Robin Robin (2021)

There’s a little of the ugly ducking to this enjoyable Aardman animation, as a bird’s egg topples from it’s nest and finds it’s way to some kindly mice. When “Robin” pokes it’s little beak out of it’s shell, the mystified mice readily adopt it and for quite a while it thinks it’s just a mouse with a few feathery appendages. Thing is, “Robin” also starts to feel a bit lonely. It can never be a true mouse and so can never truly fit in, so it sets off into the unknown facing perils and fun alike and fortunately returns just as the snow has settled and the mice are facing their own furry, hungry, nemesis. Might now be a good time to get those wings flapping? As ever with their meticulously crafted stop-motion work, the detail is nigh-on perfect - though in this case maybe a little too precise, and the characterisations are full of charming mischief as they help to convey quite a warming and subtly delivered message about what real family and friendship is all about. It’s enjoyable family fayre for Christmas.