The Point

1971 animated fable

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A round-headed kid in a pointy-headed world is ostracized and finally banished, so he walks around the forest and has adventures with his dog.

Crude animation with some cheapo sketchy psychedelic brings this simple fable about bigotry. It reminds me a lot of the old Tootsie Pop commercials with that owl who's a giant asshole. If you're my age, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This movie was before our time, but the ideas are unfortunately timeless ones. In 2018, we're still ostracizing people who don't have pointy heads.

The real star of the show is probably the Harry Nilsson songs. As a Nilsson fan, I heard the music for this long before I saw the movie. This is also Nilsson's story although I'm not sure if he's responsible for all the silly attempts to make "point" puns. Actually, there was a lot of attempted word play here that didn't work at all, almost like it was written by somebody who only sort of understands what word play even is. Anyway, the songs work. The melodies match the crude and childlike look of the animation even if the songs all kind of sound the same. If you like Harry Nilsson, you won't mind that.

So this is a movie for anybody who loves watching those Tootsie Pop commercials and listening to Harry Nilsson.