La gazza ladra

Set to the familiarly mischievous overture from Rossini’s eponymous opera, this uses a rudimentary but still colourful and vibrant style of hand-drawn animation to tell us the tale of the revenge of the magpie. Everyone knows that these are birds that like to pinch what isn’t their own, so imagine how inventive they can be when they get fed up being shot at. The king and his hunting party are making merry on an hunt that is taking pot shots at not just it, but everything of the feathered variety that lives in the forest. He fakes his own demise and then craftily turns the tables on his erstwhile tormentors making sure they get well and truly humilisted and soaked before scurrying back to their castle. Might they be safe behind their battlements or might the avian population wreak yet further revenge? It’s really about Rossini, this, and coupled with the creativity of the hunting, storm and retribution sequences make for an entertaining ten minutes.