There’s a famous fairy tale called “The Princess Who Never Laughed,” where this princess doesn’t know what humor is, and will marry the first man to make her laugh. If a suitor had shown her HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, that story would have ended a lot faster. HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is just that funny.
A drunken applejack salesman named Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews), finds himself stranded in the snowy wilderness after losing his business. He becomes a fur-trapper and falls in love with the Furrier (Olivia Graves). In order to marry her, he must slay hundreds of beavers, which proves itself to be a mighty task because these beavers prove themselves to be highly resourceful.
HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS brings the slapstick style of humor from LOONEY TUNES or TOM AND JERRY to live action. It has a lot of running gags that never overstay their welcome because they are expertly built upon and constantly subvert audience expectations. One particular running gag has an especially great final payoff at the end.
HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS stands out for many reasons beyond its humor, as well. A lot of great style choices subtly work together to make every piece of this film come together seamlessly. For instance, the characters grunt instead of speak, which helps keep the focus of the film on its visual storytelling. The soundtrack is wonderful, really drawing you into this world, and the visual style is incredibly unique. It sort of reminds me of Wes Anderson, with its neatly constructed, story-book-like visuals. Its use of (what appear to be) 2D animated assets within a live action environment reminds me of certain scenes from MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, like the one with the animated monster, where the animator died of a heart attack before he could finish the scene. Despite my use of comparisons, there really isn’t anything else like HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS out there.
– Madelyn, Filmmaker Mixer Correspondent