Ordered by his father to sell his old, small donkey, Small One, a Hebrew boy in ancient Israel takes the donkey to the Jerusalem market. Finding no buyers there, the boy is about to give up when he meets a kind man named Joseph. Joseph buys Small One and uses him to take his pregnant wife Mary to Bethlehem.
Mon petit âne, Un Borrico en Navidad, L'asinello - Un amico per natale, Åsnans sista uppdrag, Min vän åsnan, O Pequenino, Le Petit Âne de Bethléem, Un borrico en Navidad, Der Esel von Bethlehem, L'asinello, הקטן, Min lilla åsna, Um Milagre de Natal, 스몰 원, Ο Μικρούλης, Ufaklık
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Feels like a fucking Abbas Kiarostami film.
Really great short and I wasn't prepared for how sad it would make me. If you have a Disney+ account, I recommend it.
Easily in the top five things to watch around Christmas. If you ask me, it's in the same league as Charlie Brown.
Makes me tear up every time.
So I had never been aware of this film until recently, so props to David for bringing it to my attention. Before Don Bluth went directly head-to-head with Disney in the 1980s, he actually worked for the esteemed studio. It was there where he made his directional debut in the form of this short featurette set during the Biblical-era.
In Nazareth, a young Hebrew boy and his father care for some donkeys. The boy has a special bond however with Small One, an ageing but docile donkey who is slowly becoming past his prime. When his father gives him the bad news that Small One would have to be sold to secure his living, the boy sets off to a…
A Christmas short that can make my wife tear up just by mentioning it. The adorable donkey gives off major big dog vibes (if you've had one you'll know) and people treat him like shit; ergo, sad, sad stuff. It's got a nice end, regardless of the religious implications, and has an earwormy song that will haunt your dreams.
Don Bluth sure knew how to complicate a kids film, and our child hearts were all the more hardened because of it.
Quickie Review (A Very Merry Cinematic Christmas 2020)
You may be wondering why the next movie in A Very Merry Cinematic Christmas isn’t The Preacher’s Wife but this Disney animated mini-movie instead. You see, as I was making this year’s lineup, the movie was readily available for streaming on The Roku Channel, Freeform and Hoopla but as I was approaching the final films of the lineup, it left The Roku Channel, disappeared from the Freeform app and vanished from Hoopla, even though that’s impossible because they restarted their deal with Disney to stream the Touchstone/Hollywood library as recent as September of last year. So I had to act fast and find 2 films to fill the gap and make the…
A very short sweet from that has a classic Disney feel to it. I think after Pinocchio, though, all animated donkeys scare me a little.
Short #53 of my 100 Day Disney Marathon (FINALLY CAUGHT UP)
letterboxd.com/martinjacob49/list/disney-shorts-ill-watch-during-my-100-day/
The only production Don Bluth directed before leaving Disney to do his own work (which was arguably better than what Disney was making at the time, especially if you've seen The Secret of NIMH), The Small One is a beautiful, sad, yet emotionally uplifting short film that I think is sorely underrated.
It revolves around the bond between a young boy and an old donkey during the days of the Roman Empire just shortly before the birth of Christ. The boy is forced to sell the donkey because he's getting too old to do all the household chores and the family can't afford him anymore, but during they're…
