Toby Schwarz and Aizea Roca Berridi co-director Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx, written by Rob Sprackling, from a story by Tess Meyer and Marcus Sauermann. Heidi (Lilly Graffam) lives with her grandfather (Tom Zahner) in the Swiss Alps. She receives a letter from her friend Clara (Lily Held) asking her to come visit, enclosing a train ticket for the following month. However, plans get derailed when Heidi comes across a baby lynx caught in a trap, only to find out he’s injured and needs help to recover and find his family.
If the title sounds familiar, that’s likely because it’s the name of a 1937 Shirley Temple film, itself based on an 1880 children’s novel of the same name by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx is a newly written story and animated children’s film based on the character Heidi from the original story and film. The Shirley Temple feature, despite being told in a somewhat lighthearted fashion that’s safe for kids to watch, carries much heavier subject matter than this new animated film.
“…the aunt comes back and kidnaps Heidi while her grandfather is out…”
In the story, we witness a tragic unfolding of the life of an 8-year-old little girl. Both of her parents have died, and she has been stuck living with her aunt who clearly does not like her. The aunt dumps her off on her less-than-cooperative grandfather, who didn’t even know she was alive. He consequently ignores the child until he warms up to her by sheer force of will on Heidi’s part. Eventually, the aunt comes back and kidnaps Heidi while her grandfather is out, with the intent to sell her to a rich family in Frankfort who needs a companion for their disabled daughter Klara.
You may be wondering how this is a children’s story at this point – double parental death, child abandonment, kidnapping, human trafficking, this story has it all! But you also see an 8-year-old child who thinks as much like an adult as she is capable of, presumably from having to learn to survive without a caring guardian in her life. Heidi’s charm and exuberance for life make it all work and enable the child to survive.
Needless to say, Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx is a bit less heavy and more geared towards children than the original, despite both it and the 1937 one claiming to be for kids. In a way, you could surmise that Heidi is drawn to the lynx not just because it’s an animal in need of help, but because it reminds her of herself: a child without parents, lost in the world and trying to figure out how to stay alive. Unfortunately, Heidi’s mission to save the animal is thrown off course when the story introduces an evil businessman who wants to build a sawmill in town, and in return has volunteered to rid the town of its pesky lynx problem.
Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx is well-made and reminiscent of Pixar animated features. It is is a fine watch for any fan of Disney.
"…a fine watch for any fan of Disney."
