Who Says Animation is Just For Kids?

Today's long overdue movie recommendation is an animated movie for adults called Mary and Max, which was released in 2009 and stars the voice talents of Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana. Picture below.

The movie is about a young girl in Australia named Mary who suffers from neglect from her parents and decides to send a random person in New York City a letter in hopes of making a friend. Her letter is sent to a middle aged Jewish man named Max who is suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and thus also is dealing with isolation and confusion about the world. These two sad characters soon become friends and continue to write each other over the next 22 years even as their lives progress with positive and negative changes. Their friendship motivates both characters to work through the difficulties in their lives.

The animation in this movie is beautiful. It looks very similar to some of Tim Burton's animation films. But what's more amazing than the animation is each of the character's stories. Both Mary and Max deal with real life problems that the average human being can relate to, but there is still a warm charm present throughout the film.

Fun facts:
- The director of the film, Adam Elliot, says that the character of Max was actually inspired by a pen pal of his in New York that he'd been writing to for over twenty years.
- This movie was the first Australian movie of 2009 to gross over a million dollars.
- It was awarded the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
- It was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 82nd Academy Awards, but ended up not being nominated.
- Harvie Krumpet (who is the main character of another claymation movie created by Adam Elliot)is in the background when Max is exiting the typewriter store.
- The tombstone over Ruby's grave says, "R.I.P. Adam Elliot", who is the writer/director of the film.
- The postage stamps in the film used by Mary shows an image of Dame Edna Everage who is a character played by comedian Barry Humphries (the narrator of the film).

This movie has not been rated but because of the adult themes and content I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone under the age of 15.

Link to the trailer