Reflective Encounters

“Ahh, the faithful hound. Capable of giving so much love. With – often literal – puppy eyes begging for a treat or a stroke, they’ll fill the house with joy (and pee until you get the training right) as they run around excited at every little thing their human companions do. Yet, as Günter Falls in Love reminds us, dogs have an unerring capacity for falling for teddy bears. Introduce one of those into the household and there’s a chance they’ll ignore you completely as they stare intently into the cold, beady eyes of their furry friends whilst barking sweet doggy nothings. Well it could be worse. It could have been your leg.

Director Josephine Lohar Self creates a small and perfectly formed short animation documenting one of these canine / ursine (toy) relationships. With a little touch of Aardman about it – all bright and breezy colours with our central protagonist a cute ball of woolly fluff - the film has some fine slapstick humour alongside a genuine vein of sweetness. You’ll never look at your dog – or indeed your teddy bear collection – in the same way again.”

— Laurence Boyce