Let me back up for a moment. Did I mention this is a childrens' movie? The plot of this short movie follows Chirin, an innocent lamb whose mother is killed by a wolf. Vowing to never be weak again, Chirin trains to become a wolf and exact revenge on his mother's killer. Ringing Bell is likely the darkest children's film ever made, but is well worth watching.
The plot of Ringing Bell is really where the value of this film lies. Though the plot is very grim, it is intelligent and mature. From the halfway point of the film to its end, the movie poses a series of difficult questions and doesn't really give complete answers. The viewer is left to watch the story unfold and draw meaning for themselves.
As for the other aspects of this movie, I should warn that I was only able to find the English dub. This dub however is surprisingly good. In particular, the narrator, Ron Gans, has a great voice and does an excellent job. The handful of songs (also in English) in this movie are rather annoying and are reminiscent of the songs from the old animated Hobbit movie. The character design and animation is nothing spectacular, but my perception might be skewed as a 2013 viewer assessing a film from 1978.
I first heard of this film on the Anime World Order podcast, where they remarked that the message of Ringing Bell was "If you are born a sheep, then be a sheep; don't try to be something you're not". This is a perfectly fine interpretation, but I believe that the message of the movie is about the consequences of how you live your life. Living a life among the weak is easy, comfortable, and happy, but as a consequence, you are susceptible to violence and despair from the actions of the strong. You can try to be strong, but to do this you must discard the comforts of a simple life and live a hellish existence. If you are successful, you can reap the benefits of being strong, but someone stronger will inevitably come along to knock you down. Either way, your life will be forgotten eventually, so make a decision about the direction of your life based on what you want and accept the consequences of your choice.
My biggest concern about this film is that the message it relays may not be something that its intended audience, children, are ready to receive. Even with "adult" themes, it is definitely aimed at children, who may even be scarred by having such a brutal message about the world forced on them. I suppose it does however, provide a contrast to the overwhelming amount of mindless childrens' entertainment which is produced today.
Even for adults, the movie is worth a quick, 45 minute look. At the very least it serves as an unique entry for film/anime history. As of May 2013, the film can be found in its entirety on YouTube, though I will not provide a link to avoid copyright infringement. Just search "Ringing Bell Anime" at the website.
