Birthday Boy
3D animation, Australia, 2004
Director: Sejong Park
Language: Korean
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 10 minutes
Short Synopsis
In the midst of the Korean War, a little boy plays at war, unaware how a 'birthday' parcel will change his life...
Long synopsis
This evocative 3D animation follows a solitary young Korean boy around his nearly deserted village during the Korean War in 1951. Playing among ruins with found objects, forging new toys and acting out his fantasy of being a soldier, little Manuk is completely caught up in his own world. Young and naïve, he is completely oblivious to the actual realities of the war around him. Although there is evidence of the consequences of war in every frame, the film concentrates on Manuk's feelings rather than showing the horrors of war explicitly.
The film opens with close-up of a butterfly flying off into a blue sky. We hear a boy singing and then see him pulling out screws from what turns out to be a wreckage of a military plane. Manuk takes the screws and runs from derelict houses through the empty streets to the railway tracks. Pressing his ear onto the track, he listens for the train to come and puts a screw on it in order to get a magnet. Manuk admires the train as it passes by loaded with big tanks. As he plays soldier, he shoots at the (real) fighter jets in the sky with his imagined machine gun, imitating the sound while we hear real gunfire shots in the distance. He calls for his dad to get down and defends him and his father (who he imagines to be there with him) by throwing a stone. It hits - unintentionally - the postman who falls of his bike and swears, but cannot see the culprit. Back in reality, Manuk makes his way home. When Manuk finds a parcel on his doorstep he opens it, mistaking it for a birthday present, and finds his father's wallet, military dog tags and boots. Unaware of the terrible meaning of this, he puts the dog tags round his neck, slips into the boots, and marches up and down. Later, while playing with his collection of tanks and soldiers constructed from screws, he falls asleep on the floor. As he is fast asleep there next to his birthday dinner - a full bowl of rive and some other delicacies to mark his birthday - his mother returns home.
Their lives will be changed forever.
Background information
About the film
Birthday Boy is based on Sejong Park's own childhood experiences of growing up in Pusan, (South) Korea. The influence of his hometown is reflected in the landscape, architecture, and layout of the city pictured in the film. Park didn't want the film to look like any common CGI animation and took inspiration from 15th century Oriental landscape paintings to create the distinct Asian look, sensibility and colour palettes. He achieved the natural look of the film by putting a lot of emphasis on the lighting and texturing. A lot of thought went into the design of Manuk, which Park describes as not being too realistic, but still mirroring human character. Manuk's 'cute' look was a conscious reflection of his innocence in a war-torn environment. We see the world not only through Manuk's eyes, but in his facial expressions and movements that also reflect his emotions without the need for a voice-over or dialogue. The soundtrack is nevertheless very important for the feel of the film. The music and Manuk's song were inspired by Korean folklore, the black bear featured in the song is part of the creation myth and can serve as a symbol for the Korean people.
Birthday Boy won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2005. It screened at 52 festivals worldwide since its completion in April 2004 and has won over 30 film festival awards.
About the film-maker
Sejong Park moved to Australia a few years ago, working as a 2D animator and illustrator until 2003, when he was accepted into the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. There he made the 3D animation Birthday Boy. He graduated with an MA in Digital Media, in 2004 and has since been working on a feature film script.
Teaching materials and additional materials
The teaching materials have been developed by practising teachers to provide a springboard for your own work with your pupils. Feel free to use and adapt them appropriate to your pupils' needs.
The additional materials, provided by the film-makers, can be used to develop your work with the film and deepen pupils' understanding of the process of film-making.
