is very fluid and consistent. There were moments that I didn't know if it was CGI or 2D because it was so well done.

It's an average movie, but I had a good time.