Film Review: World Animation - Australia: Mary and Max (2009)

Fig 1: Poster.

Adam Elliot's Mary and Max (2009) is a comedy and drama claymation (clay animation). It tells a story about the true friendship between two unlikely pen-pals. Mary Daisy Dinkle, an eight-year-old girl who lives in Melbourne (Australia) is a lonely girl, having no friends at school and having parents who don't care for her. One day she decides to write a letter filled with questions and sends it to America to an unknown person. Max Jerry Horowitz, a forty-four-year-old, severely obese man living in New York, is the person who receives the letter from the curious child; he decides to write back. Thus, their exchange of letters continues for years and their friendship becomes stronger.

The film follows Mary and Max through their life, introducing their struggles, happiness, and everyday life. Mary's parents are distant and neglectful, her father is always working and is never involved in her everyday life; her mother is an alcoholic. She has no friends, and she is bullied in school. The only things keeping her cheerful are her pet rooster, condensed milk / chocolate and her favourite TV show 'The Noblets'. Max is living alone in an apartment and is suffering from obesity, and while would like to lose weight, he is not giving up his diet. He is a Jewish atheist with Asperger's Syndrome, has panic attacks and don't understand / can't read people. He also has some pets and loves chocolate and the TV show 'The Noblets'. The two live very different lives, but they bond and understand each other through their love for chocolate and 'The Noblets', as well as their loneliness. As time goes by, they learn more and more about one another and help each other through life's ups and downs.

Max and Mary

While the film includes jokes and has humorous parts, which helps the audience to connect with the characters and take the seriousness of some of the topic dealt in the animation. It tackles some themes such as childhood neglect, mental health and illness, Aspergers Syndrome, loneliness, anxiety, depression, alcoholism, and suicide. These topics are not often approached and are considered to be difficult, they are often rather avoided and not addressed due to their seriousness and the difficulty to grasp them or the challenge to portray them correctly.

Adam Elliot is the writer and director of this feature animation. He has confirmed that the story was based on his real-life pen pal who lives in New York, is a big man, Jewish, atheist and has Asperger’s. They have been exchanging letters for over 20 years, and after he looked through a box containing their letters, he decided to make the animation. Elliot has said, he bases his films on his family, friends and people around him. 

The making of the animation took 5 years including, writing the script, making the storyboard, getting the cast and the physical animation. Elliot said if he knew how complicated it would be to make it, he would have never made it, but after winning an Oscar for his previous work he went on naively to making Mary and Max.

Fig 3: Making 

At first sight, due to the claymation, the film could be mistaken to be aimed at children, but the topic the story covers is definitely not for children. If the film would have been live action or different animation style instead of claymation, the events and topics in the film would have been more traumatising and harder to watch. But since the claymation brings a childish or rather cute look, it is easier for the audience to cope with the seriousness of the animation.

The animation was positively received by audiences and critiques and was deemed a success. Although it was not released in theatres in the US, it was part of many American film festivals. It was nominated for many awards, and has won the 'Asia Pacific Screen Award' (nominated for Best Animated Feature Film); 'Australian Directors Guild' (nominated for Best Direction in a Feature Film); 'Berlin International Film Festival' (nominated for Crystal Bear); and 'Ottawa International Animation Festival' (nominated for Grand Prize).

Illustration List:

Figure 1: Poster. [Poster] At: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/ (Accessed on 18/01/2018)
Figure 2: Max and Mary. [Film Still] At: https://agoodmovietowatch.com/mary-and-max-2009/ (Accessed on 18/01/2018)
Figure 3: Making. [Online] At: http://gencdergisi.com/6499-iki-insan-bir-mektup.html?mwjjzwjsbmfkbcvx (Accessed on 18/01/2018)