Little Jumbo

Somebody watched waaaaaay to much Yellow Submarine before they animated this. Sanrio got really, really trippy in the Seventies, and it definitely shows in this 30-minute three-act operetta. Set on an idyllic, uncharted island, where there is want for nothing and everyone is happy, one day a young boy and his pet trained elephant show up to entertain them (Act 1). Before long, however, war breaks out between two other islands on either side, and this little slice of paradise is stuck in the battleground (Act 2), where the young boy has to make some very tough choices with hisunwittingly-always-happy companion. How will everyone turn out in the aftermath of the war? (Act 3). Very well animated, as Sanrio was starting to come into its own. It's almost all song-and-dance from beginning to end. A cute little diversion from the usual anime fare, even the horrors of war had an element of cuteness (with the bullets with faces). Then again, it is Sanrio, after all.