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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Boy mole fox horse & the 6th Sense *Spoiler alert - from MNHQ*

117 replies

dieselKiller · 25/12/2022 22:31

AIBU to think that this cartoon has the same twist as The Sixth Sense?

Spoiler alert added in the title by MNHQ after we had a few reports about the content of the opening post.

OP posts:
Yutes · 26/12/2022 22:32

I actually really enjoyed it but I’m not surprised there are theories and the usual MNetters sucking the joy out of it.

The little niceties have really helped me through some serious self doubt and awfulness.

its ok not to like it.
its ok to like it too.

MissyB1 · 26/12/2022 22:42

Legrandetraitor · 26/12/2022 22:31

Could somebody please explain what happens? I tried to watch it 3 times today but my pesky children kept talking over it so all that happened was I kept hearing the same bizarre self help phrases and feeling queasy with how odd they appeared in a children’s film. Didn’t see what happened after the horse was flying! Can’t find the ending anywhere online

It’s not really a children’s story so you didn’t need to feel queasy about that.

The ending was that they found the “home” with the lights, but the boy realised that home isn’t a place, it’s with the people you love and who love you. He stayed with his friends.

pizzazze · 26/12/2022 22:54

To be fair it was screened at the exact time for children to watch and is clearly aimed at kids, so even if you know it wasn't originally conceived as a kids film, rather as adult self help, it was still marketed for kids. So it's ok to say it was a bit weird as a kids film. Because it was.

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dieselKiller · 26/12/2022 23:06

The BBC have it categorised as “Film - Family” on iPlayer and it’s associated with all the other kid’s animated movies in suggested movies.

For those that haven’t seen it, it is a bit creepy, but it’s not scary like Watership Down for example. Little kids are unlikely to be traumatised by it. Particularly if they don’t realise that the boy has passed.

OP posts:
Yutes · 26/12/2022 23:07

It’s a theory that you think the boy is dead. It’s a story open to interpretation. It’s not my interpretation of the story.

Triflenot · 26/12/2022 23:11

I really liked it, I didn’t interpret it as the boy having died.

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dieselKiller · 26/12/2022 23:17

Yutes · 26/12/2022 23:07

It’s a theory that you think the boy is dead. It’s a story open to interpretation. It’s not my interpretation of the story.

You’re absolutely correct, Yutes. It’s just my (and at least a few others’) interpretation. I’m happy you liked the film. There’s room for many perspectives.

OP posts:
OhMaria2 · 26/12/2022 23:17

What have I missed??

Persimmo · 26/12/2022 23:21

The artist is a very full on HTB Alpha going Christian. His stories will always have a moral bent to them.

pastypirate · 26/12/2022 23:26

I watched it with interest with my dds. We (10, 13, 43) thought it was utterly turgid and as others have said, saccharine.

The art work is obviously lovely though.

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dieselKiller · 26/12/2022 23:40

OhMaria2 · 26/12/2022 23:17

What have I missed??

This thread is for people to tell me that IABU to believe that the boy in Boy Mole Fox Horse is dead.

But I’m not U.

I initially drew a connection to the Sixth Sense, but the connection to Dante’s The Divine Comedy is stronger.

Consider:

The narrative takes as its subject the state of the soul after death. Allegorically, the work represents the soul's journey towards God. A pilgrim is accompanied on travels through the afterlife by three guides who represent reason, divine revelation, and contemplative mysticism.

I could be describing Dante’s great work or I could be describing Boy Mole Fox Horse. You be the judge.

OP posts:
MeinKraft · 26/12/2022 23:45

Thought it looked nice. Turned it on and the sad music put me off. Turned it off after a few minutes. Why is Christmas stuff so often either forced joviality or bittersweet melancholy/nostalgia/death related?

OhMaria2 · 27/12/2022 00:00

dieselKiller · 26/12/2022 23:40

This thread is for people to tell me that IABU to believe that the boy in Boy Mole Fox Horse is dead.

But I’m not U.

I initially drew a connection to the Sixth Sense, but the connection to Dante’s The Divine Comedy is stronger.

Consider:

The narrative takes as its subject the state of the soul after death. Allegorically, the work represents the soul's journey towards God. A pilgrim is accompanied on travels through the afterlife by three guides who represent reason, divine revelation, and contemplative mysticism.

I could be describing Dante’s great work or I could be describing Boy Mole Fox Horse. You be the judge.

Show quote history

No no I meant in motherland!
But I liked your post immensely

OhMaria2 · 27/12/2022 00:03

MeinKraft · 26/12/2022 23:45

Thought it looked nice. Turned it on and the sad music put me off. Turned it off after a few minutes. Why is Christmas stuff so often either forced joviality or bittersweet melancholy/nostalgia/death related?

I think it's as it's become more and more divorced from the original story of Christmas

Tallulah28 · 27/12/2022 00:11

dieselKiller · 26/12/2022 23:06

The BBC have it categorised as “Film - Family” on iPlayer and it’s associated with all the other kid’s animated movies in suggested movies.

For those that haven’t seen it, it is a bit creepy, but it’s not scary like Watership Down for example. Little kids are unlikely to be traumatised by it. Particularly if they don’t realise that the boy has passed.

The boy hasn’t passed though… there’s no indication of this in either the book or the animation…

VestaTilley · 27/12/2022 00:42

YANBU. So many questions - where’s the boys home? Why doesn’t he have a family? Why’s he out in the snow? Why isn’t he cold?

Full of saccharine, woke, “you’re always enough” guff. Just f* off already. No plot. The Snowman is a million miles better and will outlast it.

WiddlinDiddlin · 27/12/2022 02:45

Shakeyshakeyshake · 25/12/2022 23:25

I don’t get the hype over the book anyway - for a children’s book for one it was hard to read the writing and yep it was meh

Give me going on a bear hunt anyday or the Gruffalo

Eh, it isn't a childrens book...

madamehooch · 27/12/2022 06:01

The original book was published before Covid happened.

MissyB1 · 27/12/2022 08:13

fenellavonspurtz · 26/12/2022 19:22

I’m glad it wasn’t longer, it really hit me hard and I ended up crying at it. When the boy said something like “you know everything about me and still love me?” Gulp.

That but made me cry too!

GoodVibesHere · 27/12/2022 08:22

VestaTilley · 27/12/2022 00:42

YANBU. So many questions - where’s the boys home? Why doesn’t he have a family? Why’s he out in the snow? Why isn’t he cold?

Full of saccharine, woke, “you’re always enough” guff. Just f* off already. No plot. The Snowman is a million miles better and will outlast it.

All of this!

They clearly aimed it at kids, why show it at that time on xmas eve otherwise? God it was bloody awful. Each and every line was a moral message. Utter, utter drivel!

RustySprings · 27/12/2022 11:17

The original book was published late 2019, but wasn't really on the radar until covid. Charlie Mackesy drew many more Boy,Mole, Fox cartoons as a response to Covid on Instagram and the following they gained put the book on the map in 2020. The book was aimed at anyone and everyone - not just children.

Anyway, if you watch the accompanying documentary about Charlie on iplayer you will see he's a gentle soul and his drawings come from his heart.

But - each to his own I guess.

Oysterbabe · 27/12/2022 11:18

I'm not sure the spoiler alert helps much 😂

Rainbowshit · 27/12/2022 11:22

I usually love the illustrations and the messaging.

I hated this though. It was very odd and disjointed like they had just strung a load of individual messages together. Which is what I guess it was, but still they could have made it flow better.

It was all too much by the end every message practically had me retching with the sickliness of it.

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 27/12/2022 12:11

What on earth did it have to do with the Sixth Sense @dieselKiller ?? Confused

Oysterbabe · 27/12/2022 12:12

I think just because people think the boy is dead.

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