The Small One Review

 

The second work directed by Don Bluth after Banjo the Woodpile Cat, The Small One tells the tale of an underdog donkey and his owner, a boy that won’t give him up to just anyone. But what lesson will we learn in the relatively short runtime of this story?

 

After the intro squeezing all the credits in (Richard Rich assistant director here, Gary Goldman also involved), we meet our lead, simply called Small One, an aged donkey who’s more of a nuisance, though he and the boy that takes care of the livestock play briefly before heading out with the others

 

Gathering sticks with the boy’s father doesn’t go too well, the donkey needing help because he’s small and weak.  The father plans to sell Small One at the market tomorrow, not wanting him to suffer needlessly and doing so little work as a beast of burden

 

The boy asks to sell him, the father agreeing as we get a nice song about how the boy hopes Small One will get a special owner who cares about him

 

At the city, the boy is directed to the tanner, not realizing it until he’s told that Small One’s hide is all the man wants (dark, yet realistic and not exactly traumatizing, since the reality is more graphic in nature than just tanned hides, implying death, not showing corpses).

 

The pair flees, going through the market trying to sell Small One (without killing him). There’s another song featuring merchants (who steal from each other?), the boy directed to an auctioneer nearby

 

After trying to get sold, the auctioneer laughs at them, even trying to ride on Small One, but getting bucked off for his troubles (good riddance).

 

The two continue through the town, but the boy despairs at not being able to sell Small One

 

Suddenly, a man asks if Small One can be sold to him, needing a gentle donkey to take his expectant wife to Bethlehem.

 

The pair tearfully bids farewell as the featurette concludes with us seeing where the donkey goes, clearly insinuating that Small One took Mary and Joseph to the census in Bethlehem, his true purpose all along.

 

 

The characters are fairly flat for the most part, only our leads getting a sense of fleshing out, especially Small One, for not having any dialogue. And his owner, the boy, does show understanding of his flaws and, while resistant to selling him, just wants him to have a good home and someone who takes care of him in his golden years

 

As for the religious undertone, it’s pretty subtle and doesn’t bash you over the head with it, so it’s a really good and accessible holiday film, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, since the message is more about kindness to even the smallest and least fortunate.

 

The essence of the story is how this relationship keeps the spirits of our leads up in spite of the difficulties they face, very relatable in terms of people with their own pets going through tough times of some form or another

 

Nothing groundbreaking, but sometimes a simple story can have great impact in terms of the message it conveys and sticks with people through their lives. I’d recommend it and you can find it on Disney +